OPERA America Comes to Eugene

On July 27, the Eugene Opera board of directors was privileged to receive a half-day training session from Marc A. Scorca, president and CEO of OPERA America.

Scorca’s time and expenses were donated by OPERA America, and the session took place in a donated space, with donated refreshments. Eugene Opera is profoundly grateful for the generosity of all involved.

The fact that OPERA America was eager to provide free training shows the importance that Eugene Opera has in the eyes of the professional opera community. Our company is known nationally for innovative programming and artistic excellence, and our recent struggle to solve our financial problems has drawn sympathetic attention from colleagues around the US and Canada.

Scorca praised Eugene Opera and its many supporters for emerging from the past season debt-free, while noting that the upcoming season will pose new challenges. He encouraged the board to seek new members and new sources of revenue, and he offered many useful ideas for moving forward.

On July 28, Eugene Opera’s music director Andrew Bisantz, board president Barbara Wheatley, and board member Anthony Meyer attended an all-day meeting in Portland of OPERA America member companies located in the Pacific Northwest.

Opera companies from Victoria (BC); Seattle, Tacoma, and Bellevue (WA); Portland, Eugene, Bend, and Medford (OR); Boise (ID); and Bozeman (MT) were represented. The meeting was chaired by Marc A. Scorca, president and CEO of OPERA America.

In the opening session, the Eugene delegation was asked to discuss the company’s recent successful campaign to pay off its debts. Colleagues from other regional companies welcomed the news of our survival and shared a number of helpful suggestions based on their own experiences.