Artistic Director of Pittsburgh Festival Opera To Become Professor of Music and Margot and Bill Winspear Chair in Opera Studies at the University of North Texas

Jonathan Eaton, longtime Artistic and General Director of Pittsburgh Festival Opera (formerly Opera Theater of Pittsburgh) is taking on a new position in addition to his duties as Artistic Director in Pittsburgh. In August 2107 Eaton will also become the Professor of Music and Margot and Bill Winspear Chair in Opera Studies at the University of North Texas in Dallas, which boasts one of largest and most respected music colleges in the country.

Mr. Eaton will relinquish many of his administrative duties as Pittsburgh Festival Opera's General Director, passing these on to Scott Timm, who becomes Executive Director of Pittsburgh's ambitious summer festival company. Mr. Eaton will remain as the company's Artistic Director.

Says Board President Dr. Eugene N. Myers: "We are so excited at Jonathan's news, and are delighted that he will be staying with us at Pittsburgh Festival Opera for many years to come. We feel this appointment only adds luster to our company's reputation. We haven't lost our leader - we have gained a university!"

Mildred Miller Posvar, celebrated opera singer and company founder, endorses the appointment: "We think University of North Texas is very fortunate to have secured Jonathan's services, and we are so glad we will be keeping them also; we look forward to more great productions under his artistic directorship, including our forthcoming Ring cycle."

Jonathan Eaton took over from Ms. Miller Posvar in 1999 as Artistic Director of Opera Theater of Pittsburgh, as the company was then known. He added the duties of General Director in 2004. Under his leadership the company has grown significantly, going from one production with two performances a year, to five productions with many performances each year. Six years ago he led the company's transformation into a summer festival, which debuted in 2012, with an extended six-week summer season plus year-round educational programming. He remains full-time at Pittsburgh Festival Opera for the company's 40th season, which includes a world premiere 'social justice' opera, A Gathering of Sons, Strauss's Intermezzo (which he will direct), Handel's Xerxes, and Sondheim's Sweeney Todd, running June 15 through July 23.

He will stage Wagner's Ring over four seasons beginning in 2018 with all four operas presented in the summer 2021 season.

Mr. Eaton assumes his University of North Texas responsibilities in August.

Eaton said of his new appointment: "I have long wanted to return to working principally on the artistic side of our festival, and this appointment allows me to do that. I am delighted to be joining a stellar faculty at such an esteemed institution - and delighted to be continuing at Pittsburgh Festival Opera."

About Pittsburgh Festival Opera - Celebrating its 40th Season in 2017

Reaching across traditional lines of demarcation in the arts, Pittsburgh Festival Opera engages diverse, new and younger audiences, bringing in supporters of music, theater, dance, and the visual arts. In its 40-year history, Pittsburgh Festival Opera has presented more than 50 Pittsburgh premieres, many of them American operas that would not have been produced by other regional companies, including 28 world premieres. Over its first five summer seasons, PFO has drawn more drew more than 50,000 people to operas, musicals, new works and recitals.

Pittsburgh Festival Opera features a company of 150 performers including top national and regional singers as well as rising stars from its Young Professional Artists Program. Members of this six-week Program are recruited from more than 300 candidates in auditions in Pittsburgh and five other cities across the US. Forty-five young professional artists (including singers, pianists, and stage directors from the US and several other countries) take part. In addition, PFO presents the Mildred Miller International Voice Competition annually in autumn when rising stars compete for cash prizes and Festival roles.