Glimmerglass Opera Balances Budget for 2010

Glimmerglass Opera has significantly reduced its 2010 operating expenses in order to balance the company budget. The company's board of trustees recently approved a $5.6 million budget, which is about $1 million less than in recent years. The 2010 Festival will be presented as planned, with four fully-staged productions running July 9 through August 24 in Cooperstown, New York.

"The revised budget returns the company to its previously successful level for operations," said Michael MacLeod, Glimmerglass Opera General & Artistic Director. "These organizational adjustments make it possible for Glimmerglass Opera to continue presenting imaginative productions for years to come. We are making adjustments for the long-term health of the company."

The reductions touch all areas of operation and include the elimination of seven of the company's 29 full-time, year-round staff positions.

"The staff cuts were the very last to be included, and the decision was made after all other options were considered," MacLeod said.

The company generally sustains about 35 percent of its income from ticket sales, with other major streams of revenue coming from individual contributions, grants, co-productions and production rentals.

While individual contributions are on the rise for the company, recent cuts in state funding and reduced income from special events and ticket sales have contributed to lower-than-estimated income. Additionally, the consistent co-production relationship Glimmerglass Opera once shared with New York City Opera ended in 2006, around the time Paul Kellogg retired from artistic leadership of both companies.

For more information on Glimmerglass Opera and its 2010 Festival, visit www.glimmerglass.org or call the Glimmerglass Opera Box Office at (607) 547-2255.

Established in 1975 and based in Cooperstown, New York, Glimmerglass Opera is a professional, non-profit opera company that offers approximately 40 performances of four operas that run in rotation during July and August. Since its opening in 1987, the company's Alice Busch Opera Theater has been home to more than 85 productions. The 2010 Festival runs from July 9-August 24 and will feature four new productions: Puccini's Tosca, Copland's The Tender Land, Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro and Handel's Tolomeo. For additional information, call (607) 547-2255 or visit www.glimmerglass.org.

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