Arizona Opera

Arizona Opera is an opera company which operates in both Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona.

Arizona Opera was established in 1971 as the Tucson Opera Company, under founding general director James P. Sullivan, and presented its first production, of Rossini's The Barber of Seville, in 1972. By 1976 the company had expanded to include performances in both Tucson and Phoenix. Arizona Opera is now permanently headquartered in Phoenix. The company has a subscriber base of approximately 10,000 drawn from the two metropolitan areas, and an annual expenditure of $5.8 million, according to the company's 2011 IRS Form 990.

The appointment of Glynn Ross as general director in 1983 initiated a period of growth during which the company expanded its season from three to five productions. In 1996 and 1998 the company gained notice by staging Wagner's Ring Cycle as a summer festival in Flagstaff, Arizona. Ross retired in 1998 and was succeeded by David Speers, who increased spending on rehearsals, chorus, and orchestra in an effort to improve the quality of the company's productions. Under Speers' leadership subscriptions and single-ticket sales increased. In addition to the company's regular productions, Speers brought singers Samuel Ramey, Kiri Te Kanawa, Denyce Graves, and Jerry Hadley to Arizona for recital performances.

During the 2000-2001 season, the company appointed its first principal conductor, Cal Stewart Kellogg. Kellogg remained in that position through 2004, and is now director of the Symphony of the Southwest.

David Speers left the company in 2003 and was succeeded by Joel Revzen, a Juilliard-trained musician, conductor, and music-organization administrator. Revzen continued Speers' practice of mixing standard repertory with productions of less-often-performed works, e.g., Menotti's The Consul, Brecht and Weill's The Threepenny Opera, and Handel's Semele. Revzen was succeeded as general director by Scott Altman in 2009, and Revzen has been named the company's conductor laureate. Altman oversaw the design and construction of the company's new office and production complex, the Arizona Opera Center, across Central Avenue from the Phoenix Art Museum in midtown Phoenix. The company announced Altman's resignation in April 2013. Arizona Opera artistic director Ryan Taylor was appointed interim general director upon Altman's departure, and then permanent general director in June 2013. Arizona Opera's current President and General Director is Joseph Specter, who was appointed in May 2016.

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