George Steel Leaving Columbia for Dallas Opera
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The Dallas Opera, a high-profile regional company that moves into a new Norman Foster-designed home next year, yesterday appointed George Steel as its new general director.
One of New York’s leading specialists in contemporary music, Mr. Steel, 41, will join London-born Graeme Jenkins, 49, who has been music director of the company since 1994, at a key juncture in its history. In October 2009, the 52-year-old company will inaugurate the Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House, in the new Dallas Center for the Performing Arts, with a production of Verdi’s “Otello.” The center aims to raise a total of $338 million.
Mr. Steel begins in Dallas on Oct. 1, 2008.
Since 1997, he has been executive director of Columbia University’s Miller Theatre, where he has won critical and popular acclaim for an eclectic menu of new music, opera, dance and theater.
Next month, the Miller will open its fall season with Iannis Xenakis’s “Oresteia,” an opera and dance project with a libretto adapted from Aeschylus. It will have a cast of 75.
“George Steel has the experience and perspective necessary to lead a world-class company into a world-class opera house,” Dallas Opera Chairman Jay Marshall said in a statement.
Last year, Karen Stone resigned as executive director of the opera after four years. “Otello” will be conducted by Jenkins, directed by Tim Albery, with Anthony Baker designing the sets and costumes.
