Rosa introduced many works of important opera repertoire to England for the first time, performing some 150 different operas over the years. Besides Santley and Hersee, Minnie Hauk, Joseph Maas, Barton McGuckin and Giulia Warwick were some of the famous singers associated with the company during its early years. Rosa also encouraged and supported new works by English composers. Frederic Hymen Cowen's "Pauline" (1876), Arthur Goring Thomas's "Esmeralda" (1883), Alexander Mackenzie's "Colomba" (1883) and "The Troubabour", and Charles Villiers Stanford's "The Canterbury Pilgrims" (1884) were commissioned by the company. Earlier English operas by Wallace, Balfe and Julius Benedict were also included in the company's repertoire. An obituarist noted, "He had long looked forward to the time when Sir Arthur Sullivan would have undertaken a grand opera, and to the last had hoped to have been able to produce such a work." Shortly before his death, Rosa launched a light opera company that debuted with Robert Planquette's "Paul Jones".