Drew McManus on the orchestra business.
The end of the 2013-14 season was a turbulent time for the San Diego Opera (SDO); its ex-General Director, Ian Campbell, declared that the city could no longer support his vision of grand opera and as a result, the organization should be shuttered. An influential faction with the SDO board decided to go along with the plan but things went sour for Campbell’s plan and the SDO is alive and well …
It is looking like the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) is going to replace Deborah Rutter with Vancouver Symphony CEO Jeff Alexander. The 9/2/2014 edition of the Chicago Tribune reports that the decision will be formalized during a board meeting today but at this stage, that process will be mostly pro forma. Nonetheless, details such as when Alexander’s tenure will begin should be announced shortly thereafter. The Tribune article, by Mark Caro, …
It has been nearly two seasons since the Oregon Symphony started looking for a new executive administrator and after the usual crop of candidates left them struggling to find a viable candidate, the search committee looked outside the box and ended up tapping LA Phil Vice President for Development Scott Showalter as their new President and Chief Executive Officer. Inside sources indicate Showalter came to the search committee’s attention after board …
Update: 1:08pm CT: The San Diego Opera has announced that they will stay open for business and they have posted details for the 20115 season which includes productions of La Boheme, Don Giovanni, Nixon In China, and a 50th Anniversary Celebration Concert. Today marks the self-imposed deadline for the San Diego Opera (SDO) to reach its fundraising goal in order to determine whether or not the organization will carry out a …
The San Diego Opera (SDO) is one step closer to defusing the self-destruct mechanism triggered by its recently departed executive board members and General and Artistic Director and CEO Ian Campbell. In a 4/25/2014 press statement, the SDO announced that Campbell and Ann Spira Campbell, SDO Deputy General Director (and Ian Campbell’s ex-wife), have been placed on paid leave and that SDO Executive Director Keith Fisher has been moved into the …