The Nation’s Leading
Disability-Affirmative
Opera Company

OPrak’s first audience in a garden on the Lower East Side of Manhattan - an enthusiastic crowd of people sitting in wheelchairs, garden chairs & benches all together for the opera ORLANDO

A New Genre of Opera

Opera Praktikos‬‭ (OPrak) is the nation’s leading disability-affirmative opera company.‬

We present a genre of opera that is interabled and champions disability-artistry as a creative force in the field.
Through deliberate reinterpretations of classical operas‬ and the commissioning of new works, we want our performers, arts-workers and audiences to authentically find themselves
in the stories we portray on stage.

We do this by honoring disability culture, fostering community and making great opera!

OPrak Core Values
Who we are

2026 - La Sonnambula
P-V-ASL Workshop

2025 - Spoon Theory
Song Cycle

Group of seven smiling people, including a man in a wheelchair, posed indoors with a large window decorated with holiday lights and greenery in the background.

2024 - There Will Be Cake!

Photo credit: Dan Wright Photography & José Alba Rodriguez

OPrak has operational support and institutional guidance from:

  • The New York City Department of Cultural Affairs

  • The New York City Disability Forward Fund

  • The NEA Grants for Arts Projects in Opera

  • OPERA America’s NYC Opera Grant: Supporting Small-Business Organizations supported by the Howard Gilman Foundation

  • Professional Company Member -

    • OPERA America

    • NY Opera Alliance

  • The DeVos Institute THRIVE Program

  • Ana De Archuleta: Business & Strategy Advisor

OPrak’s 5th & 6th season production - La Sonnambula

Illustration: Anne Beal

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An ambitious two-year process developing a classic opera
that is deeply familiar yet wholly original:

Piano-Vocal-ASL Workshop - June 18, 2026 at Balance Arts Center

Orchestral Concert with Integrated ASL - November 18, 2026 at National Sawdust

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Semi-Staged P-V-ASL Workshop - June 2027

Fully Staged Performance with Opera & American Sign Language - November 2027

OPrak’s 4th season production - Spoon Cycle

Illustration:
Anne Beal

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OPrak’s 3rd Season Production

There Will
Be Cake!

A sweet, site-specific musical drama pairing two mono-operas about memory and food, featuring words of wisdom from Julia Child herself! One short opera bakes us a chocolate cake, the other spreads joy! Mixed together, these mono-operas make for one hour of a delicious and joy-filled community event…and yes, there WILL be cake! Featuring Hailey McAvoy as Julia Child & Shanley Horvitz as Sara Carmichael (aka: the Fluffernutter Lady)

Opera Praktikos, Inc received operating support from OPERA America’s NYC Opera Grant: Supporting Small-Business Organizations, supported by the Howard Gilman Foundation.

Photo credit: Dan Wright Photography

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A woman wearing a polka dot apron and a red sweater holding a jar of marshmallow fluff with a spatula in her other hand, smiling, in front of a blue holiday-themed background with string lights.

Orlando:

Hero of Love

Our first production, in collaboration and partnership with Opera Essentia is a 75-minute, one act distillation of Handel's Baroque masterpiece. Orlando: Hero of Love asks eternal questions: What is Love? Who is a Hero? Where do our journeys lead?

Photo credit: Kyabell Glass

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Asian woman and black woman in an urban garden space embracing as Asian woman sings.
Support Opera Praktikos

Opera Praktikos is a 501c3 registered tax-exempt nonprofit organization.

Federal Tax ID: #88-3044485