Joseph Volpe (opera manager)

Joseph Volpe (born July 2, 1940) is an American opera manager and arts management consultant. He is noted for his long association with the Metropolitan Opera, in which he served as General Manager from 1990 to 2006. In all, he spent 42 years working at the Met in various capacities, rising rapidly to managerial positions. Since February 2016 he has been Executive Director of the Sarasota Ballet.

Volpe was born in Brooklyn, New York. While living in Long Island, he opened his own auto mechanic business in high school. After a fire at the auto garage, he worked as a theatrical carpenter on Broadway. In lieu of college, Volpe joined the Metropolitan Opera in August 1964 as an apprentice carpenter.

Volpe became the Metropolitan Opera's master carpenter in 1966, having joined the company's carpentry division in 1964 as an apprentice. He became Technical Director of the Met in 1978. In 1981 he was appointed Assistant Manager of the Met, and retained that position for 9 years. His accomplishments in that capacity included managing the company's re-entry into the commercial recording field.

Volpe became the opera's General Manager in August 1990. He was the first head of the Metropolitan Opera to advance from within the ranks of the company's management.

As general manager, Volpe reduced the number of operas repeating from prior seasons and increased the overall length of the season. During his tenure, several world premieres were given, including commissions made under his aegis, such as Tan Dun's The First Emperor, presented in the 2006–07 season. The Met's repertory further expanded with 22 works given their Met premieres during Volpe's 16 seasons as general manager – more new works than under any general manager since Giulio Gatti-Casazza, who ran the company from 1908 to 1935.

Volpe expanded the Met's international touring activities. The company visited Spain's Expo ’92, Germany in 1994, and Japan in 1993, 1997, 2001, and 2006. In addition, under Volpe, frequent tours and recordings of symphonic repertoire by the Met orchestra were inaugurated, as well as an annual series at Carnegie Hall. The orchestra made European concert tours in 1996 and 1999, and a tour of the United States in 1998. In August 2002, the orchestra gave concerts at the Salzburg Festival, festivals in Lucerne and Baden-Baden and the Rheingau Musik Festival.

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