The New Orleans Theater for the Performing Arts opened in 1973, considered by many to be the long-awaited replacement for the city’s old French Opera House, which burned to the ground in 1919.  Its inaugural concert was a memorable performance by native bass-baritone opera singer Norman Treigle, who performed Giuseppi Verdi’s Requiem Mass with the New Orleans Symphony.

For decades the theater provided the Crescent City with world-class performances of music, …more…