Dayton Performing Arts Alliance

Dayton Philharmonic - Founded in 1933, the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra (DPO) has a distinguished place as one of the Miami Valley's oldest and longest standing cultural institutions. A regional orchestra with 76 contracted musicians and rich in artistic tradition, the Philharmonic is proud to call the world class, state of the art Benjamin and Marion Schuster Performing Arts Center its home. The Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra is one of the three crowning jewels, alongside Dayton Ballet and Dayton Opera, in a ground-breaking and innovative merger initiated in 2012, forging three art forms into one organization named The Dayton Performing Arts Alliance. DPO Artistic Director and Conductor Neal Gittleman inspires each listener's imagination with his unique programming, in-depth comments, easy-going style, and infectious enthusiasm for music. He shares in the DPAA's goal to be the indispensable source for traditional, diverse and innovative experiences in ballet, opera and orchestral music. The Dayton Philharmonic proudly presents a wide variety of genres throughout each season, including masterworks, superpops, rockin orchestra and family programs totaling 40-60 stunning performances each season.

Dayton Opera - The Dayton Opera performed its first season in 1961-1962. In 2003, Dayton Opera moved to its new home at the State-of-the-art Benjamin and Marian Schuster Performing Arts Center, enabling the company to produce bigger and better productions in an acoustically superior theatre. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Kathleen Clawson, Dayton Opera presents four to five productions each season, from engaging operas from the classic repertoire, such as The Barber of Seville and Madame Butterfly and producing groundbreaking new works, such as the Consul and Dead Man Walking, created by thought-provoking 20th century composers to grand sweeping operatic events, from Aida to La Boheme to Carmen. In 2023, the first performance of Wagner in Dayton in a half century drew large, young audiences to the Dayton Opera's own, brand-new production of Das Rheingold, and the opera saw its most diverse audience ever with a production of Charlie Parker's Yardbird. Dayton Opera has proven itself as a world-class opera company, attracting richly talented singers and stage directors from across the country and around the world.

Dayton Ballet - The third oldest ballet company in the United States, Dayton Ballet is known for its innovative and collaborative endeavors. As a dance company committed to producing and presenting new work as well as promoting ballets by evolving choreographers, the Dayton Ballet proudly presented it 85th season of performances with the 2022-2023 season. Dayton Ballet hosts a season of four to five performances that includes familiar traditional story ballets, such as Cinderella, Peter Pan, Romeo and Juliet and Swan Lake, the classic family friendly holiday staple the Nutcracker and new and innovative works. Recent favorites have included Halloween-themed Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Dracula: Bloodlines. The historic 1,139 seat Victoria Theatre and the state-of-the-art 2,300 seat Schuster Center are both home to the Dayton Ballet.

Learning and Community Engagement - Programs in education help build the audiences of the future. DPAA'S programs include two distinguished pre-professional programs: The second-oldest youth orchestra in the United States, The Dayton Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, founded in 1938, and the second-oldest Ballet School in the United States, The Dayton Ballet School, founded in 1927, which includes the pre-professional performance ensemble Dayton Ballet II. A wide range of concert experiences for children and youth immerse them in the joys of Ballet, Opera and Orchestra performance in the concert hall, and traveling programs bring the arts into classrooms and schools across fourteen countries. The Q The Music Program in Dayton Public Schools provides intensive, daily, after-school string and wind ensemble instruction to elementary- and middle-school students that serve low-income neighborhoods and provide a clear and solid path to high school success and college admission.