Arts Venues, Brand, Brand Values, C-Suite, Business Development, Business of Opera, Branding, China, Working Conditions, Composer, Librettist, Best Practices James Mowdy Arts Venues, Brand, Brand Values, C-Suite, Business Development, Business of Opera, Branding, China, Working Conditions, Composer, Librettist, Best Practices James Mowdy

Kennedy Center thoughts from Grammy-winning librettist Mark Campbell

(Santa Fe, NM) - I met librettist Mark Campbell in 2015, while he and composer Mason Bates were finalizing their Grammy-winning opera The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs. I also had the honor of being at its Santa Fe Opera world premiere in 2017. During the pandemic, he even wrote a piece for OI. But with the arrival of a new regime in Washington, and the hostile takeover of the Kennedy Center by Trump, a political lapdog, and a new board of loyalist supporters, I wanted to know how Mark felt about Washington National Opera’s production of Jobs, which closed two weeks ago…

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Advertising, Best Practices, Arts Management, Brand Values, Business of Opera, Business Partnership, Business Development, C-Suite, Corporate Governance, San Francisco, Technology James Mowdy Advertising, Best Practices, Arts Management, Brand Values, Business of Opera, Business Partnership, Business Development, C-Suite, Corporate Governance, San Francisco, Technology James Mowdy

San Francisco Symphony CEO and Board Chair: Please repair your brand or resign

(San Francisco, CA) - Esa-Pekka Salonen’s announced 2025 departure from San Francisco Symphony still stuns, even several months on. With this piece, OI aims to:

  • Explore the known why behind the financial crisis

  • Explain why we oppose the company’s devastating, short-sighted cuts

  • Provide guidance on how this legacy brand could begin repairing its self-inflicted wounds

Given his stature as the Bay Area’s classical music journalist, we first relied on San Francisco Chronicle’s Joshua Kosman and his reporting. Kosman’s first piece laid out the situation, Salonen’s terse statement, SFS musicians’ vocal support of their Maestro, as well as their demand for audited financials from CEO Mark Spivey and Board Chair Priscilla Geeslin...

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Business of Opera, Advertising, Best Practices, Brand, Business Development, Business Partnership, Startup, C-Suite, Classical Voice, Brazil James Mowdy Business of Opera, Advertising, Best Practices, Brand, Business Development, Business Partnership, Startup, C-Suite, Classical Voice, Brazil James Mowdy

OI Interview | David Lomeli, Bolero Tech CEO

(Santa Fe, NM) - Opera Innovation profiled David Lomeli just before he began his tenure as Santa Fe Opera’s Chief Artistic Officer. In the years and seasons since, David continues to drive artistic endeavors for Santa Fe Opera, The Dallas Opera, Bayerische Staatsoper, and Operalia, but for his own startup businesses, too: Bolero Tech and the Vincerò Competition, respectively. In late April, we met David at Santa Fe’s famed Inn at the Loretto, for a wide-ranging discussion on the problems Bolero’s technology solves, new partnerships in the Americas, the future of opera and a game-changing algorithm…

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Brand, Business of Opera, Women in Business, C-Suite, Changemakers, Classical Voice, Arts Management, Business Partnership, Arts Venues, Best Practices, Symphony, Tourism, Business Development James Mowdy Brand, Business of Opera, Women in Business, C-Suite, Changemakers, Classical Voice, Arts Management, Business Partnership, Arts Venues, Best Practices, Symphony, Tourism, Business Development James Mowdy

OI Interview | Emma Scherer, Santa Fe Symphony's Executive Director

(Santa Fe, NM) - We’re especially excited to share this chat with Emma Scherer, who we’ve known since her time at The Santa Fe Opera, working closely with Charles MacKay, while also running the company’s Executive Office and Board Relations. We met in 2015, when I had the opportunity to onsite consult with SFO public relations and apprentice artists that season. I was immediately impressed by everything Emma did and how she did it; a professional’s professional who kept everything and everyone moving forward, towards that day’s business goals, with an eye to the evening’s performance and everything that meant for Mr. MacKay and countless others. Fast-forwarding to the present, Emma has been The Santa Fe Symphony’s Executive Director since September 2021 and is preparing for the company’s 40th season in 2023/4. However, on the way there, Emma and collaborators launched the Art + Sol | Santa Fe Winter Arts Festival in February 2023…

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