Former San Diego Opera Campbell Lands Big Money Position

Former Opera Duo: Ian and Ann Campbell
during their tenure at San Diego Opera

"Word that Ann Spira Campbell, formerly number two at the San Diego Opera, has become the senior executive director for principal gifts at UCSD has tongues wagging among local rainmakers. The ex-wife of former opera honcho Ian Campbell grabbed the job early last month even as the California attorney general’s office continues to investigate the opera’s financial operations during the couple’s tenure. The pair departed the opera last year after the board, acting on Ian Campbell’s recommendation, voted to shut down. A shakeup ensued and a subsequent board reconstituted the organization, with the Campbells agreeing in July to take settlement packages, the terms of which were undisclosed. According to an advertisement for the job posted by the university in November, UCSD’s new hire 'will be responsible for the development of personalized stewardship and communication strategies, and overall results of a collaborative fundraising effort for prospective donors whose capacity to give to the University is a minimum of $1 million.' Adds the solicitation, 'This is an

Soprano Susan Neves

entrepreneurial, results-oriented environment that requires innovative thinking, initiative, focused action and collaborative communication. The ability to develop deep, trusting relationships with Advancement leadership is essential.' It will also be important to 'dispense appropriate disciplinary action when necessary,' says the notice. Local fat cats should be prepared for a call or two. According to the announcement, 'the Principal Gift strategy program is expected to grow as key staff members are aligned with this program for the success of UC San Diego’s forthcoming comprehensive campaign including the Health Sciences and central campus initiatives.' Amount of salary is not mentioned. Campbell’s ex-husband is reported to be currently living in New York City. Don Bauder reported in October that he was engaged to opera soprano Susan Neves (pronounced 'nevs')." [Source]

Priti Gandhi Makes Transition From Center Stage To Behind Scenes

"For soprano Priti Gandhi, the past two months have had all the melodramatic highs and lows of grand opera. But fortunately, her story is ending more happily than those of the tragic divas she’ll play Saturday in a North County opera recital. Gandhi is one of five singers who will join the Center Chorale and Festival Orchestra for 'Opera's Greatest Moments' at the California Center for the Arts, Escondido. The longtime Del Mar resident gave up her full-time singing career last fall for a desk job with the San Diego Opera. Then in March, she and her co-workers were stunned when the opera’s ex-leadership announced it would shut down the struggling 49-year-old company this spring. Since then, a groundswell of support from repentant board members, employees and the opera-going public have rescued the company — and Gandhi’s job — from extinction. 'I’m so grateful, so humbled and so overjoyed,' said Gandhi, 41. 'I feel renewed by the faith that San Diego has shown us.' Over the past 19 years, San Diego Opera fans have watched Gandhi grow up on the Civic Theatre stage. Fresh out of UCSD in 1995, she joined the company’s chorus, then spent two years each with the touring vocal ensemble and as a resident artist. In 2000, she made her solo debut in the company’s A Streetcar Named Desire. The Mumbai-born singer spent the next 13 years performing internationally with opera companies in France, England, the Czech Republic, Mexico and throughout the U.S. But the peripatetic life of a starving artist grew stale and she was grateful when an opportunity came along last September to apprentice with Marianne Flettner, the company’s 30-year artistic administrator. When Flettner retires next month, Gandhi will assume her position." [Source] Watch several videos after the jump of Ms. Ghandi discussing the San Diego Opera and her career as a singer.

Lyric Opera Of Chicago's William Mason Steps Into San Diego Role

"The former general director of the Lyric Opera of Chicago, one of the premiere opera companies in the country, will serve as a temporary artistic adviser at San Diego Opera for the next six months. William Mason came out of a well-earned retirement — he spent more than 50 years in the opera business — to guide the troubled opera company towards stability. 'I’ve had such a wonderful career in opera, it was a chance to give something back,' Mason said. Mason says he was interested in the gig because it was not just about helping on the artistic side, despite the title. He says he realized the company needed someone with general director experience as well. In addition to helping flesh out the 2015 season, the opera’s 50th anniversary, and offer direction on the operas already booked for 2016, Mason will advise the board on how to govern the newly organized company and weigh in on financials and fundraising until a new general director is appointed. That person, says Mason, needs to have a fresh outlook. 'They need somebody new,' Mason explained. 'I’m 72 years old. I have no new ideas, and I’m not trying to formulate any.' His old ideas worked well for the Lyric, which remained in the black throughout Mason’s tenure, without sacrificing quality, says Marc Scorca, president of Opera America, a national umbrella organization. Scorca says Mason’s vast experience and popularity in the opera world will send a message internally and to the outside world that the ship has been righted. 'I think Bill will not only provide continuity in many ways but he’ll also provide a different leadership style that will win new friends for San Diego Opera,' said Scorca." [Source]

San Diego Opera Announces 2014-15 Season After Rescue

Seats at San Diego Civic Theatre
wait to be filled with opera fans.

"San Diego Opera’s Board of Directors voted today to rescind the decision to close the Company after nearly two months of careful analysis, deliberation and fundraising. The Company originally announced its closure and the sale of its assets on March 19, 2014. The original closure date was scheduled to occur on April 14, 2014, the day after the Company’s final sold-out performance of Don Quixote. A vote by the Board on March 31, 2014, delayed that closure by two weeks until April 29, 2014. Another vote by the Board on April 18, 2014, extended that closure date to at least May 19, 2014. Today’s vote on May 16, 2014, overturns the original decision to close. 'The public spoke, we listened, and we’re open for business,' shares Board President Carol Lazier, 'and do we have some great news to share with you!' In light of this news, San Diego Opera is announcing its 2015 season, the Company’s 50th. La bohème, Don Giovanni, and Nixon in China are the three operas being performed at the San Diego Civic Theatre. The Company will also celebrate its 50th anniversary with special Gala Concerts of favorite arias, duets, ensembles and choruses with the San Diego Symphony at Copley Symphony Hall. Additional events and performances are in the works, and will be announced shortly. The Company has also announced that the ongoing crowd funding effort has resulted in a total of $2,116,376 in donations from 2461 of donors as of midnight Sunday, May 18, 2014. 48% of these donors have never given before and represent gifts from six countries – Austria, Australia, Canada, England, Italy, Mexico & 36 States. The gifts range from $10 – $50,000 with a median gift of $100. Now that the $1 million goal has been reached, and the Company has announced a 2015 season, both triggers of the escrow account have been met and donations will be moved from the escrow account into the Company’s 2015 fund to be used for the just-announced season." [Source] See details of the season, including artists performing, after the jump.

Lise Lindstrom Talks Nudity as Salome for San Diego Opera

"At the cocktail party the other night, I can't remember who said it, but they told everyone, 'By the way, she takes all her clothes off.' I was, like, fabulous."

Nadja Michael in the Salome production at San Francisco Opera that Lise Lindstrom will do at the San Diego Opera beginning January 18, 2012 (Photo: Terrence McCarthy)

Read more of the interview with Lise Lindstrom and Greer Grimsley by clicking here. One more picture after the jump from the "Dance of the Seven Veils."

Married Opera Singers Make Debut Together in California

Couple on and off stage: Costello and Perez (Photo: Cory Weaver)

Opera Fresh earlier announced Stephen Costello would be making his role debut as Faust with the San Diego Opera. The production, which was also written about for some cast changes, includes Mr. Costello's wife Ailyn Perez as Marguerite: "Usually when singers debut in a role, they sing tentatively, reserving their energy and vocal power so they know they can get through the evening with their voices intact. But Costello and Perez showed no signs of tiring or holding back in their roles. Costello's got a lovely, ringing tenor with a pleasing top, clarity, evenness of tone and warm romantic sound, particularly in Faust's famous love aria 'Salut! demeure chaste et pure' and he throws himself physically into the role ---- with a surprisingly rousing sword fight in the third act and a finale that involves a brave tumble down a steep staircase. Perez's debut as Marguerite is also a success, though it's likely she'll grow into the role more as time goes on. She has a lush, ear-pleasing, creamy voice that fits the role well, but she's cautious with the role's more florid passages. Marguerite's "Jewel Song" ('Je ris de me voir') ---- where she's seduced by the chest of rubies left for her by Faust ---- is often a dazzling showpiece for coloratura vocal theatrics, but Perez keeps the embellishments to a minimum. As she grows more confident in the part, that should expand. She's got obvious chemistry with her on- and offstage partner, Costello, and she doesn't lack for vocal heft, finishing strong with the powerful 'Anges purs, anges radieux,' where she pleads for the angels to rescue her in the beautifully staged finale." [Source]

Brian Mulligan Makes Last Minute Replacement in San Diego

(Photo: Sam Hodgson)

"At 9:30 a.m. Monday, one of the main singers for Faust, Joshua Hopkins, told general director Ian Campbell he was getting sick. They immediately decided Hopkins should withdraw from the first performance of Faust, and maybe more, depending on his health. Three hours later, Campbell booked another baritone to sing the Valentin role, Brian Mulligan. By the time I was sitting in Campbell's office on Tuesday at 2:45 p.m., Mulligan had arrived and was at his costume fitting. Once Campbell made the decision that Hopkins should sit out, he and his assistant made a list of about 10 candidates, bolstered by suggestions from some of the other singers of people they'd worked with before. They made a list of requirements, crossing off any of the

Brian Mulligan as Valentin and John Relyea
as Méphistophélès in San Francisco
(Photo by Cory Weaver/San Francisco Opera)

candidates who didn't match: Male, baritone, established, available within 24 hours, versed in the role of Valentin (not just a song or two) and comfortable with swordplay. Oh, and he had to be American or currently in the United States, to avoid a visa processing delay. That left a pool of exactly two people. In the first conversation with Mulligan's agent, Campbell learned that Mulligan sang the same role with the San Francisco Opera and will sing it at the Metropolitan Opera next winter." [Source]

Stephen Costello Begins Opera Diary in San Diego

"Philadelphia-born tenor Stephen Costello has arrived on the West Coast for a month-long stay at San Diego Opera, where he will make two role debuts: the Italian Singer in Richard Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier (April 3-12), and the title role in Gounod's Faust (April 23, 26, 29 and May 1). Costello will be documenting his experiences with the company in an "Opera Diary" published by the San Diego Union-Tribune. The first of seven installments in the series is available here. Later this spring, Costello makes his Glyndebourne Festival debut as Nemorino in Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore (June 9 - August 4), and this fall he reprises the role of Percy in Donizetti's Anna Bolena, opening the Metropolitan Opera's new season on September 26, 2011, in a new production featuring Anna Netrebko in the title role." [Source]