Asheville Lyric Opera Puccini's "La bohème" in conjunction with the Asheville Symphony Orchestra. Past performances have included guest singers, conductors and directors who have performed across the U.S. and internationally. Soprano Susan Dunn gave a recital as part of the company's first season in 1999, and in 2001, the company presented Rossini's "The Barber of Seville" with Rockwell Blake in the role of Count Almaviva. The company began touring with their 2003/2004 season and has brought productions to Indiana, Georgia, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. The 2006–2007 season saw an expansion to three full opera productions along with an "education opera" performance
Palmo's Opera House the Vicomte de Serval. The company went on to present the first opera by Giuseppe Verdi ever staged in the United States, "I Lombardi alla prima crociata" on March 3, 1847. Other operas staged that year at Palmo's included the New York premiere of "Lucrezia Borgia" and another staging of "The Barber of Seville". Despite making some notable achievements, the Sanquirico-Patti Opera company did not fare well financially against a new opera rival in the city, the touring Havana Opera Company, partly due to the much nicer accommodations and better production value at the Park Theatre where the Havana company