Opera Lyra Ottawa is a professional opera company founded in 1984 by soprano Diana Gilchrist after the demise of the National Arts Centre's summer festival opera productions. The company's current leadership team is General Director, Elizabeth Howarth and Artistic Director Tyrone Paterson. Heading into its 25th anniversary 2009-10 season, Opera Lyra Ottawa (OLO) presents two fully staged productions each year, one opera-in-concert and a number of emerging artist activities and special events.

In 1986 the company moved to the National Arts Centre's 2,100 seat concert house, Southam Hall, for its staged presentations, often contracting the National Arts Centre Orchestra for instrumental accompaniment. It also has given concert performances of operas, evenings of opera excerpts, and concerts featuring the music of composers such as Kurt Weill, Andrew Lloyd Webber, and Stephen Sondheim. In 1988 Opera Lyra Ottawa took its staged production of La bohème to Kingston, Ontario. The Opera Lyra Ottawa Guild also presents DVD screenings of operas at Library and Archives Canada throughout the year and pre-show opera discussions.

Ottawa (ⁱ/ˈɒtəwɑː/ or /ˈɒtəwə/) is the capital of Canada. It is the second largest city in Ontario and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, located on the north bank of the Ottawa River; together they form the National Capital Region (NCR).

Founded in 1826 as Bytown and incorporated as "Ottawa" in 1855, the city has evolved into a political and technological centre of Canada. Its original boundaries were expanded through numerous minor annexations and ultimately replaced by a new city incorporation and major amalgamation in 2001 which significantly increased its land area. The name "Ottawa" is derived from the Algonquin word adawe, meaning "to trade". Initially an Irish and French Christian settlement, Ottawa has become a multicultural city with a diverse population.

The 2011 census had the city's population as 883,391, and the metropolitan population as 1,236,324.Mercer ranks Ottawa with the second highest quality of living of any large city in the Americas, and 14th highest in the world. It is also rated the second cleanest city in Canada, and third cleanest city in the world. In 2012, the city was ranked for the third consecutive year as the best community in Canada to live in by MoneySense.

Jonathan Estabrooks (born Ottawa, Canada, 1983) is a Canadian baritone. He was a member of the Opera Lyra Ottawa Boys Choir and Opera Lyra Chorus. He first sang with orchestra in 1994 as the Shepherd Boy in Tosca by Puccini. In 1993 he joined the Company of Musical Theatre, appearing is such productions as Annie, Oliver! as 'Oliver Twist', the Will Rogers Follies and West Side Story.

In October 1999, he sang as part of a choir for the opening of a new US Embassy in Ottawa, Canada.

He earned his Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Toronto and his Masters of Music degree from the Juilliard School, where he was a student of Marlena Malas. He is a graduate of Ashbury College. He has also coached with Brian Zeger, Joan Dornemann, Craig Rutenberg, Margo Garrett, Nico Castel, Joan Dornemann and Denise Masse.

Estabrooks sang with the Juilliard Orchestra for the New York Premiere of Siarra a work for baritone and orchestra as part of the 2009 Juilliard Focus Festival. Jonathan was a finalist in the 2007 Bryan Law Opera Competition and the 2009 Lyndon Woodside Solo Competition performed at Carnegie Hall. He made his National Arts Centre Orchestra debut in 2007 with Pinchas Zukerman conducting and his National Arts Center recital debut in 2009 .