| The
1891 Fredonia Opera House is a year-round performing arts center which presents
touring artists of the highest quality in theater, dance, music and other performance
genres as well as a Cinema Series with a focus on independent and foreign films. Our
mission is to present the performing arts for the benefit of our community and
region, while preserving one of our region's historically significant landmarks.
We
believe that providing access to artistic diversity enriches the quality of life
in our community. We offer high quality programming at an affordable price, and
work to ensure the long-term financial strength of the Opera House through a responsible
balance of earned income and contributed support. The
Fredonia Opera House was planned as a grand municipal building including an opera
house. Conceived as a large and elegant community theater, the opera house opened
in April of 1891.
The architect was Enoch Curtis, well-known in Western New York for his "Queen
Anne eclectic" style. For the interior, Curtis borrowed freely from major
New York and European theaters, including such elements as the theater's elegantly
curved horseshoe balcony, wood-turned decorations on boxes, and the ornate pressed-metal
proscenium. The
hall boasted excellent acoustics and functioned for nearly one hundred years as
the center of the community, with diverse offerings ranging from minstrel shows,
light opera, and dramas, to musical recitals, political speeches, graduations,
religious services, and talent shows. Eventually
the opera house fell into such a state of disrepair that it was closed in 1981
and was slated for demolition in 1983. That plan brought public outcry and the
establishment of the Fredonia Preservation Society, which lobbied to save the
building. The Society raised public and private funds to finance the renovations,
but most of the labor was volunteer. The rehabilitation was completed in November
of 1994. Since
its reopening, the 440 seat opera house has offered a wide range of musical and
theatrical programs, as well as maintaining its historic function as a community
center. Primarily a presenting organization, rather than producing, the Fredonia
Opera House presents music, theater, and dance programs as well as a film series.
It hosts a wide variety of community events, including choral recitals, weddings,
and League of Women Voters debates. One
of the most interesting things about the Fredonia Opera House is that while it
is an elegant and intimate concert and recital hall, it is housed in a working
municipal building with the mayor's office and the police department down the
hall and the village court upstairs. | 
