The Central City Opera House was built in 1878 by Welsh and Cornish miners in the historic gold mining town of Central City. A National Historic Landmark and the town’s centerpiece, it enjoyed early glory after its grand opening, then fell into disrepair when the Central City mines were played out. In 1932, a volunteer-driven restoration effort led by Ida Kruse McFarlane, Edna Chappel, and Anne Evens restored the opera house, and that summer Lillian Gish opened it with Camille, launching an annual tradition of summer festivals that continues to this day. Since 1932, it has hosted performances of the nation’s fifth-oldest opera company, and today Central City Opera’s National Summer Festival draws patrons from across the country and abroad to its 550 seat opera house. Among the stars who have performed in the summer festivals are Beverly Sills, Jerome Hines, Helen Hays, Samual Ramey, and Catherine Malfitano. The company’s successful commissions include The Ballad of Baby Doe by Douglas Moore, which premiered in 1956, The Face on the Ballroom Floor by Henry Mollicone, premiered in 1978, and Gabriel’s Daughter by Henry Mallicone, which had its world premiere in 2003. Directed for many years by John Moriarty, Central City’s Bonfils-Stanton Foundation Artists Training Program gained national recognition, and Moriarty is now Central City’s Artistic Director Emeritus.