Lyric Opera San Diego is a San Diego, California base theatre company specialising in Comic opera, Operetta, and Musical theatre. The company was founded in 1979, primarily for the purpose of performing Gilbert and Sullivan operettas. At the time it was known as the San Diego Gilbert and Sullivan Company. The focus of the company changed in 1990, when Leon Natker was hired as General Director, and the company was renamed San Diego Comic Opera. The mission was revised: “To provide a regional model for the production of Comic Opera, Operetta, and Musical Theater that develops new generations of artists and audiences by producing a season of fully mounted productions and education programs.”