In an effort to cut costs, the New York City Opera is dispensing with materials for dozens of its productions, rather than facing hefty storage fees, according to The New York Times. Essentially an itinerant opera company since leaving its former home at Lincoln Center's David H. Koch Theater in 2011, the financially strapped New York City Opera has been renting a storage facility for its production materials to the tune of $500,000 a year. New York City Opera general manager and artistic director George Steel says selling - and even discarding - some of the company's past productions is not just a cost-cutting measure, but also clears the slate for the company to position itself as a foremost presenter of new productions. âI think itâs incredibly strong artistically to have a season entirely of new productions,â? Steel told The New York Times. New York City Opera has reportedly asked Portland Opera, which is renting City Opera's Don Giovanni, to "dispose of" those materials. City Opera also has told the Glimmerglass Festival to claim production stock for some two dozen productions the companies co-produced. Steel has said any of the materials unclaimed by Glimmerglass will be disposed of "in the best possible way." Read more: City Opera to Shed Its Past, Not Store It (NYT)
Jennifer Hambrick unites her extensive backgrounds in the arts and media and her deep roots in Columbus to bring inspiring music to central Ohio as Classical 101’s midday host. Jennifer performed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Civic Orchestra of Chicago before earning a Ph.D. in musicology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.