Programming and training at the Chautauqua Opera Company, the nation’s oldest continuous summer opera company, will be dramatically scaled back to help close the Chautauqua Institution’s projected funding shortfall.
Full-scale opera productions, a staple at Chautauqua since 1927, will be eliminated starting in 2024. Instead, stripped-down operas, in a workshop format, will be presented starting in 2025.
The company’s competitive, fully professional young artist program – with singers working with composers, dramatists and librettists – will be slashed. There will be slots for eight students, down from 24.
Production jobs for sets, costumes and lighting, among other backstage positions, will also be gone.
“This is heartbreaking,” said Jane Gross, whose name adorns the opera center. “The Chautauqua Opera Company’s value to the greater opera community of North America and the world is almost incalculable. People who have been through that program work all over the world and have been doing so for decades and decades.”
The Chautauqua Institution’s board of trustees approved $41.5 million in contracts Wednesday to demolish its historic 1893 amphitheater and build a replica in its place. The decision – which ratified a board vote in August that was dependent on affordable bids – will likely further inflame an already divided Chautauqua community. “We are incredibly excited to be moving forward
Opera singer David Crawford also expressed his alarm.
“Since my debut at the Metropolitan Opera…
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