1957

John Crosby establishes the Santa Fe Opera with a company of 67. The 480-seat open-air theater opens on July 3 with Madame Butterfly. The Apprentice Program for Singers is established. Igor Stravinsky visits to oversee production of The Rake's Progress. Operating budget for the first season comes to $110,000.

1959

First education initiative, Youth Night at the Opera, opens dress rehearsals to families. Jack Benny gives a benefit concert with the SFO orchestra.

1960

Actor Jose Ferrer makes his operatic debut in Gianni Schicchi.

1961

Vera Zorina appears as Persephone with Stravinsky conducting. Paul Hindemith conducts his opera, News of the Day. The first opera company to receive American State Department sponsorship for a foreign tour, the SFO performs at the West Berlin Festival and in Belgrade, Yugoslavia.

1962

A two week Stravinsky Festival, honoring the composer’s 80^th birthday, features performances of all his operatic works.

1963

Alban Berg's Lulu has its American premiere.

1964

Richard Strauss' Daphne has its American stage premiere.

1965

Apprentice Program for Technicians begins. A partial roof over the theater is added.

1967

Jose Van Dam makes his American debut in Carmen. Hindemith's Cardillac and Hans Werner Henze's Boulevard Solitude have their American premieres. On July 27 a fire demolishes the theater; the remainder of season is performed in downtown Santa Fe. Construction of the new building begins.

1968

Less than a year after the fire, the new 1,889-seat theater opens on June 26. Included in the season is a new production of Madame Butterfly.

1969

Krzysztof Penderecki’s The Devils of Loudon has its American premiere.

1971

Kiri Te Kanawa makes her American debut, and Frederica von Stade her company debut in The Marriage of Figaro. Heitor Villa-Lobos' Yerma premieres.

1974

Pier Francesco Cavalli's L'Egisto has its American premiere, realized and conducted by Raymond Leppard in his American operatic debut.

1975

Samuel Ramey debuts in Carmen.

1976

Robert Indiana designs Virgil Thomson’s The Mother of Us All to open the Twentieth Anniversary Season.

1977

Nino Rota's The Italian Straw Hat has its American premiere.

1979

Berg's complete Lulu premieres, conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas in his company debut.

1981

Former Apprentice Singer James Morris debuts in The Rake's Progress. Håkan Hagegård debuts in The Barber of Seville.

1982

Richard Strauss' Der Liebe der Danae receives its first professional American production

1983

Thomas Hampson debuts in Don Pasquale. Cavalli's L'Orione has its American premiere. Richard Strauss' Der Liebe der Danae receives its first professional American production.

1984

Elisabeth Söderström debuts in Richard Strauss' Intermezzo.

1985

Charles Ludlam debuts directing the American premiere of Henze's The English Cat.

1986

The Thirtieth Anniversary Season is celebrated with a gala concert presenting scenes from opera and Broadway. The King Goes Forth to France by Aulis Sallinen receives its American premiere.

1987

Tatiana Troyanos debuts in Handel's Ariodante. Penderecki's The Black Mask has its American premiere.

1988

Richard Strauss' Friedenstag has its American professional premiere.

1990

Marilyn Horne debuts in Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice.

1991

John Crosby receives National Medal of the Arts from President George Bush. Bryn Terfel makes his American debut in The Marriage of Figaro.

1992

John Crosby receives Officer's Cross of the Federal Order of Merit from Germany.

1993

Dawn Upshaw debuts in Handel’s Xerxes.

1994

Three distinguished composers are commissioned to write major works. The Blond Eckbert by Judith Weir is given its American premiere.

1995

The first of the three commissions, David Lang's Modern Painters, premieres.

1996

Fortieth Anniversary Season: the second commission premieres: Tobias Picker's Emmeline. The production is broadcast on PBS Great Performances in Spring 1997.

1997

The third commission premieres, Peter Lieberson's Ashoka's Dream. Patricia Racette's performs her first Violetta (La traviata) in the United States.

1998

A new 2,128 seat theater opens with Madame Butterfly. Jonathan Miller debuts directing The Magic Flute. A Dream Play by Ingvar Lidholm has its American premiere. Richard Gaddes is named to succeed John Crosby as General Director in 2001.

1999

The Opera Titles System is introduced, providing English translations on individual screens in front of each seat. Jerry Hadley debuts in the title role of Mozart's Idomeneo .

2000

John Crosby's final season as General Director. Venus and Adonis is Hans Werner Henze's sixth opera to be premiered in Santa Fe. Lauren Flanigan debuts as Venus. Showcase Productions, a new community initiative are launched with The Beggar’s Opera given at Santa Fe’s El Museo Cultural.

2001

Richard Gaddes' first season as General Director. Stieren Orchestra Hall opens. Mozart's Mitridate receives its first SFO performances. Berg's Wozzeck with Håkan Hagegård garners critical acclaim. Showcase Productions presents H.M.S. Pinafore in Santa Fe’s Lensic Performing Arts Center.

2002

L’Amour de loin by Kaija Saariaho receives its American premiere. Peter Sellars debuts as director and Dawn Upshaw returns in the role of Clemence. The Pirates of Penzance is the third Showcase Production, given at the Lensic Performing Arts Center. John Crosby dies at 76 on December 15.

2003

World premiere of Bright Sheng’s Madame Mao is given. The Crosby Theatre is dedicated at the memorial service on July 12, on what would have been John Crosby's 77th birthday. Alan Gilbert is named the company's first music director. French coloratura Natalie Dessay makes her American concert debut.

Highlights of the season include Natalie Dessay’s Santa Fe Opera debut in La sonnambula and the company’s first-ever simulcast to an enthusiastic audience in Fort Marcy Park. Simon Boccanegra and Agrippina entered the opera’s repertory.