Opera Gold their full vocal demands. This philosophy has enabled many singers to go on to work for Opera Houses abroad without too much difficulty. The company has also staged productions of John Blow's "Venus and Adonis" (2004); Henry Purcell's "Dido and Aeneas" (2005); Mozart's "Die Zauberflöte" (2006); Bizet's "Carmen" (2007); Britten's "Peter Grimes" (2008); Mozart's "Le Nozze di Figaro" (2009); Verdi's "Rigoletto" (2010); Puccini's "La Bohème" (2011); Verdi's "La Traviata" (2012); Britten's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" (2013) and a reprise of Mozart's" Die Zauberflöte" (2014). The 2015 production will be Johann Strauss II's "Die Fledermaus" with a guest conductor. Distinguished singers
James W. Grimes the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. In 1861 Grimes was a member of the peace convention held in Washington, D.C., in an effort to devise means to prevent the impending Civil War. In December 1861, he introduced the senate bill which led to the creation of the Medal of Honor (initially only for Navy and Marine personnel). During President Andrew Johnson's impeachment trial, Grimes broke party ranks, along with six other Republican senators and voted for acquittal. Senators William Pitt Fessenden, Joseph S. Fowler, Grimes, John B. Henderson, Lyman Trumbull, Peter G. Van Winkle, and Edmund G. Ross