Long Beach Opera
Long Beach Opera is a 1979-founded nonprofit opera company producing site-specific, experimental mainstage productions, new-work commissions, and education programs across Southern California. It serves contemporary opera audiences, K-12 and higher-education students, underrepresented communities, and families, and operates on a ticket sales, donation, and arts-grant revenue model.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1979
- HeadquartersLong Beach, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingServices
What Long Beach Opera does
Long Beach Opera (LBO) is a nonprofit opera producing company founded in 1979 and headquartered in Long Beach, California, recognized as Southern California's oldest opera company. The organization produces bold, site-specific, and experimental opera performances staged at non-traditional venues including the RMS Queen Mary, Heritage Square Museum, the Aquarium of the Pacific, Freud Playhouse at UCLA, and Altar Society. Its core offerings comprise mainstage productions, the LBO Studio creative incubator for new commissions and world premieres, the LBO Education division (Opera Encounter programs reaching 50,000+ students since 2007), the family-oriented Acquaprofonda educational opera, and commercial recordings of commissioned works. LBO has a documented track record of commissioning transformative new American operas, most notably Anthony Davis's The Central Park Five (premiered 2019), which won the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Music.
LBO's revenue model is a hybrid nonprofit structure combining single-ticket and subscription ticket sales, individual donations and recurring giving (including stock, IRA, and cryptocurrency), corporate sponsorships (Port of Long Beach, Boeing, The Perenchio Foundation, The National Endowment for the Arts, California Arts Council, LA County Department of Arts and Culture), and earned income from recordings and galas. Pricing includes a $20 student ticket tier and the LBO Access program, which releases discounted tickets via waitlist one week before each performance; Acquaprofonda is offered free with RSVP. The company serves four principal segments: contemporary opera enthusiasts, K-12 and higher-education students, LGBTQ+ and underrepresented communities, and families with children. Distribution runs through a self-service online ticketing platform (my.longbeachopera.org), a phone box office, and education-channel partnerships with schools across Long Beach, Los Angeles, and Orange County.
Operationally, LBO is led by Artistic Director and Chief Creative Officer James Darrah Black, Music Director Christopher Rountree, and CEO Michelle Magaldi, supported by an 11-50 person staff. The company holds no proprietary technology platform; its core technology is live theatrical production augmented by recording and digital content distribution (Spotify playlists, a Pauline Oliveros digital zine, email marketing). Recent strategic activity includes a three-year partnership with Martha Graham Dance Company (2024), a Turn of the Screw collaboration with UCLA (2025), and the launch of commercial recording distribution — all extending LBO's artistic footprint without materially altering its regional Southern California operating geography.
Long Beach Opera firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Long Beach Opera
- Legal name
- Long Beach Opera
- Website
- https://longbeachopera.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1979
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Long Beach Opera is a 1979-founded nonprofit opera company producing site-specific, experimental mainstage productions, new-work commissions, and education programs across Southern California. It serves contemporary opera audiences, K-12 and higher-education students, underrepresented communities, and families, and operates on a ticket sales, donation, and arts-grant revenue model.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Long Beach Opera industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Performing Arts
- NAICS
- Theater Companies and Dinner Theaters (71111), Other Performing Arts Companies (711190)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Classical & Contemporary Theatre (Plays/Drama) (MPAGABAH)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Theater, Musicals & Performing Arts (THAJAFAB), Regional & Repertory Theatre Companies (MPAGABAB)
Keywords
Where Long Beach Opera is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Long Beach
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices2 records
Markets served
Long Beach Opera business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Ticket Sales: Primary revenue stream from single tickets and ticket packages for performances. Student discounts ($20) and LBO Access discounted tickets available. Box office operates by phone and online.
- Donations and Charitable Contributions: Major revenue source including one-time contributions, recurring donations, wire transfers, stock donations, IRA/pension donations, and cryptocurrency. Corporate matching gifts supported. Federal Tax ID: 953387074.
- Corporate Sponsorships: Support from organizations including The Port of Long Beach, The Perenchio Foundation, California Arts Council, Boeing, The National Endowment for the Arts, The Center for Cultural Innovation, The RuMBa Foundation, and Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through Department of Arts and Culture.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | Standard performance tickets |
| Subscription | Pay-as-you-go | Student tickets |
| Subscription | Pay-as-you-go | LBO Access discounted tickets |
| Freemium | Pay-as-you-go | Acquaprofonda family opera |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels5 records
Long Beach Opera product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Long Beach Opera is a nonprofit opera producing company that presents bold, site-specific opera productions blending film, dance, new music, and interdisciplinary art. It commissions and premieres new American operas, runs a creative incubator (LBO Studio), delivers educational programs in schools (LBO Education/Opera Encounter), and produces commercial recordings, including the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Central Park Five.
Product overview
Long Beach Opera is an opera company offering a portfolio of products and services centered on provocative, site-specific opera productions and artistic experiences. The core offering is its mainstage productions, which blend opera with film, dance, and new music in unconventional venues. Supporting the mainstage are LBO Studio (creative incubator for new commissions and world premieres), LBO Education (Opera Encounter programs including school touring productions and the Acquaprofonda family opera), and opera recordings. The company has a strong track record of commissioning and premiering transformative works, including Anthony Davis's Pulitzer Prize-winning The Central Park Five (2019) and Kate Soper's The Romance of the Rose (2023).
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- LBO Studio: The company's creative incubator and year-round development hub for advancing operatic commissions, building partnerships in film and television, and cultivating world premieres.
- LBO Education
Products and services
- Mainstage Opera Productions Bold, immersive opera productions that blend film, dance, new music, and interdisciplinary art forms. Site-specific performances challenge traditional operatic boundaries and are presented in non-traditional venues across Southern California for adult opera audiences and patrons.
- LBO Studio A creative incubator wing focused on advancing operatic commissions, building partnerships in film and television, and cultivating world premieres for emerging and established artists.
- LBO Education / Opera Encounter Educational programs bringing live opera into classrooms and communities across Long Beach, Los Angeles, and Orange County. Includes Opera@School touring productions such as The Playground King (which teaches problem-solving and anti-bullying themes) and $20 student tickets.
- Acquaprofonda A free, family-friendly half-hour opera for young audiences about environmental conservation, presented at the Aquarium of the Pacific. Follows Serena as she discovers a whale sick from plastic pollution. Italian for 'deep water.'
- Spring Gala Annual fundraising gala celebrating LBO's achievements and featured productions, often paired with special performances and artistic milestones.
- Opera Recordings Commercial recordings and film documentation of LBO productions and commissions, including the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Central Park Five opera.
Quantifiable outcome
- 50,000+ students engaged through Opera Encounter programs since 2007
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Long Beach Opera
Customer profileNamed customers3 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Long Beach Opera technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Long Beach Opera partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core, flagship and minor.
- Opera UCLA / UCLA Herb Alpert School of MusiccoreCollaboration for Benjamin Britten's The Turn of the Screw production at Freud Playhouse. LBO joins Opera UCLA and The UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television for this production directed by James Darrah Black and conducted by Rakefet Hak. LBO is overseeing recording and mastering of two versions of the opera.
- Aquarium of the PacificcoreLBO Education presents Acquaprofonda at Honda Pacific Visions Theater. Free family-friendly educational opera for children about environmental themes (plastic pollution, ocean conservation). Venue provides accessibility and attracts families.
- Martha Graham Dance CompanyflagshipThree-year partnership exploring new work and creating new productions for LBO. James Darrah Black and Christopher Rountree work with artistic director Janet Eilber and the Graham Company's dancers and guest choreographers to explore deeper connection between dance and opera.
- Teatro Sociale di ComominorOriginal commissioning partner for Acquaprofonda, created under Italian platform Opera Education. Co-produced with Teatro dell'Opera di Roma.
- Teatro dell'Opera di RomaminorCo-production partner for Acquaprofonda with Teatro Sociale di Como.
- Henry T. and Elizabeth Segerstrom FoundationminorPartnership to bring LBO back to Orange County through collaborative programming.
- Anthony DaviscoreComposer of The Central Park Five, Pulitzer Prize-winning opera commissioned and premiered by LBO in 2019. The opera has since been produced by companies across the country.
Scale indicators4 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Long Beach Opera competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- LA Opera: The dominant opera company in the Los Angeles market and LBO's most direct local competitor for opera talent, audiences, and donor dollars. Substantially larger in budget, venue (Dorothy Chandler Pavilion), and subscriber base, providing a contrasting scale benchmark for the Southern California opera ecosystem.
- Minnesota Opera: A larger American regional opera company with an established New Works Initiative for commissioning and producing contemporary opera. Comparable in mission alignment around new American opera, with a larger subscriber base and budget.
- San Francisco Opera: One of the largest opera companies in North America and a relevant comparator for the broader West Coast opera ecosystem. Provides a benchmark for the upper end of regional opera scale and a competitor for premieres of commissioned works.
Direct peers
- Opera San Diego: A regional opera company in Southern California of comparable size to LBO, presenting mainstage opera productions to a similar audience profile. Closest direct peer in terms of regional scope, nonprofit structure, and budget tier.
- Pacific Opera Project: A smaller, adventurous LA-based opera company known for innovative productions and accessibility initiatives. Operates in the same geographic market with a similar experimental, accessible-opera mission and comparable headcount scale.
- Beth Morrison Projects: A leading commissioning and producing entity for new opera and music-theater works. Comparable to LBO in its championing of contemporary composers and new American opera, with a national rather than regional footprint.
- On Site Opera: A New York-based company producing site-specific opera in non-traditional venues, directly paralleling LBO's site-specific production model. Strongest direct comparator on staging philosophy and venue experimentation.
- Opera Omaha: A regional opera company where James Darrah Black previously served as Artistic Director of the ONE Festival. Comparable in scale and ambition, with a track record of innovative new-work programming that overlaps with LBO's commissioning profile.
Emerging players
- Heartbeat Opera: A New York-based opera company producing accessible, socially relevant new works and reimaginings of the canon. Shares LBO's commitment to relevance, equity, and unconventional staging approaches, but operates at a different scale and geography.
Others
- Wild Up: The contemporary chamber orchestra founded and led by LBO Music Director Christopher Rountree. Closely intertwined with LBO through artistic leadership and shared performers, providing an adjacent ecosystem for new music collaboration.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Long Beach Opera social profiles
Digital presenceLong Beach Opera financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Long Beach Opera leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles10 records
Long Beach Opera funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Long Beach Opera M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Long Beach Opera
What does Long Beach Opera do?
Long Beach Opera is a nonprofit opera producing company that presents bold, site-specific opera productions blending film, dance, new music, and interdisciplinary art. It commissions and premieres new American operas, runs a creative incubator (LBO Studio), delivers educational programs in schools (LBO Education/Opera Encounter), and produces commercial recordings, including the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Central Park Five.
Is Long Beach Opera a public or private company?
Long Beach Opera is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was Long Beach Opera founded?
Long Beach Opera was founded in 1979. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Long Beach Opera based?
Long Beach Opera is headquartered in Long Beach, United States, in the North America region.
How does Long Beach Opera make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Ticket Sales are the primary driver. The others are donations and Charitable Contributions and corporate Sponsorships.
Who are Long Beach Opera's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are LA Opera, Minnesota Opera and San Francisco Opera. Direct peers are Opera San Diego, Pacific Opera Project, Beth Morrison Projects, On Site Opera and Opera Omaha. Heartbeat Opera is listed as an emerging player. Wild Up is listed as an others.
Does Long Beach Opera have an API?
No public API is recorded for Long Beach Opera.
What industry is Long Beach Opera in?
Long Beach Opera's product category is Performing Arts. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPAGABAH, Classical & Contemporary Theatre (Plays/Drama), with a secondary code of THAJAFAB, Theater, Musicals & Performing Arts. Its NAICS code is 71111.