Our Story
Pico Opera was founded in 2023 and is a company of young artists affiliated with MIT. We consist of both professional and amateur musicians, with special dedication to fostering inclusive opportunities for the MIT community. As such, we welcome talented singers in the greater Boston area, as well as MIT affiliates, with MIT affiliates in particular coming from different levels of experience. Our 2025 seasons have featured artists from a variety of local universities, including MIT, Harvard, the Boston Conservatory, Longy, Boston University and Wellesley. Our goal is to put up intimate, high production value operas while making opera accessible to diverse audiences and artists of all levels. We strive to provide opportunities for each member of the company, including our ensemble, to shine as soloists and to develop their skills in a positive environment.
MIT Roots
MIT is without doubt a place with the ability and tendency to attract and foster individuals with lofty goals and diverse talents. Pico Opera is just yet another confluence of such a group of individuals. Pico Opera started out as a simple idea of a few members and friends of the MIT Chamber Chorus. “How about we do some singing over the summer?” An innocent enough idea. Little did we know at the time the proportions to which this would grow.
In the Fall of 2023, under the name of MIT’s “Pocket Opera Productions,” Pico Opera put up its first ever performance: a semi-staged performance of Gioachino Rossini’s La Cenerentola ossia La bontà in trionfo. An ambitious enough undertaking as it was, it was also an incredible learning experience, leading us to expand and build a vision for a new opera company.
Pico Opera
In the Fall of 2024, MIT Pocket Opera Productions incorporated as a Non-Profit organization in the state of Massachusetts as Pico Opera to grow our audience and demonstrate our commitment to bringing opera to the Cambridge community. Now in our 5th season, our aim is to continue to foster opportunities for young artists and expand the opportunities to perform and appreciate bel canto masterworks in Cambridge.
