We are determined to bring a new audience to opera. If we don't, then I'm afraid the form will wither and die.

Baseball plays out like an opera,

Paul Kellogg has been a beloved and visionary leader of City Opera and we will miss him deeply. During the past ten years we have been fortunate to have had the benefit not only of his extraordinary artistic sensibility, his wise counsel and his inspirational leadership, but also of his impeccable human values, warmth and charm. That said, we cannot help but understand that he wishes to have more personal time after many years of service to the arts and we salute and thank him for his formidable accomplishments and significant contributions both to City Opera and to opera in general. Paul Kellogg's vision for City Opera has charted our course for the coming years. We are grateful beyond measure and will miss him profoundly.

Now audiences will be able to hear opera the way it is supposed to sound.

In any case, the task of finding fresh approaches to opera and to choral music will be inherited by the future.

This will be a soap opera, with no one writing the script - stay tuned.