In a statement, the company said it hoped to name a successor to Muni by September. In the meantime, programming is being planned by a group of staff and board members with assistance from consultants Evans Mirageas and Cori Ellison.

L'ê_toile will be seen in Mark Lamos's Glimmerglass Opera production, making its Midwest premiere. Jean-Paul Fouch_court, the comic tenor who starred in Mark Morris's version of Rameau's Plat_e, will play King Ouf.

The 2006 season will also include Verdi's Un ballo in maschera, with Richard Margison and Eva Urbanovš; Offenbach's Les Contes d'Hoffmann with Vinson Cole and James Morris; and Puccini's Tosca, with Aprile Millo and Mark Delavan.

Nixon in China will star Robert Orth, who has played the titular former president in productions around the country, and Maureen O'Flynn. Kristjan J‹rvi, the son of Neeme and brother of Paavo, will conduct. Also on the schedule for 2007 are Gounod's Faust, with Richard Leech in the title role; Mozart's CosÐ fan tutte with Annette Dasch, Shawn Mathey, and Teddy Tahu Rhodes; and Verdi's Aida with Margison, Irina Mishura, and Gordon Hawkins.