On the Brink of Shuttering, San Diego Opera Saved by Crowd Funding; 2015 Season Announced | Playbill

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News On the Brink of Shuttering, San Diego Opera Saved by Crowd Funding; 2015 Season Announced Following the notice of its upcoming closure, the San Diego Opera announced it will remain open and has released the lineup of its 50th season.

"The public spoke, we listened, and we're open for business, and do we have some great news to share with you!" board president Carol Lazier said in a statement.

The company originally announced its closure and the sale of its assets March 19, and its closure date was scheduled to occur April 14, following the company's final performance of Don Quixote. The closure, which was credited to declining ticket sales and challenges in fundraising, prompted a strong response from the artistic community. On March 31 the company voted to postpone the closure for two weeks. Another vote by the Board on April 18 extended that closure date to at least May 19, and the vote on May 16 overturned the original decision to close.

An ongoing crowd-funding effort in support of the opera has resulted in a total of $2,116,376, with donations received from 2,461 people as of midnight May 18.

As previously reported, the opera's board elected new officers during a board meeting April 28. The new executive committee includes Carol Lazier as president, Courtney Ann Coyle as executive vice president, James A. Merritt, M.D. as vice president of finance and Frances R. Marshall as secretary/parliamentarian.

The opera's 50th season will include Giacomo Puccini's La bohème, the first work produced by the San Diego Opera in 1965. The production will feature the house debuts of tenor David Lomelí as Rodolfo, soprano Alyson Cambridge as Mimì and soprano Sara Gartland as Musetta. San Diego Opera's resident conductor Karen Keltner will conduct. Ildebrando D'Arcangelo will make his house debut in the title role of Don Giovanni, and Ellie Dehn will play Donna Anna. Myrtò Papatanasiu will play Elvira. Daniele Callegari will conduct.

Nixon in China, by John Adams, will make its San Diego Opera debut. The multi-media production will feature Franco Pomponi as Richard Nixon, soprano Maria Kanyova as Pat Nixon, baritone Chen-Ye Yuan as Chou En-Lai and tenor Alfred Kim as Mao Tse-Tung. Baritone Richard Paul Fink will sing Henry Kissinger, and Joseph Mechavich will conduct.

The season will also include special gala concerts, celebrating the opera's 50th anniversary, conducted by Karen Kamensek.

Visit sdopera.com for more information.

 
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