OPERA America Welcomes Seven New Members to Board of Directors, Re-elects Six Members

OPERA America, the national nonprofit service organization for opera, has announced that seven new members have been elected to its Board of Directors. Elections were held during OPERA America's recent Annual Business Meeting at Opera Conference 2014 in San Francisco, CA.

Serving first terms are Emilie Roy Corey (trustee, National Guild for Community Arts Education, New York), Larry Desrochers (general director and CEO, Manitoba Opera, Winnipeg, Canada), Robert Ellis (board member, San Francisco Opera and Opera Parallèle, San Francisco), Perryn Leech (managing director, Houston Grand Opera), Zizi Mueller (president, Boosey & Hawkes, New York), Eric Owens (bass-baritone, New York) and Jill Steinberg (photographer; board chair, VisionIntoArt, New York).

"I am delighted to welcome these outstanding new members to the Board of Directors," stated OPERA America President and CEO Marc A. Scorca. "Each of these seven individuals, representing the administrative, publishing, governance and artistic spheres of our industry, brings a different set of valuable skills to the leadership of OPERA America at this exciting time in our industry. With their added perspectives, we look forward to furthering our work to increase opera's civic impact," he continued.

At the Annual Business Meeting, six current members of the Board of Directors were also re-elected to a second term:

· David Bennett (executive director, Gotham Chamber Opera)

· Keith Cerny (general director and CEO, The Dallas Opera)

· Carol F. Henry (trustee, Los Angeles Opera)

· Timothy O'Leary (general director, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis)

· Kenneth G. Pigott (trustee, Lyric Opera of Chicago)

· Stephen Trampe (trustee, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis)

Four officers of the Board of Directors were re-elected to their posts:

· Frayda B. Lindemann, Ph.D. (trustee, the Metropolitan Opera) as chairman

· Stephen Trampe (trustee, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis) as vice-chairman

· Darren K. Woods (general director, Fort Worth Opera) as vice-chairman

· Timothy O'Leary (general director, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis) as treasurer

Two members of the Board of Directors were newly elected to officer posts:

· Susan F. Morris (trustee, The Santa Fe Opera) as vice-chairman

· William Florescu (general director, Florentine Opera Company) as secretary

The OPERA America Board of Directors oversees the organization's portfolio of programs, including professional development activities, research and advocacy, educational offerings, and grant initiatives such as the Building Opera Audiences program and The Opera Fund in support of new works. The Board of Directors meets three times each year, and the next meeting will take place in October in Milwaukee, WI.

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