San Diego Opera Single Tickets Are Now On Sale
Board President Carol Lazier Shares Update on Company
Genovese Vanderhoof & Associates Have Been Engaged to Secure Long-Term Artistic Leadership for the Company
San
Diego, CA – San Diego Opera is delighted to announce single tickets are
now on sale to all performances of the San Diego Opera 2014-2015 season
including
La bohème, Don Giovanni, Nixon in China, the new mariachi opera
El Pasado Nunca se Termina (The Past is Never Finished), the Company’s
50th Anniversary Celebration Concert at Copley Symphony Hall, and Stephanie Blythe and Craig Terry’s recital,
We’ll Meet Again – The Songs of Kate Smith. Single tickets start at $30. A full listing of performances date and times can be found at the bottom of this release.
Here
are some of the changes and accomplishments in only five months since
the Board of Directors announced the continuation of San Diego Opera:
- An executive search committee has been formed to secure long-term artistic leadership for the Company. Arts consultants Genovese Vanderhoof & Associates have been engaged to lead the committee.
- The Company has moved its administrative offices next door from its old location to the Center City Building at 233 A St., Suite 500. The reduction in office space from 15,000 square feet to just over 7,000 square feet results in an annual savings of $400,000. The Company was also able to open a store front box office at 237 A St. that is open for walk-ins from 8:30 AM – 4:30 PM Monday through Friday.
- The newly reconstituted board of directors currently stands at 26 members. The board just completed a two-day board retreat that focused on issues of governance, board legacy, and future long-term planning.
- The current fundraising goal for the 2014-2015 season, which was $6.5 million of the Company’s approved $11 million budget, now stands at $1.2 million needed to be raised by June 30, 2015 with $5.3 million already raised.
- Subscription sales continue to trend upward with 89% of all households renewing. The Company has also seen a 377% increase in new subscribers and a 286% increase in lapsed subscribers (former subscribers that did not attend the 2014 season).
- The Company opened the season last month with a sold-out recital presented by Stephen Costello and Ailyn Pérez at the Balboa Theatre.
- The Company continues to explore new venues and partnerships, with performances at The Balboa Theatre and Copley Symphony Hall.
- San Diego Opera’s Education department has announced Opera Exposed a new touring ensemble comprised of the top vocal students from the Company’s University Partnership Program (USD, SDSU, and Point Loma Nazarene University) that will present free concerts around the community, as well as provide the students with professional training.
- The Company’s Education department has developed an in-classroom residency based on the Common Core State Standards. It involves visits to the classroom by singers, designers, costumers, wig & make-up specialists and technical theatre artisans who will give students a close-up view of opera from the inside. The number of school residencies for the 2014-2015 have more than doubled from previous seasons.
- Students attending the Student Night at the Opera final dress rehearsal can now watch the entire performance. Previously they were required to leave at the first intermission. San Diego Opera will continue to pay for transportation to these performances. Included in this year’s lineup, in addition to La bohème, Don Giovanni and Nixon in China, is the mariachi opera El Pasado Nunca se Termina.
- The Company has hired John Gabriel as the Director of School Programs to oversee and further develop the Company’s education efforts.
- The Company has planned and casted the 2016 season and is currently finalizing repertory and contracts for the 2017 season.
“San Diego Opera’s 50h
Anniversary Season is off to a tremendous start! Our new
direction of programming innovative as well as traditional works, and
presenting exciting exceptional performances accessible to diverse
audiences, is our future,” shares San Diego Opera Board
President, Carol Lazier.
Purchasing Tickets
Single
tickets for all operas are on sale. Single ticket prices start at $30
and can be purchased by calling (619) 533-7000 or online at
www.sdopera.com.
Subscriptions
range from $105 for a three-opera series to $1405 for a full season
package (Orchestra level subscription and the 50th Gala
Anniversary Concert
at the Jacobs Music Center - Copley Symphony Hall, the two recitals,
and the mariachi opera). Some Saturday and Sunday subscriptions are
slightly higher. Subscriptions can be purchased by calling (619)
533-7000 or online at
www.sdopera.com.
The 2014-2015 International Season
Stephen Costello and Ailyn Pérez in recital
September 5, 2014
Stephanie Blythe and Craig Terry: The songs of Kate Smith December 11, 2014
La bohème Giacomo Puccini January
24, 27, 29 and Feb. 1(mat), 2015
Don Giovanni Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart February 14,
17, 20 and 22 (mat), 2015
Nixon in China John Adams
March 14, 17, 20 and 22 (mat), 2015
50th Anniversary Celebration Concert
April 18 and 19, 2015
El Pasado Nunca se Termina
José “Pepe” Martinez April 25 at 2 pm and 7 pm, 2015
General Information
San
Diego Opera announced its 2014-2015 season and 50th Anniversary on May
19, 2014, after nearly two months of careful deliberations and analysis
since the Company announced
it was going to close at the end of the 2014 season. During this time,
the Company launched a crowd funding campaign that resulted in an
unprecedented $2.2 million in public donations, of which 48% were first
time donors from 6 countries and 36 States. The
outpouring of public support, the unified vision expressed by the
company’s management, staff, partners and contractors, and the expert
advice of Opera America and the many General Directors of U.S. opera
companies who weighed in with encouragement, logistical
assistance and statements of solidarity, led the Board of Directors,
headed by Carol Lazier, to confidently rescind the original vote to
close. The Company appointed former Lyric Opera of Chicago General
Director, William Mason, as Artistic Advisor in May
and has begun a search for permanent leadership to lead the Company as
it reinvents itself to better serve the diverse San Diego community.
