The company was formed in 1972 as the Montgomery Savoyards but changed its name in 1981, since its performers, musicians and patrons are drawn from all over the Washington, DC metropolitan area. For its first three decades, the company performed primarily the operas of Gilbert and Sullivan. It began performing in church halls and a high school. In 1982, it moved to the Trinity Theatre in Georgetown, Washington. In 1987, it transferred to the Duke Ellington Theatre at the Duke Ellington School for the Arts, also in Georgetown, which served as its home for ten years.