Opera Saratoga director leaving
Lawrence Edelson accepts post at University of Houston
Lawrence Edelson, general and artistic director of Opera Saratoga since 2014, will resign after the 2022 season ends in July, leaving behind a legacy of artistic excellence and financial stabilization. He has accepted a position as a professor at the University of Houston and director of its Moores Opera Center, one of the most prestigious training programs in the country.
“It took a lot of soul-searching,” Edelson said Tuesday. “I love ... Opera Saratoga, but I’ve spent the last couple of years wanting to center more on my artistic work, and this seemed the best next step for my career.”
Noting Edelson’s multiple roles, managing artistic as well as administrative and fiscal operations, board Chair Robert C. Miller said in a statement, “Opera Saratoga has thrived under Larry’s direction . ... Larry understood the art as well as the business of opera, always aware that one could never exist without the other. Both artistically and financially, Larry is leaving Opera Saratoga far better than when he arrived.”
Times Union classical music critic Joseph Dalton, who has reviewed the company since before Edelson started and throughout his time in charge, said via email, “Edelson’s tenure at Opera Saratoga has been transformational, with a fresher repertoire and a new level of quality and consistency in the production values.”
Among the highlights of Edelson’s time with Opera Saratoga, as cited by him, the company, critics and audiences, are multiple world and American premiere productions, among them “The Long Walk”
by Jeremy Howard Beck and Stephanie Fleischmann and “The Witches of Venice” by Philip Glass and Beni Montresor. The company also presented its first Spanish-language opera, “Il Postino” by Daniel Catan, and its first foray into baroque repertoire with “Dido and Aeneas,” as well as the critically acclaimed production and recording of Marc Blitzstein’s “The Cradle Will Rock,” directed and choreographed by Edelson.
Near or at the top of Edelson’s list of favorites, he said, is “The Consul,” a 1950 opera by Gian Carlo Menotti that reflects post-world War II anxiety about totalitarian states. The Edelson-directed production, though set in its original period, gained unspoken resonance with a contemporary era in which would-be immigrants to the United States were met with hostility.
“I always say that opera is a lens through which we can view the world,” Edelson said. “With so many things happening at the time with (President) Trump and detentions at the U.s.-mexico border, ‘The Consul’ was living proof of that.”
The Opera Saratoga board also credited Edelson with expanding the company’s local relationships and collaborations, which proved useful in finding venues for this season. Its longtime home at the state-owned Spa Little Theatre in the Saratoga Spa State Park will be undergoing renovation, Edelson said. The 2022 season, running May 26 to July 10, will see performances at eight venues, from the main stages at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center and Proctors in Schenectady to The Egg in Albany and Round Lake Auditorium in Round Lake.
A new initiative championed by Edelson, long stalled by pandemic considerations, is a therapeutic music program for those living with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia. It will launch this fall, after his departure.
“The thing I’m most sorry about is not being able to see that through until the end,” Edelson said. “But I’m excited to know that it’s finally going to happen.”
During his leadership, Opera Saratoga doubled the size of its Young Artist Program, the company said.
Central to Edelson’s career, and among the interests more fulfilled by his new job, is mentoring developing artists to hone their talents and build opera careers, he said.
Referring to the job at Moores Opera Center, Edelson said, “When the position opened up, it seemed like an ideal fit for my passions and expertise.” He is founder of American Lyric Theater in New York City, which works with young composers, librettists and dramaturgs and helps shepherd the production of new works. He will retain his positions as ALT’S artistic and general director after the Houston move, he said.
Edelson was introduced to Opera Saratoga and its audiences as guest director and choreographer for the 2013 production of “H.M.S. Pinafore.”
“I fell in love with this community,” Edelson said.
“I truly could not have imagined how rewarding my time at Opera Saratoga would be,” he said in a statement in the company’s announcement of his plan to step down, adding, “I have had some of the most meaningful experiences of my life during my time with the company.”
The board will conduct a national search for his replacement and he will act as a consultant during the transition.
Edelson said, “I won’t be involved in the selection process, but I’m confident from past conversations (the board) will find someone who understands and values and prioritizes how an opera company can be an asset not just to audiences who love opera but to as diverse a constituency as possible.”