Gasbera follows Gockley to San Francisco from Houston Grand Opera, where he served in various positions including artistic administrator. His posts at the HGO were his first in the music world: before joining the company in 1999, he had been a professor of classical and Renaissance literature at Yale, the University of Michigan, and Princeton.

At San Francisco Opera, Gasbera is responsible for managing the planning of repertoire and singers and overseeing the company's orchestra, chorus, and dancers. According to a press release, he has been working with the company since May 2005, three months after Gockley was appointed, in order to "ensure the best possible transition between general directors."

Landmesser is currently production and technical director of the Lyric Opera of Chicago, where he has worked since 1987, but he too is a veteran of Houston Grand Opera, having served as technical director there earlier in his career. He will be responsible for stage operations, scene construction, costumes, and other aspects of production; he takes up his position on May 1.