“GENERAL DIRECTORS WHO ARE ALSO ARTISTIC DIRECTORS” says Patrick Corrigan, general director of Opéra de Montréal, “unless they’re in very large and capacious organizations, are going to have to give the corporation more attention than they can to the art, because they’re complicated institutions to run.” But “complicated” is, perhaps, an understatement.
To mount a single production today requires singers, musicians, stage directors, conductors, costume designers, rehearsal pianists, set builders, lighting specialists, marketing managers, stage hands, box office staff, grant writers, donor cultivators and possibly dancers and actors too. Some may be opera company staff, but most are contractors or freelancers, some unionized. The company may own the theatre it performs in or they may rent it. It may have its own orchestra, or it may negotiate agreements with local…
