Under the guidance of General Director Richard Bradshaw, this company has gained not only an enviable reputation throughout the world of opera, but, more importantly, acquired a near sold-out annual subscription series which generates a long and prosperous future. The coming 2000-01 season will include classics such as Verdi’s Otello and more contemporary pieces such as Britten’s Billy Budd. The COC has provided the world some talents of international fame, such as Ben Heppner, as well as the technical marvel of ‘surtitles’ - an elongated screen high above the stage now used by every opera company in the world to translate the foreign languages into their own.