Beginnings and commitment

The seed that grew into Boheme Opera was planted in 1981 in the form of a musicians’ guild called The Boheme Club that was named after the club formed by opera composer, Giacomo Puccini. Developed by Trenton conductor/educator Joseph Pucciatti and his wife, concert pianist, opera lecturer and teacher Sandra Milstein-Pucciatti, the Club presented eight evolutionary years of concert series, outdoor festivals and dinner opera, before evolving into opera producer and presenter in 1989. As a generational company, Boheme Opera gained such recognition as three Citations of Excellence in 2007, 2008 and 2009 from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts.

None of our productions or events would be possible without the unprecedented diversity we have always maintained and will continue to maintain in our casting. We have a proud tradition of children’s choruses, teenage choristers and persons with disabilities being integral to our productions. Artist accessibility stretches even farther. Boheme Opera has consistently given roles of all stature to young, new and emerging artists – main stage opportunities that would otherwise be unavailable to them as they grow their careers. Several have moved from the Boheme Opera regional stage to well-known larger stages, including New York’s Metropolitan Opera.

cultural and corporate collaborations

Boheme Opera has collaborated with a vast array of corporate, community, business and arts entities, including Grounds for Sculpture, Princeton Friends of Opera, WWFM The Classical Network, Princeton-Mercer Chamber of Commerce, Burlington Mercer Regional Chamber of Commerce, Mercer County Italian-American Festival, Italian-American National Hall of Fame, Dorothea’s House of Princeton, PSE&G, Verizon, Merrill Lynch, Janssen Pharmaceutica, Trenton Children’s Chorus, Passaggio Youth Chorale, American Repertory Ballet, Nai-Ni Chen Dance company, Princeton Youth Ballet and others. Most recently, Boheme Opera enjoyed a mainstage partnership with flamenco dancers from the Alborada Spanish Dance Theater and the Westrick Music Academy children’s chorus, featuring members of Princeton Girlchoir and Boychoir, in our April 2024 production of Bizet’s Carmen.

creative content and production innovation

Over the years, Boheme Opera has broadened its artistic horizons as the host of a Broadway preview entitled Warsaw, produced Carlisle Floyd’s stunning Americana opera Susannah, mounted a complete staging of Leonard Bernstein’s riveting West Side Story, presented two, consecutive-season theatrical versions of Handel’s Messiah, gave center stage to Humperdinck’s children’s opera Hansel and Gretel, and ventured into the world of Gilbert and Sullivan with The Pirates of Penzance.

Always seeking to innovate in all aspects of our productions, the spring of 2012 saw us initiate virtual sets by master digital artist, J. Matthew Root, in a critically acclaimed production of Mozart’s The Magic Flute. Mr. Root further developed virtual sets in new productions of Gounod’s Faust, Verdi’s La Traviata, Puccini’s La Boheme, Bizet’s Carmen, Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor, the double bill of Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana and Leoncavallo’s I Pagliacci and Verdi’s Aida.

expanding our community Outreach

Boheme Opera is not confined to the main stage, bringing our artists to the community stage and intimate events. For many years, we were mainstays at the annual Mercer County Italian Festival, before the Festival ceased, and, pre-COVID, holiday concerts at Hamilton’s iconic Grounds for Sculpture. Our Monroe Lecture Performance edutainment series at Monroe Township Library continues to bring opera, Broadway, musical theater and more to increasingly engaged audiences.

Other recent outreach events include the Porch Club of Riverton’s Breast Cancer Awareness fundraiser, Live at Lew’s and our 35th anniversary concert at Hillman Performance Hall on the Princeton Campus of Westminster Choir College of Rider University.