HAUTE Opera is a Black and queer-founded and LGBTQIA+-focused opera company presenting events that celebrate diverse performers, composers, and perspectives. Conceived in 2016 by bass-baritone Waiton Farrell as the Starch & Glitter Concert Series, we rebranded in 2022 as HAUTE Opera to further our vision of becoming the most stylish and welcoming opera company. Through intimate in-person events and virtual engagement, we seek to bring opera to the masses in a way it has not yet been experienced, combining our love of art and fashion with the world of opera , art song, and musical theatre.
We seek to shatter the expectations of the traditional opera world through developing events and performances by and for the BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ community of music-lovers. This table is for all, and you are welcome with us.
For 2024-2025 we will present events in Berlin, as well as virtual concerts with collaborators in the US, Canada, London, and Paris. Your support of our upcoming projects is appreciated, and all funds raised go to pay our musicians, costume designers, stage crew, videographers, audio engineers, and venues.

Welcome HOme.

Our Upcoming Events:

10.13.2022 - Stratospheric, An Evening With HAUTE Opera - Intimate fundraiser in San Francisco, featuring piano, soprano, and bass-baritone. (PAST EVENT)
16.06.23 - 18.06.23 - Plummet Upwards, a concert and art exhibition featuring bass-baritone and piano, inspired by Icarus' plummet from the sky and the lessons found in failure and personal growth. Works by multi-media queer artist Sean Alistair will be on display. Curated by Waiton Farrell and presented at The Ballery, in Berlin (PAST EVENT)
7.10.24 (Berlin, Germany; Exact date TBA) - Songs for the Forlorn - World Premiere of Five-Part Song Cycle. Composed by Rosśa Crean for bass-baritone and soprano saxophone. Libretto by Jude O'Dell.
13.10.24 - 27.10.24 (Berlin, Germany) - Dreadful Blossoms - a haunting evening featuring bass-baritone and piano, inspired by the exquisitely seductive “Flowers of Evil” poems by Baudelaire and the secret doors of Bluebeard's Castle. Featuring bass-baritone Waiton Farrell and pianist Utako Washio. Read more about our concept here
13.12.24 (Berlin, Germany) - Whispers of Winter, featuring queer and BIPOC singers and instrumentalists.
- 31.10.25 - A multi-faceted queer reimagining of Béla Bartók’s opera Herzog Blaubarts Burg (“Bluebeard’s Castle”), presented as a music video.

Our Previous Events:

Starch & Glitter - Concert ; May 2016 (San Francisco, CA)

A Clockwork Cadence - Concert ; May 2017 (SF, CA)

Colour Me Yours - Concert ; August 2018 (SF, CA)

Reaper Madness - Concert ; October 2019 (SF, CA)

Sanguine Seductions - Concert ; October 2021 (SF, CA)

Stratospheric, An Evening with HAUTE Opera - Concert & Fundraiser ; October 2022 (SF,CA)

Plummet Upwards - Concerts & Art Exhibition ; June 2023 (Berlin, Germany)

HAUTE Opera: 2024-2025 Concerts & Art Exhibitions

Support HAUTE Opera, a Black and queer-founded, LGBTQIA+ focused opera company now based in Berlin, Germany.

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