Transitions

Jen Benoit-Bryan has joined SMU DataArts as research director, replacing Glenn Voss, who has retired. Benoit Bryan is a member of OPERA America’s Learning and Leadership Council.

Seattle Opera has appointed Marissa Betz-Zall as chief financial officer and Angela Gist as chief operations officer.

New Orleans Opera announced that General and Artistic Direc­tor Clare Burovac will step down at the end of the current season.

President Biden has appointed 24 members to the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, an advisory body to the president on cultural policy. Among the appointees are Laura Penn, executive director of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, as well as figures like Jon Batiste, Lady Gaga, and Anna Deavere Smith.

Wayne S. Brown announced that he will step down as pres­ident and CEO of Detroit Opera at the end of the 2023–2024 sea­son. Brown is an emeritus board member of OPERA America.

Lawrence Edelson has been appointed general director of Chi­cago Opera Theater, succeeding Ashley Magnus. Edelson will con­tinue as artistic and general direc­tor of American Lyric Theater.

On Site Opera announced that Eric Einhorn will step down as general and artistic director at the end of the 2023 season. Piper Gunnarson, the company’s executive direc­tor since 2017, is taking on the mantle of general director/CEO.

David Hamilton has retired as general director of Fargo-Moorhead Opera.

Katherine Powers, who most recently served as founding director of vocal arts at Cal­ifornia School of the Arts, has joined Pacific Opera Proj­ect as executive director.

Boston Lyric Opera has hired Yong-Hee Silver as chief philanthropy officer and Ishan Johnson as deputy chief philanthropy officer.

Kudos

Rhiannon Giddens and Michael Abels won the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for Music for their opera Omar, a co-commission of Bos­ton Lyric Opera, Carolina Per­forming Arts, LA Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, and Spoleto Festival USA. The opera also received funding in 2019 from OPERA America.

San Francisco Opera awarded its highest honor, the San Francisco Opera Medal, to bass-baritone Simon Estes, who performed with the company in 10 productions from the late 1960s to early 1980s.

The American Academy of Teach­ers of Singing (AATS) honored Marc A. Scorca, president/CEO of OPERA America, with its 2023 Life­time Achievement Award “in rec­ognition of decades-long work galvanizing the field of opera.”

The San Diego chapter of the Ameri­can Marketing Association bestowed its 2023 Sandie Award for Excel­lence in Branding to San Diego Opera for its 2022–2023 rebrand­ing campaign, created in part­nership with Esser Design.

In partnership with tenor George Shirley, Opera on Tap launched the George Shirley Opera Access Fund, which will support the opera com­pany’s Playground Opera Program.

Bass-baritone Ryan Speedo  Green won the Metropolitan  Opera’s 2023 Beverly Sills Artist  Award, a $50,000 prize that recognizes an extraordinarily gifted singer with a rising Met career.

LA Opera awarded its 2023 Eva and Marc Stern Artist Award to conductor Lina González-Grana­dos and bass-baritone Nicho­las Brownlee in recognition of their artistic contribu­tions to the company. They will split the $50,000 award.

Washington National Opera hon­ored Katherine Goforth with its inaugural True Voice Award, designed to support the train­ing and increase the visibility of trans and nonbinary singers. The award includes a $5,000 prize, artistic coaching, and per­formance opportunities.

At the 51st annual George and Nora London Foundation Competition, the top prizes of $12,000 each went to soprano Erika Baikoff, countertenor Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen, tenor Ricardo Garcia, soprano Amber R. Monroe, and soprano Karoline Podolak.

In Memoriam

Grace Bumbry, the trailblazing singer who became one of opera’s first Black superstars, died on May 7 at age 86. Bumbry launched her career after studying with Lotte Lehmann and winning the 1958 Metropolitan Opera National Coun­cil Auditions. She made her Paris Opera debut, as Amneris, in 1960 and in 1961 caused an interna­tional sensation when, in a pro­duction of Tannhäuser, she became the first Black woman to sing at the Bayreuth Festival. Offers from the world’s great opera houses fol­lowed, and Jacqueline Kennedy invited her to sing at the White House. She debuted at the Met in 1965 and at San Francisco Opera in 1966. In her early career, she con­centrated on mezzo-soprano roles but soon took on the soprano rep­ertoire, as well. The list of her Met roles includes Carmen, Lady Mac­beth, Orfeo, Tosca, and many oth­ers. After her 1997 retirement from opera, Bumbry continued to give recitals and also turned to teach­ing. In 2009, she received a Ken­nedy Center Honor, and in 2022, she was inducted into OPERA America’s Opera Hall of Fame.

The German theater and opera director Jürgen Flimm, who led opera houses including the Berlin State Opera and Salzburg Festival, died on February 4 at age 81. His work was seen stateside at the Metropolitan Opera, where he directed Fidelio (2000) and Salome (2004).

James Maraniss, librettist of the opera Life Is a Dream, died on January 9 at age 76. A professor of Spanish and European studies at Amherst College, Marannis collaborated with composer and fellow Amherst professor Lewis Spratlan on the opera from 1975 to 1978. (See Lewis Spratlan, below.)

The British conductor Kenneth Montgomery died on March 5 at age 19. Montgomery conducted 145 performances at the Santa Fe Opera from 1982 to 2014 and led several productions at San Diego Opera, beginning in 1991 with Carlisle Floyd’s The Passion of Jonathan Wade.

Edward Lee “Lee” Perry, a board member of Boston Lyric Opera and generous supporter of OPERA America, died on March 16 at age 76. Perry was among the lon­gest serving trustees in Bos­ton Lyric Opera’s history and also served on the board of the New England Conservatory of Music. He is survived by his wife, Slo­cumb “Cokie” Perry, also a gener­ous supporter of OPERA America and its National Opera Center.

Arts educator and composer Nicolas Reveles died on March 1 at age 74. Reveles served for more than two decades as San Diego Opera’s director of educa­tion and community engagement and wrote two children’s operas for the company. In April of this year, SDO presented the world premiere of his opera Ghosts.

The tenor and actor Joaquin Romaguera died in May on 9 at age 90. From the 1960s through the 1980s, Romaguera was a mainstay of the New York City Opera, where he sang mainly character roles. He created the role of Pirelli in the original 1979 Broadway production of Sweeney Todd.

Lewis Spratlan, composer of the Pulitzer Prize-winning opera Life Is a Dream, died on Febru­ary 9 at age 82. A music profes­sor at Amherst College, Spratlan conceived of Life Is a Dream in the 1970s and called upon fel­low Amherst professor James Maraniss to write the libretto. The opera lay dormant from its completion in 1978 until 2000, when it received a partial con­cert performance, garnering Spratlan the Pulitzer. In 2010, the Santa Fe Opera presented the world premiere of the com­plete opera. Spratlan’s output includes orchestral and cham­ber works, as well as three addi­tional operas: Earthrise (2002), Architect (2013), and Midi (2017).

The Russian bass and voice teacher Nikita Storojev died on April 17 at age 73. After enjoying an international stage career in the 1980s and 90s, Storojev taught voice at Butler School of Music at the University of Texas at Austin from 2001 to 2022.

Helen Vanni, who sang both mezzo-soprano and soprano repertoire, died on March 5 at age 99. From the mid-1950s to early 1970s, Vanni appeared over 400 times at the Metropol­itan Opera, often singing char­acter roles like the Priestess in Aida and Flora in La traviata. She was also a mainstay at the New York City Opera and the Santa Fe Opera. After retiring from the stage, Vanni taught at Man­hattan School of Music and the Cleveland Institute of Music.

Virginia Zeani, a leading soprano of the 20^th century, died on March 20 at age 97. A native of Romania, Zeani rose to international star­dom in the 1950s in roles like Vio­letta in La traviata, Elvira in I puritani, and the title role of Lucia di Lammermoor. She conquered a remarkably wide swath of the soprano repertoire — some 69 roles in all — and also created the role of Blanche in the 1957 premiere of Dia­logues of the Carmelites. Zeani served on the voice faculty of Jacobs School of Music at Indiana Univer­sity Bloomington from 1980 until her retirement in 2004. OPERA America inducted Zeani into its Opera Hall of Fame in 2022.