The San Francisco Opera's Director of Production, Greg Weber, will become Tulsa Opera's managing director in October. The search has begun to find his successor. He held the post in San Francisco since 2011, but as General Director David Gockley said:
I had the wonderful pleasure of working with Greg at Houston Grand Opera in a similar position for 13 years and all those great qualities and business attributes he had there, he brought to San Francisco Opera: his complete professionalism, directness, creativity, and good cheer.Greg has been a skillful and resourceful manager in helping to produce high quality work despite often difficult and challenging financial constraints. He has been an outstanding leader with our many union colleagues, backstage crews, our departments of wig and make-up, costumes, wardrobe, scene construction, stage management, lighting, technical, and stage operations. He will be sincerely missed.
Other changes come about as the consequence of Director of Music Operations Kip Cranna's retirement after overseeing many aspects of the company's work for almost four decades. His retirement is only partial, as Cranna assumes a part-time role of company dramaturg, which means, according to a company official, that "he will continue to midwife the company's world premieres, provide critical musicological support to all departments, and continue to evangelize SFO to Bay Area audiences through his public speaking engagements."
Still, there is a kind of chain reaction: a new director of music operations, yet to be named, will have oversight for the orchestra, chorus and dance departments. Already announced: Greg Henkel, formerly director of artistic administration, has taken over a number of the music areas of the company under his new title of director of artistic and music planning. "There is also some shifting of positions reporting into the music/artistic division and they're also in the process of hiring a couple other positions," says the announcement. Looks like "it takes a village."
Cranna's email response neatly summarizes the situation:
I am recovering from hip surgery and will be out of the office until later in August. Note that I have retired from music adminstration and now act as dramaturg, dealing with educational and community outreach programs, commissions, and musicological support to the staff.For matters regarding the music staff, supertitles, cuts, scores, and pianos, please contact Greg Henkel.
For matters regarding the orchestra, chorus, dancers, backstage music, union contracts,media, and season schedules, or general questions, please contact Matthew Shilvock.
As Gockley said at the time of the announcement:
It is with great admiration and respect that I share with you Kip Cranna's decision to retire. [The 2013 season opening] marked Kip's 35th opening night with the company, and there are few of us who can share the remarkable longevity and dedication that Kip has so selflessly given the Opera.Kip is a regular public face of the company, moderating panels, speaking to groups, generously lending his deep knowledge of the art-form with grace and humor. He has instilled passion for opera in generations of students, audiences and company members. His ability to juggle the plethora of competing factors in our master schedules — all done with little Post-it notes — is legendary. And the care and professionalism he brings to the areas under his purview — orchestra, chorus, dance corps, music staff, libraries, supertitles — is evident in the respect that we all have for his work and collegiality.
Kip joined San Francisco Opera in 1979 and quickly assumed the leadership of the musical administration departments. With a PhD in musicology from Stanford, Kip became the de-facto musicologist for the company. His tenure has spanned five general directors and three music directors: If anyone understands the living, breathing, complex organism that is SFO, it is Kip. He has huge institutional memory and his office is a great repository of the company's recent past. In 2008, on the occasion of his 30th anniversary with the company, Kip was awarded the San Francisco Opera Medal, the highest award the company bestows on an artistic professional.