Santa Fe Opera to Get New General Manager
The Santa Fe Opera Board of Directors has announced that on October 1, 2008 the position of General Director will be taken over by Charles MacKay. MacKay, who is 57, is currently the General Director of Opera Theatre of Saint Louis. MacKay will be replacing Richard Gaddes, who is retiring.
“The Board feels that Mr. MacKay is ideal to lead The Santa Fe Opera,” said Susan F. Morris, President of the Board of Directors. “His tenure in St. Louis has made the company outstanding among our nation’s opera companies. He has the artistic, fiscal and administrative skills we feel mesh perfectly with The Santa Fe Opera,” she said. “Mr. MacKay is fully prepared to handle the myriad duties of General Director. He will continue the legacy of John Crosby and Richard Gaddes, expanding their vision and sense of mission. He is a natural for this position and I could not be more delighted than to announce this appointment.”
MacKay is the Santa Fe Opera’s third General Director in its 51 year history. He comes to Santa Fe, New Mexico, after 23 years in St. Louis. Ironically, in St. Louis, MacKay followed Gaddes as that company’s general director.
MacKay grew up in Santa Fe and graduated from Santa Fe High School before attending the University of Minnesota. His career in music began at The Santa Fe Opera, first as a member of the Opera Orchestra and orchestra assistant. Subsequently, he held several administrative positions including box office manager, development manager and business manager. In all, MacKay spent ten years in Santa Fe, leaving in 1979 to join the Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston, South Carolina, as Director of Finance and Administration. He was hired by Gaddes, General Director of the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis in l984 and became its General Director in 1985.
In his 23 year tenure, MacKay has helped the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis become one of the nation’s most admired and innovative opera companies. He hired and fostered careers of many young American singers, presented eight world premieres, and put the organization on sound financial footing. Under his leadership, the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis endowment has grown from $682,000 in 1985 to the present $20 million. Active in national opera affairs, MacKay is Chairman of the Board of OPERA America.
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