Letter from Ryan Taylor
Dear Friends,
As our 60th Anniversary Season draws to a close, I want to share an update with you.
We are pleased to announce we have successfully concluded our negotiations and have mutually agreed to terms for a new four-year collective bargaining agreement between MN Opera and the Twin Cities Musicians Union, which represents our orchestra musicians.
The new agreement honors the long-standing working relationship between the company and its core orchestra musicians and positions the company to continue to move forward united, advancing the art of opera for today and for future generations.
Our goal is to maintain a vibrant season of live performances. This requires flexibility in staffing each of our productions, and to creative consideration of what future productions will look like and where they will be held. Like other opera companies in markets our size, our freelance creative workforce (orchestra instrumentalists, principal singers, chorus, dancers, crew and more) are contracted by project. We will continue to consider the interests of all of our artists – singers, instrumentalists, crew, designers, directors, conductors and others – who contribute to this highly collaborative arts experience.
MN Opera has charted its recovery from the past few years in part by programming seasons in direct response to market demand, the realities of human and financial resources, and the breadth of philanthropic support that is offered by the community. Our desire is to produce as much inspiring opera as we are able with the available resources – at the Ordway and beyond. As a community-based arts organization, we must marry respectful, agile stewardship of our resources with our vision to sing every story.
Since March 2020, MN Opera has operated under our existing strategic plan while adapting to meet the continuously evolving COVID constraints and recovery. As we continue to discover and adapt to new realities, MN Opera envisions a future that will be grounded in creative exploration delivered through outstanding performances in familiar spaces like the Ordway as well as innovative productions in new spaces that bring the joy and beauty of opera to a broader audience. That will be central to our plans moving forward.
We look forward to working with our entire creative workforce as we build a dynamic, sustainable, and inclusive opera company that benefits patrons, artists, and the community well into the future.
We also look forward to seeing many of you this month at the Ordway to conclude the season with our new production of Don Giovanni, which had been postponed from 2020 due to the pandemic.
As we anticipate the conclusion of our 60th season, we are so grateful for your continued support of MN Opera, its artists, and the arts community. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Ryan Taylor
President and General Director