Glynn Ross Announces Retirement

Glynn Ross Announces Retirement As General Director of Arizona Opera

August 15, 1997

General Director Glynn Ross has announced his retirement on June 30, 1998 and the 1997-98 Season will be his last as chief administrator of Arizona Opera. On July 1, 1998, Glynn Ross will hand over a world class opera company with an international reputation, presenting grand opera in three cities to a new generation of leadership. The Board of Trustees of Arizona Opera has appointed a search committee to seek his replacement. Mr. Ross, now in his 15th season at the helm of the 27 year old opera company, will become Arizona Opera's General Director Emeritus and will be available as a consultant to the new administration.

A man of considerable accomplishments and experience, Mr. Ross' tenure at Arizona Opera began in 1983, when his arrival marked the change for the company, which at the time was virtually bankrupt. Under his supervision, Arizona Opera has remained financially sound. In addition, Mr. Ross is recognized for the continued growth and expansion of the company which now presents a season of thirty-five performances in Tucson and Phoenix. Through his determination and vision, the first Southwest Ring Festival was realized in June 1996 with the internationally acclaimed Der Ring des Nibelungen in Flagstaff. With this monumental undertaking comes the recognition that Arizona is a cultural destination for world travelers. The second Arizona Opera Ring will be presented in June 1998.

A native of Omaha, Nebraska, Glynn Ross has been hailed as the "bantam of opera" and the "hip huckster of grand opera" for his populist approach to marketing opera. He began his career in 1938 at the Shakespeare Memorial Theater in Stratford-on-Avon, England. Two years later, Mr. Ross worked with the esteemed Albert Coates in the Los Angeles production of Faust which was followed by his engagement by the New England Conservatory, Boston as the Opera Department Stage Director. During the years of 1948 through 1962, Mr. Ross staged operas for companies in the United States and abroad including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Miami, Fort Worth, Seattle, Sarajevo and Naples.

In 1963, he founded and became general director of Seattle Opera where his notable accomplishments included the presentation of the first Wagner Festival in the western hemisphere and led to the creation of the Pacific Northwest Wagner Festival. This brought international recognition to the city of Seattle and made the Northwest into a mecca for opera lovers around the world. During the twenty year chapter in Seattle, Mr. Ross founded Opera America, a consortium of United States opera companies, created the Pacific Northwest Ballet, presented a number of world premiere operas including the presentation of the rock opera Tommy starring Bette Midler, Carlisle Floyd's Of Mice and Men, and Thomas Pastieri's Black Widow, and received numerous awards from the state of Washington for his years of distinguished service.

Glynn Ross has been given Germany's highest service award and been knighted by Italy. The cities of Seattle, Tucson and Phoenix have honored him with official proclamations, citations and plaques. Other awards have been given by the New York Board of Trade, an honorary degree from the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil, special recognition from the governor, legislature, and Arts Commission of Washington, and the Metropolitan Opera. In 1997, he received the Medallion of Merit by the National Society of Arts and Letters.

In governmental service, he has served on the Planning and Grants panels for the National Endowment for the Arts and served for 3 years on a State Department team for cultural exchange with Eastern Block countries. In private service, he has served as a Trustee of the National Institute for Music Theatre, a consultant for the Ford Foundation, a panelist for the Richard Tucker, Lauritz Melchior, P.E. McAllister Foundations and the Metropolitan Opera Awards. He has served on the faculty of the Los Angeles Conservatory, Los Angeles City College, the New England Conservatory and the University of Puget Sound.

Glynn and his wife, Gio, have kept their home on Yarrow Point, Bellevue, Washington and plan to spend their summers there.

*Members of the media wishing to interview Mr. Ross are asked to call Monica Barrows at 602.266.7464 to arrange a convenient time. Photographs and biographical information sheets are available on request.

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Glynn Ross Announces Retirement As General Director of Arizona Opera