Boundaries? What boundaries?

This general session focused on the nuts and bolts ideas about opera as an art and how boundaries can be pushed onstage and off. Our speakers featured William Chapman, director of operations and marketing at Opera Boston; Anthony Freud, general director and C.E.O. of Houston Grand Opera; Peter Kazaras, artistic director of the young artists program at Seattle Opera; Andreas Mitisek, general and artistic director of Long Beach Opera; Stuart Robertson, music director at Florida Grand Opera; and Patrick J. Smith, writer.

The themes our speakers visited and revisited included:

• Opera is an amalgam of all the performing arts and as a constantly changing art form itself, thus making boundaries difficult to define.
  Engage local artists and artisans to participate in marketing and education facets of productions.


• Develop programs such as Houston Grand Opera’s HGOCo to bring a community together through arts-related activities.


• Use many different performance spaces rather than a permanent venue; a permanent venue can create a feeling of confinement and stagnation. Odd, found spaces add a new element to performances; the environment is part of the experience.


• Intimacy and quality are intrinsically more important than ticket sales; these aspects are often in conflict. Excellent quality productions will draw an audience.


• Rather than producing for part of the year and going dark for the rest, it is possible to produce one-act operas and works for single performer during those traditionally dark times. Alternate venues could also come into play in this context and an organization’s name and branding would be a constant in the public eye.


• Community outreach and education performances by members of young artist programs are of immense intrinsic value.


• The idea of an operatic repertory should be revisited. Companies must go beyond obvious works and old favorites to develop and hold the attention of audiences; this will involve research and commissions.


• Old favorites should be revisited in the contexts of compromise versus creative opportunities and radical versus partial reconception.


• A rental inventory of smaller, one-truck productions will allow for variety over a larger physical area. Additionally, reduced touring productions will allow smaller companies to explore alternative performance strategies.


• The workshop method of developing new works is essential. An opera company should be a venue for experimentation and development of new works, and nurture both the artists and the surrounding community.


• Artistic motives and force can justify actions when crossing boundaries.

The ideas in this session were not intended to be accepted as law or even as guidelines, but as an opportunity to open an industry-wide dialogue about how our art form is changing and how we, as artists and administrators, can facilitate these changes. There are no hard and fast rules but it is interesting to contemplate developing best practices for the workshop development process or standards for co-commissioned projects. I’d both like to see what the future holds and be a part of the process.