page_title: Santa Fe Opera
section_title: General history
hierarchical_section_title: Santa Fe Opera / General history
caption_attribution_description: English: Plaque on the terrace at the Santa Fe Opera, commemorating the contributions of founding director John Crosby and his parents, Lawrence and Aileen
context_page_description: Santa Fe Opera is an American opera company, located 7 miles north of Santa Fe, New Mexico. After creating the Opera Association of New Mexico in 1956, its founding director, John Crosby, oversaw the building of the first opera house on a newly acquired former guest ranch of 199 acres.
  The company has presented operas each summer festival season since July 1957, and is internationally known for introducing new operas as well as for its productions of the standard operatic repertoire. Since its inception, Santa Fe Opera has staged 43 American premieres and 15 world premieres, as of 2017.
context_section_description: John Crosby, who was a New York-based conductor, founded the company in 1956, initially with the financial support of his parents, who helped in the acquisition of the land and the building of the first opera house. One goal was to give American singers the opportunity to learn and perform new roles while having ample time for rehearsal and preparation in the context of a summer festival situation with the presentation of five operas in repertory. Its first season began on 3 July 1957 with a performance of Puccini's Madama Butterfly.
  Crosby remained as general director until 2000, the longest general directorship in US opera history. Richard Gaddes served as the company's general director from 2000 through 2008. In November 2007, SFO named Charles MacKay the company's third general director, effective 1 October 2008. In August 2017, the company announced the intention of MacKay to stand down as its general director after the 2018 season.
  In addition to being the opera company's founding general director, Crosby had simultaneously served as its de facto first principal conductor. Alan Gilbert became the company's first music director from 2003 to 2006. Kenneth Montgomery, a regular guest conductor starting in 1982, served as interim music director for the 2007 season. In July 2007, Edo de Waart was named as chief conductor, effective 1 October 2007, with an initial contract was of four years. He was the first conductor to hold that title with the company However, in November 2008, the company announced that de Waart stood down from the post before the end of his contract, with de Waart citing health and family reasons for this decision. In May 2010, the company announced the appointment of Frédéric Chaslin as the company's next chief conductor, effective 1 October 2010, with an initial contract of three years. However, in August 2012, Chaslin resigned as the Opera's chief conductor. In April 2013, the company announced simultaneously the appointments of Harry Bicket as its next chief conductor, effective 1 October 2013, and of Montgomery as conductor laureate for the 2013 season. In November 2016, the company announced the extension of Bicket's contract as chief conductor through 30 September 2020.
  In February 2018, the company announced the appointments of Robert K. Meya as its next general director and of Alexander Neef as its first-ever artistic director, and the elevation of Harry Bicket from chief conductor of the company to its music director, with three appointments effective as of 1 October 2018.  In October 2018, the company announced the extension of Bicket's contract as music director through the 2023 season.
caption: Plaque outside the Crosby Theatre commemorating the contributions of the founding general director, John Crosby, and his parents Lawrence and Aileen
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