New York is famous for the Metropolitan Opera but the city is home to more than 50 smaller opera companies, performing everywhere from parks to bars to private homes.

In a first-of-a-kind festival, an alliance of the small companies is putting on performances across New York, hoping to reach new audiences but also to cross-pollinate by showing opera aficionados the breadth of offerings across the metropolis.

The New York Opera Alliance chooses not to define "opera" or to set quality benchmarks, admitting to its fold any group that thinks it fits the bill and can chip in $75.