Opera Lafayette Orchestra

The Opera Lafayette Orchestra is the instrumental ensemble of Opera Lafayette, which is based in Washington, D.C. and focuses on rare and recently re-discovered French-language opera composed between 1600 and 1900. The orchestra performs as much as possible on period instruments, to truly bring these precious historical works to life. The ensemble is critically acclaimed for its performances of French Baroque operas, producing over a dozen high-quality recordings of operas including Gluck's Orphée et Euridice (2005), Lully's Armide (2008), Félicien David's Lalla Roukh (2014), and Edmond Dédé's Morgiane (2025). Patrick Dupré Quigley has been artistic director since 2025. Among its core group of world-class vocalists are Jean-Paul Fouchécourt, Emiliano Gonzalez Toro, and Nathalie Paulin.