This article was original published in The Denver Post on November 25, 2007.
Boston Lyric Opera. Chicago Opera Theater. Houston Grand Opera. Michigan Opera Theatre. Minnesota Opera. Opera Theatre of St. Louis. San Francisco Opera.
Not only are these among the largest and most important opera companies in the country, they also happen to be the kind of heady company in which Opera Colorado has found itself with its recent co-productions.
Add in some of the star artists the company has recently engaged, such as Stephanie Blythe, Elizabeth Futral and Samuel Ramey, and the sheer quality of its productions, and it’s clear that Opera Colorado has become a major regional opera company.
Much of the credit belongs to the company’s former leadership duo of Peter Russell and James Robinson, who nicely complemented each other and brought strong resumes and an abundance of national connections to their respective posts.
Given their success, it was a shock to learn a few months ago that the two were departing.
Robinson, artistic director since 1999, announced he was leaving effective September 2008 to take what was later revealed to be an equivalent position with the Opera Theatre of St. Louis, one of the nation’s top summer festivals. Russell, who took over as president and general director in 2001, chose to leave at the same time, and his next move is not clear.
Those are big shoes to fill. The company moved immediately to replace Russell by promoting Greg Carpenter, the company’s director of development, to the new position of executive director.
This was a risky choice, considering that Carpenter has no experience running an opera company and does not have Russell’s broad operatic background. But the former opera singer has a wealth of administrative experience of his own, and deserves this chance.
Given that Carpenter is a novice in his new position, it is imperative that the company replace Robinson with a seasoned veteran of similar national stature — someone who already has an established presence and a wealth of those all-important contacts in the field.
As Robinson himself has suggested, it would provide a useful counterbalance to his tenure if that person came from the musical end of the business. And the obvious choice was in the pit for the company’s recent production of “La Traviata” — conductor Stephen Lord, a regular Opera Colorado guest artist.
Lord, whom Opera News recently named as one of the 25 most powerful figures in the field, is stepping down at the end of this season as music director of the Boston Lyric Opera, potentially providing time in his schedule for a post in Colorado.
Whatever leadership team ultimately emerges, Opera Colorado will face a range of challenges in the future including these key ones:
It will need to keep the artistic momentum going. That means maintaining the same strong talent audiences have begun to expect and raising its sights even higher — embarking on such initiatives as the commission of a new opera.
The company must not back away from the adventuresome, often updated stagings that Robinson championed, yet, at the same time, it must establish a suitable balance with more traditional approaches that some of the company’s core audiences continue to demand.
Russell increased cash reserves in the company’s endowment from $275,000 to $1.5 million during his tenure, but that amount is still way too low. To ensure the long-term viability of the company and take pressure off year-to-year fundraising, that fund must be significantly boosted.
This leadership transition can either be a time of retrenchment or continuing artistic growth. It all depends on the vision and courage of the company’s board and the effectiveness of the leadership team it assembles.
Fine arts critic Kyle MacMillan: 303-954-1675 or kmacmillan @denverpost.com.
The article has been corrected in this online archive. Because of an editing error, the name of a Mozart opera mentioned in the caption of the above photo was incorrect. The name of the opera is “The Abduction From the Seraglio.”
