The OCP is a co-commissioner of Margaret Garner, a much-anticipated new work that premieres in Detroit in May and moves to Cincinnati in July before coming to Philadelphia in February 2006. Mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves stars as a runaway slave who sacrifices her children rather than see them returned to slavery; the cast also includes soprano Angela Brown and baritones Rodney Gilfry and Gregg Baker.

The season also includes a new production of Verdi's Un ballo in maschera, staged by OCP general director Robert B. Driver; Rossini's Barber of Seville; and Mozart's Marriage of Figaro, with bass-baritone Richard Bernstein and soprano Christine Brandes.