Based in New York, Opera America is a nonprofit organization whose goal is to promote and raise general awareness of opera as an art form. The group said it awarded a total of $300,000 in grants -- ranging from $7,500 to $30,000 -- under the new program, which is titled "Building Opera Audiences."

Arizona Opera General Director Scott Altman resigned late Monday, saying he had done all he set out to do when he joined the company in 2009. In a prepared statement, Altman said he and the company "have accomplished the organizational and personal objectives set when I arrived." Chief among those objectives was to consolidate and move the administrative operations from Tucson to taxpayer-funded facilities in downtown Phoenix. Late last month, Arizona Opera, which mounts operas in Phoenix and Tucson, moved into the 16,800-square-foot Arizona Opera Center at 1636 N. Central Ave.

On the morning of the performance, Natalie Dessay told Met officials that she was too ill to sing in Handel’s Giulio Cesare. “Symptoms of a cold,” said Peter Gelb, the Met’s general manager. “She could not vocalize properly.”

Can this cockpit hold the vasty plains of Cupertino? The Lyon Opera is about to find out. Coming in 2014 to the famous French opera house is Steve Five, an operatic mash-up of Shakespeare’s 1599 play Henry V and, wait for it, Walter Isaacson’s Steve Jobs biography.

The co-production with the Theatre de la Renaissance will debut as part of the 2014 Biennale Musiques en scène. Subtitled — wait for it! — “King Different,” Steve Five will conjure its own “muse of fire” to “assume the port of Woz” and relaying the story of two kings — one of England, the other of computers — who confronted reality by reinventing it with “the brightest heaven of invention.”

By now, most audience members know that ticket revenues fall far short of the cost of supporting an opera company. In Palm Beach Opera’s case, its $1.2 million in ticket sales cover less than a third of its $3.8 million annual operating budget. That’s why Palm Beach residents Beverlee and John Raymond have given the company a $50,000 challenge grant to encourage fans to not only buy tickets, but also donate. Each contribution will be matched up to $50,000.

One senior arts professional said recently she could easily work 15 to 18 hours every day: mornings that start with breakfast board meetings, evenings that end with networking at after-show drinks. No one could question the commitment of people who make their livelihood in the arts. You just wouldn't do it for the pay alone.

Yet the responsibilities are great. The chief executive of Big Corp has to deal with shareholders, staff and customers. Arts managers have a fraction of a corporation's turnover yet have many stakeholders: often three levels of government, multiple donors and sponsors. The level of stakeholder servicing can seem grossly disproportionate to the sums involved.

With no formal talks on the horizon, the remainder of the Minnesota Orchestra’s 2012-13 season almost certainly will be canceled. The opening of a renovated Orchestra Hall in July could be another victim of a bitter fight that has cost millions in economic activity and frustrated music fans. The labor dispute that has silenced the orchestra will hit the six-month mark Monday, making it the most protracted among top 10 U.S. orchestras in decades.