Austin Opera Celebrates A Landmark 2018–2019 Season As It Looks Ahead To An Exciting Future

Austin Opera continues to make great progress in its reinvention as one of the most innovative opera companies in the country. In review of its landmark 2018-2019 Season, it is proud to report elevated artistic excellence, exceptional ticket sales and fundraising, increased audience development, strengthened community partnerships, expanded education programming, and growth in its board of trustees-all pointing to a bright future for opera in Central Texas.

Austin Opera's 2018-2019 Season offered 11 performances of four operas, including two company premieres. The core season at the Long Center opened with a festive staged concert presentation of Verdi's Otello, conducted by Steven White and featuring an all-star cast headed by Issachah Savage, Marina Costa-Jackson, and Michael Chioldi. Next was the company premiere of Kevin Puts and Mark Campbell's Silent Night, a Pulitzer Prize-winning opera making its Central Texas premiere, conducted by Artistic Advisor Timothy Myers. Silent Night received high praise from audience members and local media alike, winning an Austin Critics Table Award for best concert/opera of the 2018-2019 Austin Cultural Season (beating out fellow nominee Otello). Closing the Long Center season was an acclaimed production of Puccini's classic romance La bohème, conducted by Peter Bay.

Outside the Long Center, the biggest artistic news of the season was the successful launch of the company's new Opera ATX initiative with the regional premiere of David T. Little's Soldier Songs. Opera ATX is Austin Opera's adventurous new artistic series that amplifies the company's core programming with groundbreaking productions in alternative venues throughout the city. Soldier Songs, a multimedia work that combines elements of opera, theater, rock music, and video to explore the reality of war in a unique storytelling style, was produced by Beth Morrison Projects and drew more than 1,000 audience members, including many new to the Austin Opera family, to the historic Paramount Theatre in downtown Austin. Lively post-show Q&A's were held following each performance with the cast and creative team, as well as a music therapist from Fort Hood who had direct experience in helping soldiers

overcome their battlefield traumas. Soldier Songs was highlighted as one of OperaWire's "Top 5 Operas to See This Weekend in North America" the week of its premiere, as were Otello and Silent Night.

"Shout it from the rooftops: Silent Night was one of Austin Opera's best shows ever." -Michael Barnes, Austin American-Statesman

The company achieved record sales and fundraising achievements for the 2019 fiscal year, which ended on June 30. Annual contributions reached the highest total in company history, marking a 15% increase over the year before. More than 230 new donors joined the Austin Opera family. Additionally, Austin Opera's endowment has increased 75% over the past three seasons - thanks to the generosity of longtime patrons Ernest and Sarah Butler - and now stands at $5.2 million.

Austin Opera sold more than $1 million in tickets to more than 15,000 people during the 2018-2019 Season. The spring production of La bohème had record ticket sales, exceeding all shows in the past five seasons. Subscription sales for the coming season have already surpassed total sales from the year before.

Due to the strength of its fundraising and ticket sales, Austin Opera ended the 2018-2019 Season with a modest surplus.

The successful launch of the Opera ATX initiative helped the company win three important grants during the season, from the Texas Commission on the Arts, and national funders Bloomberg Philanthropies and OPERA America.

OPERA America, the national service organization for opera and the nation's leading champion of American opera, awarded the company an Innovation Grant, its third national six-figure innovation grant in two years. Austin Opera will utilize the grant to fund a new era in innovation at the company and to partner with the immersive technologies sector in Austin to experiment with augmented reality, virtual reality, and mixed reality to market its programming.

The grant supported the creation of a new Innovation Council that will work with the company to develop and experiment with immersive experiences that can surround productions or be integrated into the productions themselves. The Council is comprised of local leaders in the technology, consumer behavior, and immersive experiences sectors who are dedicated to exploring ways in which the opera experience can be augmented and enhanced to attract and retain audiences. Four Council members will serve alongside current Austin Opera Chair Jeff Kodosky and trustees Carlos Lowenberg, Brian Powell, and Ken Smith: Michael Klug, VP of Photonics at Magic Leap; Anthony Burke, CEO of Subvrsive; Chris Furgason, creative director at Subvrsive; and Christian Goy, co-founder and managing director of Behavioral Science Lab.

Bloomberg Philanthropies picked Austin Opera as one of 26 local groups to participate in its Arts Innovation and Management (AIM) program, which seeks to strengthen the organizational capacity and programming of small and midsize cultural organizations. And Austin Opera was awarded an economic development grant from the Texas Commission on the Arts to support the debut of the Opera ATX production of Soldier Songs.

The company's annual Serenata Wine Dinner and Auction hosted by the Austin Opera Guild was held at the Four Seasons Hotel Austin in February. The event honored Austin philanthropists Mary Ann and Andrew Heller and featured a performance by baritone Craig Verm. The evening raised more than $200,000 for the company's artistic initiatives and education programs. A more intimate fundraising concert welcomed legendary mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade to Austin in March for a concert and elegant seated dinner.

Austin Opera continued to forge new ground by redefining how its audiences experience opera.

New content-rich program books were published for each performance, in partnership with OnStage Publications. These expanded program books helped put each opera in greater musical and historical context and offered copious resources to explore after the opera. Program books are archived at https://cutt.ly/AustinOperaPrograms

Affiliate groups La Noche de Opera (members of Austin's vibrant international business community) and UrbanNites (Austin's rising network of young professionals) continued to host festive events, including an epic after-party at the Mexic-Arte Museum to celebrate the opening night of Soldier Songs and to honor the diversity and spirit of Austin Opera and Opera ATX. Austin Opera is strongly committed to diversifying its audience and believes that the art form of opera can be made attractive and impactful to every art lover, not just those who are known to frequent the opera house. La Noche de Opera and UrbanNites are just two groups that continue to ensure that being involved with Austin Opera is a fun, innovative, and inclusive experience.

Austin Opera also made strides in its commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). In February 2019, Austin Opera hosted an OPERA America Civic Practice Workshop, supported by the National Endowment for the Arts through its Our Town program. During the two-day workshop in Austin, several Texas opera companies engaged in conversations on how to best draw on the art form's creative assets to address public priorities and community needs.

Austin Opera also joined a cohort of five American opera companies dedicated to developing best- practices DEI plans for the field. Led by Minnesota Opera and funded by an OPERA America Innovation Grant, the cohort assembled in March 2019 for a two-day training workshop to launch the initiative.

Throughout the season, Austin Opera forged several new partnerships with organizations throughout Central Texas, broadening its reach and deepening its impact in the community.

Bringing together two of the city's most important music organizations, Austin Opera announced an important multifaceted partnership with the Butler School of Music at the University of Texas at Austin. The company provided judging and career mentorship for the Butler Opera International Festival and Competition, which brings some of the world's most gifted pre-professional singers to Austin for a week of coaching, seminars, and performances. Young singers from the university also participated in Austin Opera's Masterclass Series, during which the company's principal artists mentored the students on musicality, performance, and the mechanics of singing. [These Masterclasses were spotlighted in the August 2019 issue of Opera News.] Guest lecturers from the university shared their expert insights at pre-performance Opera Overtures events and were special guest lecturers at the company's pre- performance Sunday Brunch + Insights Series. Additionally, Austin Opera artists and staff members offered instruction as part of a seminar coordinated by the University of Texas's adult education division for nearly 900 adult learners tied to the company's production of Silent Night.

Other community partners joined Austin Opera throughout the season for production-specific events. Starting out the season, Austin Shakespeare and Austin Opera fused the theater and opera worlds for a free community happy hour, featuring performances from Shakespeare's Othello and Verdi's Otello as well as a discussion of the differences and similarities between the two works.

A new community partner, the Texas Military Forces Museum at Camp Mabry, held two events surrounding the performances of Silent Night and Soldier Songs. At the first event, the museum hosted 100 guests at a special concert featuring performances from the Armstrong Community Music School, Local Opera, Local Artists (LOLA), One Ounce Opera, The Mint Juleps, and the Veterans Guitar Project. The second museum event showcased a conversation with Soldier Songs composer David T. Little. Another new partner this season was the University of Texas's Harry Ransom Center, which curated a digital exhibit of World War I photos and collateral during the performances of Silent Night at the Long Center.

The iconic local film programmer Alamo Drafthouse Cinema screened two films in conjunction with Austin Opera productions: the Oscar-nominated film Joyeux Noël was shown prior to performances of the opera it inspired, Silent Night; and Moulin Rouge, the Oscar-winning musical which drew inspiration in part from La bohème. Also during La bohème, our new community partner Kids In a New Groove (KING) participated in the pre-show activities prior to the Access Opera performance-kids performing for kids!

Austin Opera is also proud to have worked throughout the season with the Health Alliance for Austin Musicians (HAAM), an Austin non-profit group that provides access to affordable health care for Austin's working musicians. Since 2005, HAAM has served nearly 5,000 musicians, including many Austin Opera artists. Austin Opera leveraged its season finale production of La bohème to broaden awareness of HAAM's work, and featured HAAM musicians during the La bohème pre-show and intermission activities on the H-E-B Terrace.

"This is how Austin Opera got its groove back." -Michael Barnes, Austin American-Statesman

Expanded Education Programming

Austin Opera's Education department continued to break records for its reach to local schools during the 2018-2019 Season.

The popular Opera Treasure Chest program for students in grades K-5 continued to be in high demand-it served 37 schools and approximately 7,400 students during the 2018-2019 Season. Additionally, Austin Opera artists performed for more than 2,000 students in local schools during the season.

Access Opera, the company's dress rehearsal program for middle and high school students, attracted more than 100 groups of nearly 4,000 students from 14 regional school districts to the three Long Center dress rehearsals. A highlight of Access Opera's program for Silent Night was the attendance of 150 students from Killeen Independent School District, home of Fort Hood, the largest active-duty military base in the country. Other notable attendees were members of Crockett High School's Post- Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) recovery group, which supports students with PTSD symptoms stemming from domestic violence.

Austin Opera also established a new award during the season: the Austin Opera Educator of the Year Award. This award recognizes outstanding educators who creatively motivate and inspire students and colleagues through the arts disciplines. The award's first recipient is Lisa Weinheimer Roebuck, the Director of Fine Arts for Round Rock ISD, which serves nearly 50,000 students on 55 campuses.

Growth of the Board of Trustees

Austin Opera welcomed four new board members during the 2018-2019 Season, part of a concerted effort to grow and diversify its governing board.

a-? Maria Kahng, along with her husband Stephen Kahng, head the Kahng Foundation. She also serves on the board of the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, while Stephen serves on the board of San Francisco Opera.

a-? Sissi O'Reilly is a fifth-year doctoral student in educational policy and planning at the University of Texas. Her husband Gerard is co-Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer at Dimensional Funds.

a-? Dr. Hootan Khatami is an endocrinologist and CEO and founder of Escala Therapeutics, Inc. He and his husband Daryl Fox, who works for Macmillan Publishing, moved to Austin two years ago from New York, where they were patrons of the Metropolitan Opera.

a-? Christopher H. Cheever is a Senior Vice President with Broadway Bank in the private banking division. He has been a patron of Austin Opera since 2012. Very active in the San Antonio Metropolitan community, he serves as a board member for the North San Antonio Chamber of Commerce and co-founded The Classic Theatre of San Antonio. In New York City, he served as an Advisory Director of the Metropolitan Opera Board from 2015 to 2017.

And speaking of governance, Austin Opera General Director and CEO Annie Burridge was elected to be a Vice-Chair of OPERA America, the first time Austin Opera has been represented in the leadership ranks of this vital national service organization. She also joined the first Advisory Board for the Arts meeting in Aspen, in August 2019. During the three-day convening, Annie collaborated with performing arts executives from across the nation to address the top challenges and opportunities facing the arts industry.

Austin Opera's 2019-2020 Season includes three grand opera productions at the Long Center: Verdi's classic drama Rigoletto, one of the most famous and beloved works in all of opera; the company premiere of Joby Talbot and Gene Scheer's Everest, an epic depiction of bravery and loss during one of the worst climbing seasons in the famous mountain's history; and Puccini's majestic final opera, Turandot, which features the famous tenor aria "Nessun dorma."

Franz Schubert's song cycle Winterreise will be presented as part of the Opera ATX series at Austin Public Library's downtown Central Library. This uniquely staged production uses 3D projection mapping, designed by the New York-based multimedia art collective GLMMR, to fuse the worlds of fine art, photography, visual technology, and live performance.

For more information on Austin Opera, including performance dates and ticket details, visit austinopera.org.

To post a comment, you must register and login.