Transitions

Abbigail Coté has joined Eugene Opera as executive director. She previously served as lecturer of opera at the University of Michigan. She previously served as lecturer of opera at the University of Michigan.

Florida Grand Opera has announced the resignation of Susan T. Danis, its general director and CEO since 2012.

At OPERA San Antonio, Madeline Elizando has been promoted for education coordinator to director of education and outreach. The company has hired Jenna Jernigan, most recently director of patron development and engagement at the San Antonio Symphony, as director of engagement. 

Calgary Opera has welcomed Sue Elliott as general director and CEO. Elliott most recently served as chief audience officer at the Norman Rockwell Museum and pre­viously held posts at Seattle Opera and Houston Grand Opera. She is an alumna of OPERA America’s former Fellowship Program.

Central City Opera has appointed Scott Finlay, the company’s vice president of development, as its new president and CEO.

Anthony Freud, Lyric Opera of Chicago’s general director, pres­ident, and CEO, has announced that he will retire in summer 2024 after leading the company for 11 years. Before joining Lyric, Freud was general director of Hous­ton Grand Opera from 2006–2011 and of Welsh National Opera from 1994–2005. He served on OPERA America’s board of direc­tors for a total of 16 years over two terms, including four years as board chair, and before that served as chair of Opera Europa.

Vancouver Opera has hired Kayleigh Harrison, a communications specialist and consultant, as director of development.

San Francisco Opera has appointed Georgi Kelly, most recently vice president of development for the public radio station KQED, as chief philanthropy officer.

Ebony Menefield, formerly education manager at OPERA America, has been appointed executive director of Amer­ican Lyric Theater.

Perry Payne Millner, who pre­viously worked for organiza­tions including the Virginia Theatre Association and the Virginia Department of Health, has joined Opera on the James as executive director. The company’s general director, Peter Leonard, has transitioned to producing artistic director.

Conductor Timothy Myers has joined Spoleto Festival USA as music director, adding to his role as music director of Austin Opera.

The Metropolitan Opera has announced that Chorus Master Donald Palumbo will step down at the end of the 2023–2024 season.

Detroit Opera has announced that Patty Isacson Sabee will be its next president and CEO, effective January 2024. Sabee is currently executive director of Planet World, an immersive language experience in Washington, D.C., and was pre­viously CEO and director of Seat­tle’s Museum of Pop Culture.

OPERA America has hired Todd Porter as chief of staff, a newly created role. Porter most recently served as general man­ager of Georgetown University’s department of performing arts and before that was direc­tor of residence life and assis­tant dean at The Juilliard School.

Kudos

The Republic of Austria hon­ored conductor James Conlon, music director of LA Opera, with its Cross of Honor for Science and Art. This state decoration honors those who have “distin­guished themselves and earned general acclaim through espe­cially superior creative and com­mendable services in the areas of the sciences or the arts.”

Tenor David Portillo is one of the 2024 recipients of the Sphinx Medals of Excellence, the high­est honor given by the Sphinx Organization. The award, which includes a $50,000 career grant, recognizes extraordinary classi­cal Black and Latinx musicians.

San Francisco Opera awarded its 2023 Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Emerging Star of the Year Award to soprano Yaritza Véliz in recognition of her company debut in El último sueño de Frida y Diego. The award, which includes prize of $10,000, was voted on by audience members.

In Memoriam

The Italian soprano Renata Scotto, considered one of foremost sing­ing actors of her generation, died on August 16 at age 89. Scotto stud­ied voice as a teenager in Milan and made her professional debut in 1952 at the age the 18, singing Violetta in La traviata in her hometown of Savona, Italy. She rose to interna­tional prominence five years later when she stepped in for an ailing Maria Callas to sing the lead role of La sonnambula at the Edinburgh Festival. For the next four decades, Scotto was a starring soprano at the world’s leading opera houses, earning a devoted following for her sensitive portrayals of some 50 roles in all. She was most closely associated with the operas of Donizetti, Verdi, and Puccini — with Cio-Cio-San becoming one of her signature roles — though she took on a diverse repertoire that also included French, Ger­man, and Russian works.

Scotto made her U.S. debut in 1960 at Lyric Opera of Chicago, singing Mimì in La bohème, and five years later made her Met debut in Madama Butterfly. Over the next 22 years, she went on to sing 26 roles in more than 300 perfor­mances at the Met, appearing in nine of the company’s live tele­casts. In 1976, she became the first soprano to sing all three leading roles in Il trittico in a single per­formance at the Met. After retir­ing from the stage in 2002, Scotto focused on coaching and reg­ularly worked with members of the Met’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program.

The Swedish dramatic soprano Berit Lindholm died on August 12 at age 88. From the 1960s through 1980s, Lindholm was a fixture at European houses like the Royal Swedish Opera, Deutsche Oper am Rhein, the Royal Opera House in London, and Bayreuth, gaining particular notice for her Brünnhilde, Isolde, and Chrysothemis. She appeared infrequently in North America, though she sang Sieglinde at San Francisco Opera in 1972 and Brünnhilde at both the Metro­politan Opera and Lyric Opera of Chicago in the mid-1970s.

Bass-baritone Robert Hale, a stalwart of New York City Opera who went on to enjoy an inter­national career, died on August 23 at age 90. Hale made his NYCO debut in 1967 as Colline in La bohème and appeared as a leading baritone with the com­pany over the next 10 years, often sharing the stage with Beverly Sills in roles like Rai­mondo in Lucia di Lammermoor, Enrico in Anna Bolena, and Gior­gio in I puritani. In the late 1970s, Hale shifted to heavier reper­toire, finding success as the Dutchman in Der fliegende Hol­länder and Wotan in the Ring cycle at European houses. He made the Deutsche Oper Ber­lin his artistic home, appearing more than 170 times and deliver­ing his final Wotan there in 2005.

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