Transitions

Afton Battle, most recently general and artistic director of Fort Worth Opera, has joined Lyric Opera of Chicago as vice president of artistic operations.

Opera Saratoga has appointed stage director Mary Birnbaum as general director. Birnbaum will continue on the vocal arts faculty at Juilliard.

Ignacio García-Belenguer, general director of Teatro Real Madrid, has been elected board president of Opera Europa, the European partner organization of OPERA America.

Elizabeth Cline has stepped down as executive director of The Industry to become executive director of Wild Up. Cordelia Istel will serve as The Industry’s interim executive director.

OPERA America has promoted Noelle Deutsch to director of artistic operations, Jamelah Rimawi to director of programs and events, Susan Schultz to director of finance, and Clint Walker to director of development and membership.

Laura Lee Everett, OPERA America’s chief programs officer, has been appointed executive director of the United States Institute for Theatre Technology (USITT). In her 11 years at OPERA America, Everett led the New Works Forum, launched the Women’s Opera Network, and oversaw grants and professional development programs.

At Painted Sky Opera, co-founder Barbara Fox-DeMaio has stepped down as executive director.

Matt Gray has stepped down as general director of The American Opera Project. The company’s former general director, Charles Jarden, will serve as interim general director.

Detroit Opera has named Roberto Kalb as music director and hired Lane DeCamp as chief marketing and development officer.

Heartbeat Opera has welcomed Vaibu Mohan as managing producer.

Opera Philadelphia has hired Gina J. Range as vice president of development.

Shannon Rolbiecki has joined Seattle Opera as director of development.

Allison Swenson, previously director of development at the Santa Fe Opera, has joined Opera Omaha as general director, succeeding Roger Weitz.

Fort Worth Opera has appointed Angela Turner Wilson, professor of voice at Texas Christian University, as general and artistic director.

At the National Endowment for the Arts, Tsione Wolde-Michael has been appointed executive director of the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities. Wolde- Michael most recently served as founding director of the Smithsonian’s Center for Restorative History.

Kudos

Soprano Christine Goerke was named a Chevalier de l’ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government in recognition of her contributions to the arts.

The American Academy of Arts and Letters gave its $50,000 Charles Ives Opera Prize to composer Laura Schwendinger and librettist Ginger Strand for their opera Artemesia. The Academy also awarded Marc Blitzstein Memorial Awards of $10,000 each to composer Missy Mazzoli and librettist Royce Vavrek.

At the 2022 International Opera Awards, the Santa Fe Opera won Festival of the Year, and baritenor Michael Spyres won Best Solo Recital Recording for his album BariTenor. Nicholas Payne, recently retired director of Opera Europa, received the Good Governance Institute Leadership Award.

At the 2023 Grammy Awards, the Metropolitan Opera’s recording of Terence Blanchard and Kasi Lemmons’ Fire Shut Up in My Bones won Best Opera Recording. The award for Best Classical Solo Vocal Album went to Renée Fleming and Yannick Nézet-Séguin for Voice of Nature: The Anthropocene.

Pauline Vaillancourt, recently retired artistic director of Chants Libres, received the Prix Hommage from the Conseil québécois de la musique in honor of her 50-year career as an artist, designer, and director.

Musical America named Yuval Sharon, artistic director of Detroit Opera and The Industry, as its director of the year. On its Top 30 Professionals of the Year list, the organization included Jennifer Bowman, director of community and learning at Houston Grand Opera; Anthony Davis, composer; Justin Moniz, assistant professor of vocal performance at NYU; Milica Paranosic, composer; Gil Rose, artistic and general director of Odyssey Opera; Deborah Sandler Kemper, general director and CEO of Lyric Opera of Kansas City; Matthew Shilvock, general director of San Francisco Opera; and Howard Watkins, assistant conductor at the Metropolitan Opera.

At Houston Grand Opera’s 35th annual Eleanor McCollum Competition, mezzo-soprano Natalie Lewis won the first-place prize of $10,000, tenor Demetrious Sampson Jr. took home the second-place prize of $5,000, and tenor Michael McDermott received the third-place prize of $3,000.

In Memoriam

The American tenor John Aler, renowned for his interpretations of works by Mozart, Rossini, Donizetti, Bellini, and Handel, died on December 10 at age 73. In the 1980s, Aler began appearing at Europe’s major houses as well as stateside at companies including Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, San Diego Opera, and Washington National Opera. After retiring from the stage, he became associate professor at George Mason University.

 The stage director and impresario James de Blasis, who led Cincinnati Opera for more than two decades, died on November 30 at age 91. De Blasis joined Cincinnati Opera as resident stage director in 1968 and became general director in 1973 and artistic director in 1988. He directed 93 Cincinnati Opera productions and oversaw the company’s move from its original venue, the Cincinnati Zoo, to the Music Hall in 1972. He expanded the company’s repertoire to include rarities like Leoncavallo’s Zaza and Peter Maxwell Davies’ Resurrection, as well as American musicals. De Blasis also brought stars like Sherrill Milnes, Renata Scotto, and Beverly Sills to the company, in addition to providing a launching pad for young singers. In 1988, he received the Ohio Governor’s Award in Arts Administration.

The mezzo-soprano Joy Davidson died on February 5 at age 85. Davidson launched her career in the mid-1960s, touring with the Metropolitan Opera National Company before debuting with New York City Opera, San Francisco Opera, and the Santa Fe Opera. She was closely associated with the role of Carmen, though she took on diverse repertoire that extended to contemporary works. She created the roles of Hannah Bilby in Carlisle Floyd’s Bilby’s Doll (Houston Grand Opera, 1976) and Sin in Krzysztof Penderecki and Christopher Fry’s Paradise Lost (Lyric Opera of Chicago, 1978).

The soprano Jan Grissom died on December 24 at age 63. Beginning in the 1980s, Grissom forged a career singing cornerstones of the coloratura repertoire with companies like The Atlanta Opera, Utah Opera, and Washington National Opera. In 1996, she sang the title role of The Ballad of Baby Doe at Central City Opera and appeared on the company’s cast recording. Grissom went on to teach voice at Mississippi State University and Brenau University.

The scenic and costume designer Allen Charles Klein, who designed more than 70 operas, died on January 18 at age 82. Klein began working in the early 1960s in the design department of Opera Society of Washington (today Washington National Opera) and went on to design for houses like the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, and Vienna State Opera.