Encompass New Opera Theatre is a professional opera company located in New York City which specializes in premiering new productions, and reviving 20th century operas by American and international composers. A member of Opera America, Encompass was founded in 1975 by Nancy Rhodes who remains the company's Artistic Director. Since its founding, Encompass has produced over 50 fully mounted operas with orchestra as well as staged readings of more than 150 new works.
The company's first production was Virgil Thomson's 1947 opera, The Mother of Us All. Other past productions have included:
In 2009 the company received an "Access to Artistic Excellence" from The National Endowment for the Arts to fund the world premiere production of The Theory of Everything by composer John David Earnest and librettist, Nancy Rhodes. Excerpts from the work in progress were presented at New York City Opera's VOX 2007 Festival.
Encompass has had three music directors in its history, Jack Gaughan (1975-1993), John Yaffé (1993-2008), and Mara Waldman (2008-present).