Mark Gresham | 14 DEC 2023
A significant threshold is being crossed by The Atlanta Opera. The company’s Board of Directors has just announced that it will attain “Budget One” status in its 2024-2025 season by surpassing the $15 million operational benchmark for the category as designated by the industry service agency, Opera America. In doing so, The Atlanta Opera joins an elite group of 10 top-tier American opera companies, including renowned institutions such as The Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Seattle Opera, Dallas Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Washington National Opera, and the Lyric Opera of Chicago.
Tomer Zvulun assumed leadership as the company’s General and Artistic Director in 2013, initiating a decade marked by innovation and celebration of the art of opera in Atlanta, creating new ways of thinking about opera and supporting the next generation of creatives, artists, and audiences.
Board Chair Rhys Wilson attributes the achievement to a decade of consistent company growth, strengthened by robust fundraising efforts, meticulous spending controls, and sustained production quality. Over that time, the company has also tripled its annual budget.
“Strong fundraising efforts and tight spending controls have stabilized the financial structure of the company while the caliber of the productions and the artists, both singers and musicians, has increased,” says Wilson. “We found a way to continue producing opera safely through the pandemic, which allowed us to keep our staff, donors, and patrons, to provide needed jobs to over 150 artists, and to raise our profile internationally. As a result, for the last eight seasons, we have operated in the black.”
In reflecting upon the milestone, Zvulun emphasizes that the achievement goes far beyond financial success: “This is not about budget; this is about the spirit of a company. I am proud to be part of a team whose culture is so resilient and resourceful. The awards, accolades, and ranking are nice but are secondary to what really matters — the spirit of the people that make The Atlanta Opera.”
Community support for The Atlanta Opera has steadily increased over the past decade, bolstered by innovative programs, strategic partnerships, audience development, and skillful fundraising. Notably, the “96-Hour Opera” Festival showcases the company’s commitment to amplifying the voices of composers and librettists from historically under-recognized demographics in opera.
“As I start my second decade in a city that has become a real home for me and my family, it heartens me that after 45 years, this thriving, major international city is finally getting the major international opera company it deserves,” says Zvulun. “This encouraging moment, in a time of great bleakness, is a testament to the determination of so many staff and board members, donors and community leaders. Working alongside these people has been one of the greatest honors of my life.”
Among its many notable achievements under Zvulun’s leadership, the company brought opera to the broader Atlanta community with performances in a wide array of venues, dynamic new productions of popular repertory and important, relevant contemporary works, often in Atlanta-led co-productions with other major companies, including Paul Moravec’s The Shining, Jake Hegge’s Dead Man Walking, Kevin Puts’ Silent Night, Mason Bates’s The [R]evolution of Steve Jobs and the launch of the Southeast’s first ever cycle of Wagner’s “Ring” operas, as well as partnerships with other leading Atlanta performing arts and educational organizations such as Morehouse College and the Alliance Theater, further solidifying the company’s industry standing.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, when many arts organizations worldwide put their work on hold, the company’s commitment to innovation shone amid adversity, presenting 40 live performances as part of their “Big Tent” series and creating The Atlanta Opera Film Studio to bring the company’s work to an international audience.
In recognizing The Atlanta Opera’s achievements and commitment to innovation, BBC Music Magazine noted, “Whoever said opera is a museum culture hasn’t told Atlanta Opera.”
Indeed, as it enters its 45th anniversary season next fall, the company’s growth and ascension to one of America’s major opera companies demonstrates that opera in Atlanta is alive and flourishing even as other companies have recently stagnated or even folded.
“As an art form that delivers complex and compelling storytelling, opera, and especially the productions of The Atlanta Opera, resonate deeply and intimately with audiences. We are dedicated to making a space for many stories and voices to be heard,” says Immediate Past Board Chair Cathy Callaway Adams. “The future work of The Atlanta Opera will continue to inspire community, break barriers, and celebrate the power of our human connections.” ■
EXTERNAL LINKS:
- The Atlanta Opera: atlantaopera.org
- Opera America: operaamerica.org
Read more by Mark Gresham.
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