Michael Ching leaves Opera Memphis for Iowa
3/12/10
Artistic and General Director Michael Ching leaves Opera Memphis for Iowa
Michael Ching has served as Artistic Director of Opera Memphis since 1992, also acting as Executive/General Director of the company for several periods of time. Ching announced to his staff on Friday, March 5 that he will move to Ames, Iowa with his family sometime in May 2010. The relocation is a result of a new position attained by Ching’s wife, Barbara. Barbara Ching, a current member of the English Department at the University of Memphis, has been named chair of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences’ English Department at Iowa State University. Michael Ching looks forward to taking time off from the administrative side of opera to compose and spend more time with family.
Charles Schaffler, Chairman of the Opera Memphis Board of Trust, states that “Michael has been the face of Opera Memphis for 18 years and will be missed. He has made substantial contributions not only to Opera Memphis, but the entire arts community, and the Board is truly appreciative. While Michael’s departure is disappointing to us, we are confident that a successor can be found who will continue to move Opera Memphis forward. The Board will conduct a national search to find the best possible director. No timetable has been established but it is hoped that an Executive Director will be in place before the 2010-2011 season.”
During Ching’s stay, Opera Memphis created new productions of MANON LESCAUT, SCOTT JOPLIN AND TREEMONISHA, LA BOHEME (with Hawaii Opera Theatre and Arizona Opera), BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (with artist Mary Sims), TURN OF THE SCREW, COSI FAN TUTTE, and ORPHEUS AND EURYDICE. Opera Memphis also co-commissioned and developed Mike Reid and Sarah Schlesinger's DIFFERENT FIELDS (with the Metropolitan Opera Guild), Mr. Ching's own BUOSO'S GHOST (with the Pittsburgh Opera Center at Duquesne) and Michael Ching and Hugh Moffatt's CORPS OF DISCOVERY (with the University of Missouri, Columbia). Mr. Ching's BUOSO'S GHOST will receive its twelfth production this season and is earning its place in regional opera repertory.
Ching’s administration developed strong associations with important American singers, including Kallen Esperian, Caroline Worra, Roy Cornelius Smith, Ryan MacPherson, Quinn Kelsey, Kenneth Overton and Mark Walters, to name a few. Mr. Ching’s dedication to cultivating the talents of his employees is evident in the appointments of two former staff members, Karen Tiller and Steve Aiken, to executive level positions at other regional opera companies. Under his leadership, the capital campaign to create the Clark Opera Memphis Center (2003), the company’s operational center, was granted a challenge grant from the Kresge Foundation.
From 1992 to 2010, Mr. Ching conducted dozens of productions for Opera Memphis and created three works for the Education and Outreach program - KING OF THE CLOUDS, OUT OF THE RAIN, and THREE PIGS REMIX. Mr. Ching started Opera Memphis’ Songwriting/Music Video educational program, with the support of ArtsMemphis. Mr. Ching has served on the Board of Directors of Opera America and the American Music Center. In 1997, Mr. Ching received the Memphis Business Journal's Top 40 Under 40 recognition and was in the Leadership Memphis Class of 2004.
Of his departure, Mr. Ching says "I have been privileged to work with a great group of supporters and staff who have all striven to make Memphis a better place. I have enjoyed working at a company that places opera in the context of the Blues and the birthplace of Rock and Roll. That work, of providing opera with a distinctly American cultural context, is not done, and I hope that Opera Memphis will continue to provide a unique voice for this unique community. Send me some barbecue in Iowa!"
