Arizona Opera unveils new president and general director

Arizona Opera was founded in 1971 by a dedicated group of opera enthusiasts. Since its inaugural year, Arizona Opera has produced over 200 fully-staged operas and concerts. Among the standouts this season is a production of “Zorro” in English and Spanish. It debuts Saturday, September 27th.

Brian DeMaris, the new President and General Director of Arizona Opera, joined “Arizona Horizon” to take a look at the state of opera and discuss future productions at the Arizona Opera.

“People come from all over our state to Phoenix, and Tucson to see Opera,” DeMaris said, “…and this is one of the best opera companies in the country, and many people don’t realize that.”

The COVID-19 pandemic hurt many businesses across the country, but especially opera, as they were forced to shut down completely. DeMaris emphasized that since the pandemic philanthropy for the arts, foundation support, and audiences has declined.

“Opera in particular along with all the arts…has been forced to grapple with how it connects to people,” DeMaris explained, “…and how it resonates in this new time period.”

DeMaris explained how opera fans are some of the most passionate, and there was a high demand for Opera throughout the pandemic. He also discussed how there was lots of rejuvenation of new works, newly composed operas, young voices, and new composers.

“That was one of the exciting things that we saw,” DeMaris said, “…trying to carry that forward, as people became comfortable with moving back into public spaces into the theatre…is something we are still figuring out.”

DeMaris emphasized that as opera continues to innovate, it should incorporate both old and modern techniques.

“You have to do large, small, grand scale spectacle, you have to do intimate, up close performances,” DeMaris explained, “…you have to get out of the big venues that are hard to access, you have to go into the smaller communities around town into the suburbs, into the rural areas.”