Yesterday, arts professionals from around Wisconsin gathered in the Capitol Theater at the Overture Center for the Arts to listen to Michael Kaiser, the so-called “turnaround king” and president of the Kennedy Center for the Arts. Many from the Madison Opera staff and board of trustees were in attendance. In a conversation moderated by Andrew Taylor, Kaiser touched on the key points from his book, “The Art of the Turnaround,” encouraging us all to think big, plan ahead, and commit to a rigorous regime of institutional marketing. Most importantly, Kaiser reminded us that the the art we produce must be exciting and that in times of economic uncertainty, we must not flinch and cut programming, but rather devote ourselves even more aggressively to the production of beautiful, challenging art. That is always our mission, but it is also our surest stream of revenue which is often forgotten! To say the least, his talk has sent a positive jolt through the Wisconsin arts community. Here’s some press on the event:
Two new performing arts blogs have recently popped up here in Madison:
- Jacob Stockinger, formerly of The Capitol Times, is now writing his own blog, “The Well Tempered Ear,” at welltempered.wordpress.com. A Madison-area classical music blog has been long overdue, so we are thrilled to have Jake sharing his thoughts with us!
It’s time to start blogging again after a very nice rest. Suddenly, after only 2 weeks, it seems single ticket sales (starting Sept. 14) and Carmen (Nov.6 & 8) are upon us. Well, at least in administrative time. It’s good to be back!
The MadOpera Blog will be taking a little summer vacation over the next two weeks. In the meantime, I encourage new subscribers to get their orders in today to save 15%! Also, be sure to explore Overture Center’s new website when it launches next week and don’t miss Four Seasons Theatre’s Evita August 21-23.
Maestro John DeMain and soprano Lisa Daltirus. (Photo by James Gill)
If you check out 77 Square today, you’ll see a big spread on Opera in the Park in the “Seen” column. Rob Thomas writes, “…thousands gathered on the park hill to enjoy a free evening of terrific music.” Nice pictures accompany the piece, though none of any singers!
Shifting gears for a moment, remember that little opera we did back in May? Well, the last review has finally come in for Faust. Opera News, the leading US opera magazine, has published their review of the Madison Opera production and the word is good. Or I should say, the words are good: “intelligent… stirring… excellent… terrific… rewarding.” Wow! We’re collectively blushing, but of course more than a little proud.
Yesterday, arts professionals from around Wisconsin gathered in the Capitol Theater at the Overture Center for the Arts to listen to Michael Kaiser, the so-called “turnaround king” and president of the Kennedy Center for the Arts. Many from the Madison Opera staff and board of trustees were in attendance. In a conversation moderated by Andrew Taylor, Kaiser touched on the key points from his book, “The Art of the Turnaround,” encouraging us all to think big, plan ahead, and commit to a rigorous regime of institutional marketing. Most importantly, Kaiser reminded us that the the art we produce must be exciting and that in times of economic uncertainty, we must not flinch and cut programming, but rather devote ourselves even more aggressively to the production of beautiful, challenging art. That is always our mission, but it is also our surest stream of revenue which is often forgotten! To say the least, his talk has sent a positive jolt through the Wisconsin arts community. Here’s some press on the event:
