George Frideric Handel's Agrippina will be performed in Virginia for the first time ever when Virginia Opera raises the curtain on its premiere production Jan. 26, featuring a talented and attractive cast in a staging designed to truly capture the spirit of Handel's satirically comedic work.

Virginia Opera opens its 2007-2008 season Sept. 28, 2007 with a new production of Jacques Offenbach's tragic THE TALES OF HOFFMANN - last staged in 1989 - in which a poet tells the fantastical stories of his three great loves and how they ended in misery due to the meddling incarnations of a supernatural villain. Beautiful French soprano Manon Strauss Evrard makes her company debut as Olympia, Giulietta, Antonia and Stella.

The Mariners' Museum successfully raises $4 million to meet Frank Batten 2:1 $2 million matching gift for $30 million USS Monitor Center Capital Campaign. Additional $6 million marks important campaign milestone for USS Monitor Center.