Stewart Pearce is new Managing Director of Met Opera Guild
(NEW YORK, Thursday July 1) – The Metropolitan Opera Guild is pleased to announce that Stewart Pearce has been named its new Managing Director. Mr. Pearce assumes the position today after a long and distinguished association with both the Metropolitan Opera and the Metropolitan Opera Guild. His predecessor was David A. Dik, who has taken a new position as the National Executive Director of Young Audiences Arts for Learning. Mr. Pearce will continue in his role as Assistant Manager for Operations at the Metropolitan Opera, a position he has held since 2006.
Richard J. Miller, Jr., the President of the Guild, observed: “As the Guild begins its 75th anniversary season, Stewart’s long history at both the Guild and the Metropolitan Opera makes him uniquely qualified to carry out the Guild’s initiatives in education, creating new audiences for opera and supporting the Metropolitan Opera Association.”
Mr. Pearce commented: “I am honored to be appointed the Metropolitan Opera Guild’s new Managing Director. The Guild’s history of supporting the Metropolitan Opera and making opera accessible to audiences of all ages is unique. I look forward to working with the Guild board, management, and staff to increase the effectiveness of all its programs, in even greater partnership with the Metropolitan Opera.”
Stewart Pearce has spent virtually his entire professional career at the Metropolitan Opera and the Metropolitan Opera Guild, in a variety of management positions spanning almost 35 years. His Master’s Degree in Arts Management, which he received from New York University in 1977, included an internship at the Metropolitan Opera Guild. He served as the Guild’s Director of Membership, including broad-based marketing and fund raising responsibilities.
Mr. Pearce moved to the Metropolitan Opera in 1982 to become Assistant Development Director, and in 1984 became the Met’s Director of Planning and Budgets. In the ensuing years, he took on responsibility for operations, box office, marketing, and finance and in 1997 was named an Assistant Manager for the Metropolitan Opera.
In his tenure at the Metropolitan Opera, Mr. Pearce has been involved in long-range financial planning, budgeting, season planning, touring, box office, audience development and educational outreach, presentations, merchandising, archives, visual arts, and external relations.
Mr. Pearce lives in New York City with his partner Kevin Kellogg.
About the Metropolitan Opera Guild
About to celebrate its 75th anniversary, the Metropolitan Opera Guild today is stronger and more active than ever in pursuing its mission to encourage the appreciation of opera generally, and to support the Metropolitan Opera financially through membership dues. The Guild provides programs and services in many areas designed to further these goals.
The Guild’s Education Department provides an innovative network of music and arts education programs to more than 1,800 schools and communities worldwide. These programs include rehearsals and performances at the Metropolitan Opera, family education programs to introduce children to opera, an adult lecture series, school residency programs, professional development courses for teachers, web site development (www.operaed.org), and collaborations with colleges and universities throughout the country.
Opera News, the monthly magazine published by the Guild, reports on opera around the world. Each issue includes reviews of commercial recordings and live performances, profiles of artists, and articles by eminent writers on the music scene. During the Saturday afternoon broadcast season, the magazine also includes an in-depth guide to these broadcasts from the Met. With a circulation of 105,000, it is the world’s largest circulation magazine devoted to opera. Opera News also maintains an active web site, Opera News Online, at www.operanews.com.
The Guild produces an annual series of public programs in major New York City venues both to raise funds for its education programs and to celebrate the art and artists of opera. Foremost among these are the Opera News Awards, at which five honorees are chosen by the editors of Opera News and recognized for their distinguished achievement in opera. (The Opera News Awards are the highest honor bestowed in the opera world.) The Guild’s Annual Luncheon, Met Legends, and Met Mastersinger events also honor the great figures of opera and are attended by thousands of music fans each season.
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© 21C Media Group, July 2010