In Saturday’s (5/14) Sacramento Bee, Edward Ortiz reports, “The Sacramento Opera announced Friday that it will present a 2011-12 season. Urgent pleas in the last two weeks secured $135,164 from donors. The company canceled most of its 2010-11 season because of an $85,000 budget shortfall. Yet some supporters were willing to come to the organization’s aid. … The Opera’s board of directors voted unanimously Thursday to move forward with the new season after it met a benchmark of $122,000, Gideons said. Its initial plea had been $175,000 by early May. ‘This was a vote of confidence,’ said Rod Gideons, general director of the company. ‘The board felt that if it attained the minimum it would give them enough confidence in going forward. … The board also approved an operating budget of $704,551, compared with $1.1 million for its ill-fated 2010-11 season. With a smaller budget, the company will move away from a focus on grand opera. Gone will be the three productions that offered two evening performances and a matinee. … The new season will see the company producing three performances, including a co-production of Leoncavallo’s ‘Pagliacci,’ with the Sacramento Philharmonic.”
Posted May 18, 2011
