Articulations

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ALO Fires Founder

Considering how much of his life he has given to the organization, it's impossible to separate Joseph McClain and Austin Lyric Opera. And yet that's precisely what the ALO board has done. In the most stunning move made by an arts organization in many years, the opera's executive committee fired McClain, dismissing the man who co-founded the company, served as its general director for much of its existence, and made it a vital force on not only the local cultural scene but the national one as well. The causes for the action reportedly came down to conflicts over budget deficits and McClain's commitment to American opera, especially new work. While its productions of such new operas as Cold Sassy Tree by Carlisle Floyd and A Streetcar Named Desire by Andre Previn were warmly received by the press and helped develop ALO's reputation as a strong regional opera company, some factions of the board are said to have disliked them intensely, preferring standards like La Traviata and La Boheme to a work such as Jake Heggie's Dead Man Walking, which ALO will present in January. On the fiscal side, the opera had skated close to deficits the past two years -- as reported here earlier, a Meadows Foundation grant and support from board members saved the day last season -- and the board claims to have told McClain that his budgets must balance. When the director then delivered preliminary budgets for the next three seasons, all showing deficits, the executive committee decided to act.

While this writer can appreciate the need to be fiscally conservative in times such as these, the idea that the general director should be dismissed over a budget deficit during the season that included September 11 and deficits for three seasons which haven't even taken place yet seems excessively severe, if not absurd. How is it that this doesn't fall under the responsibility of the new managing director? Presumably the creation of this position just four months ago was at least in part a move by the board to check McClain on budget matters. So why not give the position the time to do that? As for the clash over artistic tastes, it seems to me that even if one didn't care for the modern American repertoire, one such work a season is a small price to pay for the increased prestige and national attention that producing such works bring to this company. However, even if one someone saw that price as too high, dismissing McClain for that and in such an abrupt manner reveals a shocking lack of respect for the man and what he has done for the organization. ALO wouldn't be here for the board to worry about without McClain's vision, his relentless enthusiasm for opera as a form and for this company in particular, and the work he has done to make it happen. Boards and artistic directors are bound to disagree, but for a board to take this action against a company co-founder and longtime leader is a profound disservice to the man. Joe McClain deserves better.