Russell P. Allen will retire as Virginia Opera’s administrative chief at the end of the 2019-20 season, the company has announced. Allen served as Virginia Opera’s general manager from 1994 to 2000 and returned as president and CEO in 2011. In the interim years, he was the chief administrative officer of Atlanta Opera.
Virginia Opera has set up a transition committee to recruit a successor.
In a statement, Allen said: “In everyone’s life there comes a time when moving on to the next phase of one’s life is a logical transition. As I start this 15th year of service, I feel grateful, honored, and privileged that my last season is Virginia Opera’s 45th anniversary season – truly a time for celebration.”
The company’s current season opens with Puccini’s “Tosca,” Oct. 4, 6 and 8 at Norfolk’s Harrison Opera House, Oct. 12 and 13 at George Mason University’s Center for the Arts in Fairfax, and Oct. 18 and 20 at the Carpenter Theatre of Dominion Energy Center in Richmond.
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