We are: Opera by the Glass, a community of singers, directors, and musicians devoted to providing fantastic live experiences that are also relaxed and easy going. Utilizing fun, intimate, and unique venues, our concept emerges from the movement which throws away the stodgy rigid performance styles of the past yet keeps the tenets of great singing and expert level musicality.


Our goal:  To present the seldom-performed bel canto opera, The Sleepwalker, in its original Italian with English supertitles by the Italian composer Vincenzo Bellini - right here in our own Ventura County. 

Save the date:  There will be two performances on Friday, November 4th at 8 pm and Sunday, November 6th at 2:30 pm in Ventura County's charming historical landmark building, the Somis Thursday Club, at 5380 Bell St. in Somis, California.

Our opera features the internationally recognized
director and performer Zeffin Quinn Hollis as Stage Director, as well as Timothy Leon as Music Director, Conductor and Chorus Master.  Hana Chelberg, coloratura soprano, will sing the role of Amina, Alex Mendoza, tenor,  performs the role of Elvino, and Dianna Burdick, lyric soprano, will be singing the role of Lisa.

We need your help: Please join us in bringing live opera performances to Ventura County.  Our promise is to produce our opera in the most low-cost
 and efficient way possible without sacrificing excellence. However, directors, singers, musicians, costumes, and venue do cost money, and your kind donation will help us make this beautiful dream into glorious reality.  We are grateful to everyone who decides to make a gift to Opera by the Glass today.  We appreciate each and every one of you.  Welcome to the music!

  $1000+          Founding Angel - Brings permanent recognition for founding seed money and a table for 2-4  with a DVD of all performances
  $250+             Patron -  Guaranteed table for 2-4 near to the stage and program recognition
  $150+             Supporter - Guaranteed table for 2-4 
  $1-$149        Friend - Recognition for your gift

Our story:  The Sleepwalker ("La Sonnambula" in Italian) subsists on the dissidence between the conscious versus the unconscious. A Phantom haunts the inhabitants of a village ghoulishly appearing in the dead of night. During the day everyone is outwardly happy and content; all the while concealing an underbelly of darkness, loneliness, and jealousy that comes out at night. The story embarks at the preparations for the wedding of Amina and Elvino. When the new Lord of the village returns after an absence of many years, Elvino questions Amina's purity and her reputation begins to crumble. Was the phantom at work here? A love triangle? Can love survive through a cloud of suspicion?

This magnificent romantic opera is composer Vincenzo Bellini's finest example of the school of singing known as bel canto, where the beauty of voice and the virtuosity of the singers is integral to conveying the actions and emotions at the heart of the story. The leading roles of Amina and Elvino are renowned for their difficulty and high tessitura. The plot weaves themes of jealousy and trust, loyalty and abandonment, friendship and love, madness and pain and ultimately reconciliation and reunion. Its gentle pace and muted eroticism are both haunting and atmospheric.

   Here is an excerpt of Amina's climactic aria performed at March 2016's "Night at the Opera" concert with the Channel Island Chamber Orchestra or CHICO, under the baton of Dr. KuanFen Liu, Hana Chelberg, soprano.

A little taste...