Information - Vocal Arts DC

For Immediate Release: March 12, 2012

Contact: Daniel B. Silver (301) 986-1926 [email protected]

PETER RUSSELL NAMED GENERAL DIRECTOR OF VOCAL ARTS DC Peter Russell, a noted figure in American opera, has been named as General Director of Vocal Arts DC (incorporated as The Vocal Arts Society). In his new position, Russell will assume responsibility for both the artistic and business management of Vocal Arts DC, working closely in the field of artistic programming with the organization’s founder and President Emeritus, Dr. Gerald Perman, who is stepping down as Artistic Director to become Artistic Director Emeritus. As one of the few organizations anywhere that present a full concert season devoted solely to classical voice recitals, Vocal Arts DC has made Washington an indispensable recital venue for the world’s greatest singers. Russell, 54, who returned to Washington, D.C. last year from Denver, has longstanding professional ties to the area, having begun his career on the production and public relations staffs of The Washington National Opera in the early 1980’s, before becoming General Director of the Wolf Trap Opera Company for 14 seasons, beginning in 1984, and co-founding, with Stephen Crout, Washington Concert Opera twenty-five years ago. He has also served as Director of the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program at New York’s Metropolitan Opera and as General Director of Opera Colorado. Remarking on Russell’s appointment, Vocal Arts DC’s President, Daniel B. Silver, commented, “with this talented new General Director, who has an extraordinary knowledge of the world of classical singing, Vocal Arts DC has assured the unbroken continuation of the tradition of excellence set by Gerry Perman in the 22 seasons of voice recitals he has brought to Washington.” Perman, who founded Vocal Arts DC in 1990, noted that, “there is no one anywhere better qualified than Peter Russell to lead our organization. I have full confidence in Peter and am looking forward to working with him, I hope for many years to come.” The upcoming 2012-2013 season of six vocal recitals at the Terrace Theater in the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts will mark the last planned in its entirety under Perman’s leadership. Russell said, “I have known and admired Gerald Perman for over 25 years, and Vocal Arts has been an organization dear to my heart since Gerry conceived it. I welcome working with him as he continues to advise Vocal Arts in the coming years, and to working with the board’s leadership as we lead Vocal Arts into the future together.”

Vocal Arts DC is dedicated to the presentation of song recitals in the nation’s capital by the world’s finest singers and to the education and development of future audience members by introducing them to the richness of the classical song repertoire. Vocal Arts has presented nearly 200 singers in recital in venues throughout the District of Columbia. The 2012-13 season will open on September 14, 2012, with a recital in the Terrace Theater by acclaimed mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe. ###

Peter Russell

BIOGRAPHY Most recently, Peter Russell served as President & General Director of Opera Colorado between September of 2001 and August of 2007, where he oversaw all administrative operations of the company, guiding a staff of seventeen full-time employees. During Mr. Russell's tenure, the company's annual budget steadily grew each year, from just over $3 million in 2002 to nearly $5.25 million in 2005. The company's Endowment Fund also grew, from $275,000 in 2001 to $1.5 million in 2007. In addition, Mr. Russell and senior members of Opera Colorado's staff and board took a leadership role

beginning in 2001 in a collaborative grassroots lobbying campaign to win support from former Denver Mayor Wellington Webb and members of City Council for a bond initiative that went before Denver voters in November of 2002, authorizing a wholesale renovation of the city's historic municipal Auditorium Theatre that would turn the interior into a state-of-the-art Opera House. The initiative passed overwhelmingly, resulting in the advent of the 2,167-seat Ellie Caulkins Opera House, which opened to acclaim in September of 2005. This occasion marked the first time in its history that Denver boasted a theater expressly conceived for the acoustic presentation of grand opera. A passionate spokesman for opera, Mr. Russell became "Mr. Opera" within the greater Denver community, lecturing and hosting discussions about opera and Opera Colorado at the Tattered Cover bookstore, at the University of Denver's Adult Education Enrichment Program, the Denver Lyric Opera Guild, the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, the Newman Center for the Performing Arts, and, as part of Opera Colorado's collaboration with Colorado Public Radio and the Denver Public Library, on the innovative "Opera 101" free lecture series, the Denver Central Library. The "Opera 101" lectures, begun late in 2001, steadily increased in popularity to routinely attract standing room only crowds, and were awarded one of OPERA America's coveted "Spotlight on Opera" Awards in 2005. Also during Mr. Russell's leadership, Opera Colorado's Outreach & Education programs made huge advances in the scope of its in-school programs and the number of children throughout the state exposed to live opera performances, from 9,332 in 2002 to over 20,000 in 2007. The company also commissioned a bi-lingual opera for youth audiences, La Curandera by Robert Xavier Rodriguez, which received its world premiere to excellent notices in Denver in the spring of 2006, and was subsequently toured by the company through Colorado public schools during the 2006-07 season. La Curandera won OPERA America's "Diversity Award" in 2007. Mr. Russell served, beginning in 2004, as chair of a committee of Denver arts leaders in lobbying efforts for Denver to host the National Performing Arts Convention in June of 2008, and subsequently became the local co-chair of the Steering Committee in Denver to organize and coordinate preparations for the NPAC, including fundraising efforts. The Visit Denver Foundation recognized his efforts on behalf of the NPAC in 2009 with a "Star Award" for his outstanding contribution to tourism. He also served, between late summer of 2006 and winter of 2007, as one of a 15-member panel selected by Mayor John Hickenlooper in a Cultural Facilities Infrastructure Task Force, reviewing renovation needs of cultural institutions, and making recommendations on prioritizing them to the Mayor.

Mr. Russell came to Opera Colorado from the Metropolitan Opera, where he joined the artistic staff in 1997 as Director of the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program. During his four seasons at the Met, he was a member of the company's in-house auditions panel. His duties also included rotational duty to represent Met senior management at performances throughout the season. Between his roles at the Metropolitan Opera and other activities, Mr. Russell has become recognized as one of America's leading "mentor" figures for young artists and their development, and was the sole American invited to Opera Europa's Annual Conference in Valencia, Spain in 2005 expressly to serve as a U.S. representative to discuss training singers from the American viewpoint. A founding board member from 1986-97 of the highly-praised Washington Concert Opera, Mr. Russell was instrumental in arranging the operatic debuts in D.C. of such artists as sopranos Renée Fleming and Deborah Voigt, mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves, and tenor Ben Heppner, among many others. From 1980-84, he served on the production and public relations staffs of The Washington Opera, for which company he also hosted all artists' round table discussions between 1988-97. From 1984-97, Mr. Russell was General Director of the Wolf Trap Opera Company, a nationally recognized summer residency program for emerging singers, with an "alumni" roster described by The Washington Post as a "Who's Who of American Artists." Mr. Russell has served two three-year terms as an OPERA America board member, and chaired the Professional Development Committee from 1994-97. Mr. Russell graduated from Yale College magna cum laude in 1979.