Jeff Sodowsky of OperaCleveland

Fortunate are those who are not only good at what they do, but love doing it, as well. Such is the case with Jeff Sodowsky, Executive Director of the almost-brand-new OperaCleveland, about to put itself out there to the rest of the world on Friday evening, April 20, with their very first opening night of Salome.

It’s really amazing and amazingly appropriate for OperaCleveland to have such a young executive director (he’s 37) for this new company, but what’s even more so is all the experience he has accrued in the various areas needed for his position. He’s been on-stage, back-stage and off-stage (but behind the scenes) for most of the last 25 years or so in some capacity or another. He’s been a dancer, singer, choreographer, lighting tech, costume designer, director, fund-raiser, schmoozer, educator and myriad other behind-the-scenes but necessary entities for an arts company, sometimes doing more than one of these functions at a time.

Although born in Oklahoma, Jeff grew up in Kansas as part of a family that danced. Not surprisingly, both he and his younger sister became professional dancers. From there, it was a fairly easy step to singing on stage in musicals. He returned to Oklahoma for college, and a major in dance with a minor in voice. That led him to off-stage activities, and his first real exposure to the complex art form known as opera.

Later, he came north to Cincinnati where he earned a masters degree in arts administration and an MBA. While doing that, he interned with the American Ballet Theatre in New York. Multi-tasking, fortunately, comes easily to him. Next he moved down-river just a bit to Louisville, and Kentucky Opera. He stayed there for eight years, getting hands-on experience in marketing, development, and strategic planning, among others. When Cleveland went looking for a new executive director, Jeff was ready for a move, and here he is.

“Cleveland is marvelous!” he says, with his ever-ready smile. “There is so much to do here, it’s almost an embarrassment of riches. I haven’t been able to do as much as I’d like to, because there’s just so much available.” He is naturally ebullient, but with complete sincerity. “I love winter,” he adds. “It was so peaceful on Easter morning. I sat in my living room, watching the snow falling outside my window, and the tranquility, the cocooning brought such a sense of peace.”

His apartment in Cleveland Heights is within reasonably easy walking distance of the Cedar-Lee, Coventry, and Mayfield-Lee areas—handy for a quick meal or a bit of shopping or a movie. He works out at the Rec Center there and calls himself a ‘creative cook’.

A major ‘hobby’ is what he calls ‘vulture tourism’. This happens when a particular geographical area is striving to increase tourism, sometimes after a natural disaster, and incentives are offered to the travelers, but with a short window of opportunity. “If you can manage it on a last-minute basis, you can sometimes do really well,” Jeff related, remembering with fondness a trip to the Far East that was exceptionally affordable as well as enjoyable.

Not surprisingly for one so young, he’s quite into new techniques for marketing his somewhat elderly—but lively—art form. “It’s essential to appeal to a younger audience,” he says. To that end, the newly designed web-site (http://www.operacleveland.org) is constantly upgrading the information to be found there. “New concepts are tried out, or others phased out, and new information being added on almost a daily basis,” he adds. Early on, Jeff narrated a colorful CD to accompany the season brochure, on which he described each of the five works to be presented this season, along with some of the music.

Currently, there are two podcasts available for streaming or downloads from the site, too. The first one is a season overview, as discussed by Jeff, Artistic Director Leon Major and Richard Buckley, Principal Conductor. The second one features Jeannette Aster, the director of Salome, the sensuous, passionate opening opera. Who better to explain the ‘page to the stage’ concept? As Sodowsky explains, “The aim is to make the experience in the opera house all the more enjoyable, by providing access to knowledge held by the director, which in some cases never makes it past the cast. But anyone who listens to the podcast first will have heard the whys and hows from the very people who’ve made it happen.”

Podcasts and the CD previews are only two examples of the new, sometimes younger, staff that ‘think outside the box’ says Sodowsky. “We have people who are new to the company, new to the art form, and they have new ideas to engage the community with the opera. So, if we have the capability, why not do it? Or at least try?” As a for instance, OperaCleveland is offering a special discount to readers of Cool Cleveland for any Salome performance (depending on availability, of course.) If you want to see what all the fuss is about, when you order your tickets, use the special discount code of CCZ, and you’ll get 50% off the price—buy one ticket for half-price, or two for the price of one! Pretty hard to argue with that.

One tradition from previous years is continuing—the Opera Preview. This is a free informative and entertaining look at the upcoming performance. You may hear some of the music, or learn about the history of the opera or its composer, or special performances from the past. These previews are enjoyable whether one is newcomer or a veteran to opera, and begin 45 minutes prior to curtain.

Next up is a major favorite among opera lovers—new or old—Verdi’s La Traviata. This production opens on Friday, June 15 in the Bolton Theatre of The Cleveland Play House. For the past few years, one of the components of the new opera company, the former Lyric Opera Cleveland, has been housed at the Play House, where the ‘picnic intermission’ of an hour or so was a long-standing favorite. The new incarnation is not doing away with the picnic concept, merely pushing it forward an hour or so, with the opera actually beginning at 8 pm, rather than 7. Those attendees wishing to picnic may still do so beginning around 5:30 p.m.

The Turn of the Screw by Benjamin Britten opens in the Drury on July 13, while Steven Sondheim’s A Little Night Music will be in the Bolton. Former Chorus Master Betsy Burleigh will conduct this one. It opens on Friday, August 10. The final production, Puccini’s Tosca returns to the State Theater at Playhouse Square, and opens on October 19. Principal Conductor Richard Buckley is in the pit for this one. Paul Nadler conducts Salome.

Subscription sales have exceeded the business plan established when the new company was formed. “However,” Sodowsky adds, “even with that terrific response, we have determined that we will best meet the community’s demand with fewer performances than was originally planned, which, happily, is more cost-effective for OperaCleveland.” If all goes as planned, next season will demand more to accommodate all the new audience members!

Tickets may be purchased online at http://www.clevelandopera.org or by phone at 241-6000 or 800-766-6048 from 7AM to 9PM. Monday through Sunday.

From Cool Cleveland contributor Kelly Ferjutz artswriterATadelphia.net
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