A Combination of Color, Power and Beauty
Louisville’s Kentucky Opera is an artistic force

IN 1952, Kentucky Opera was founded with a budget of less than $10,000 and built on the dreams of one man. Today, its budget is more than $2 million and it is the 12th oldest opera company in the nation.

However, the staff and supporters of Kentucky Opera hope the next millennium will bring even bigger and better things for the organization and art form they love – and they expect to see those hopes fulfilled because they know they are betting on a sure thing.

"Opera offers a combination of color, sensuality, power and beauty unmatched by any other art form," said Deborah Sandler, general director.

"There is nothing like the thrill of a live performance, and opera combines the best of theater, orchestra and art galleries, all in one art form," said Gerald E. Farrar, director of public relations. "It offers a compelling plot, beautiful music, elaborate scenery and wonderful costumes. Plus, opera brings out emotion, that’s what opera is all about."

All those elements combined to bring about 40,000 people to Kentucky Opera’s various events during the 1998-99 season. However, the Kentucky Opera staff has even bigger plans for the future and wants to increase those numbers.

"We want to build the reputation for consistent excellence as a place to go see and hear opera," said Steve Kelley, director of marketing for Kentucky Opera.

"My job is to get them into the house, to put opera on their radar screen," Sandler said. "That’s what I want to do with the whole repertoire."

To achieve this goal, Sandler is committed to a balanced repertory with representative pieces from all periods of operatic history. She hopes this commitment has created what she calls "the new spirit of Kentucky Opera."
This season Kentucky Opera offered La Boheme in November, Susannah in February and will conclude with Die Fledermaus in March.

The Louisville Orchestra plays for all performances and the Louisville Ballet has danced on numerous occasions when needed.

Looking ahead

Farrar said Kentucky Opera’s long-term goal is to make opera more accessible to Kentucky and increase the awareness of it.

"We want to make opera the thing here in Kentucky. We want to be the premiere arts organization," he said. "We want to be the hottest ticket in town."

The Kentucky Opera staff has a two-pronged attack planned, according to Kelley. First to build Kentucky Opera’s reputation for consistent quality and second to build its audience.

"We want to establish Kentucky Opera as a major regional player in Opera," he said. "We are also interested in building our audience and developing more literature that appeals to families."

However, it is one thing to want such a thing, but quite another to make it happen, according to Farrar.

"Opera is the most expensive art form," he said. "In addition to performers we have an orchestra, sets, costumes and sometimes dancers. The cost is even higher if it is a new production that we need to start from scratch and design new costumes and scenery."

Another goal is to increase the number of productions they offer each year, Farrar said.

"A few years ago we had to cut back our productions from four a year to three, we’d like to get back up to four and maybe even add a fifth," he said.

One way to build an audience is to grow it. Statewide outreach and the essential cultivation of the next generation of opera-lovers are the concerns of Opera-Go-Round, the educational arm of Kentucky Opera, which each year gives over 100 performances in 20 counties to 50,000 students in the region.

Another important outreach program that Kentucky Opera Guild offers is hosting auditions for the Metropolitan Opera National Council which searches throughout the nation for the five most gifted young singers in the nation.

The Kentucky Opera Guild hosts the Kentucky District auditions every year and the Tri-state Region auditions every third year. In 1997, soprano Susan Tilbury was selected as a winner of the national finals. In Kentucky Opera’s 1998-1999 season, she sang the role of Juliet in Romeo and Juliet.

Kentucky Opera is run by a board of 43 members, plus an Honorary Council and National Council of members. The Kentucky Opera Guild is the volunteer support organization and helps with fund raising and educational events each year. An office staff of 12 manages everything from finance, marketing and development, to public affairs. A production staff of approximately 10 directs the myriad details of production. A group of at least 100 volunteers regularly support these efforts.

Kentucky Opera is financed by ticket sales; corporate and individual sponsors; the Fund for the Arts, a local agency; the Kentucky Arts Council, a state agency; and local fund raisers, such as the annual Guild Book Sale, the annual Car Raffle and the fantastically successful wine auction, In Vino Veritas.

Deanna Mascle is a staff writer for The Lane Report.

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