SAN DIEGO – San Diego Opera has announced Carol Lazier, the former secretary of the board, is now the acting president after President Karen Cohn resigned along with 12 other directors in a board meeting that lasted over four hours.
At a duly convened meeting April 17, by vote of the directors constituting a majority of the required quorum for such meeting, the San Diego Opera Association deferred its previously announced April 29 date for closure of operations to at least May 19, to permit the reconstituted board and the special committee led by Carol Lazier to explore opportunities to continue the Opera Association’s mission.
Carol Lazier recently offered $1 million to help the company and board members research and define ways to redirect the company with new fundraising models, a new repertoire and production techniques, and new cost saving measures.
“We have a devoted staff, an energized Association and a board newly focused on finding novel and fiscally responsible ways to present great opera to the City of San Diego. I have been deeply encouraged by the outpouring of public support, and the genuine and enthusiastic participation by the San Diego Symphony, Opera America, and the opera world. Together we can recreate San Diego Opera’s future.”
The Company, under her leadership, will now explore donor and fundraising options to prepare a 2015 season, the company’s 50th, with advice from Opera America and outside experts.
A meeting of the Opera Association members is being planned and details of that meeting will be announced shortly.
The company, led by Ian Campbell, announced its closure last month which was originally scheduled to occur April 14, after its final sold-out performance of Don Quixote. A vote by the board March 31 delayed that closure by two-weeks until April 29. A vote yesterday extended this date to May 19.
