Arts Consulting Group requests your interest or candidate recommendations for the Director of Development position at Long Beach Opera in Long Beach, California.

THE ORGANIZATION

Founded in 1979, Long Beach Opera (LBO) is the oldest operatic producing company in the metropolitan Los Angeles/Orange County region. Long Beach Opera's success helped provide the stimulus for the subsequent founding of opera companies in Los Angeles and Orange Counties. Long Beach Opera has helped make Southern California one of the major operatic centers in the United States. With a repertory of over ninety operas, including early and late Baroque works, twentieth century works, and operas of special interest from the standard repertory, Long Beach Opera is well known for its world, American and West Coast premieres of new and rare operas. Long Beach Opera is a recognized member of the American operatic community, enjoying funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Los Angeles County Arts Commission, the Arts Council of Long Beach, and The James Irvine Foundation.

Long Beach Opera's history demonstrates that its essential purpose is the advancement of the frontiers of opera, in repertory and in production style. Its artistic vision is to present unconventional works - repertoire neglected by other, more mainstream opera companies - ranging from the very beginnings of opera to modern, avant-garde works, emphasizing their theatrical and musical relevance to our time.

Following a period of early growth marked by the presentation of repertory staples, Long Beach Opera took a radical departure from the operatic mainstream. Under Founding General Director Michael Milenski’s guidance, the company developed an alternative vision for opera – to present striking visual drama that would speak directly to contemporary audiences while maintaining the highest musical standard. Significant LBO productions included Powder Her Face by Thomas Adès, Richard Strauss’ Elektra (which was televised in Germany) and The Beaumarchais Trilogy. In addition, several American premieres have been presented on the LBO stage, including: King Roger by Karol Szymanowski, Mozart’s Lucio Silla, Schoenberg’s Die Jakobsleiter, Bernd Alois Zimmermann’s Turning, I Saw Great Injustice and John Cage’s Europeras 3&4 (issued in a commercial recording). Celebrated singers who have sung with LBO include Jerome Hines, Ruth Ann Swenson, James Morris and Jerry Hadley, but the company has a longstanding tradition of tapping talented singers on their way up, including some of the above named stars.

In the 2004, Michael Milenski retired after 25 seasons at the helm of LBO and was succeeded by Austrian conductor Andreas Mitisek, who has continued LBO’s longstanding artistic philosophy of presenting an expanded vision of opera. Mitisek became Principal Conductor in 1998 and has conducted a number of productions for LBO including Die Schweigsame Frau, Jenufa, Elektra, Duke Bluebeard’s Castle, Semele, and The Threepenny Opera. As Long Beach Opera Artistic & General Director he produced and conducted the first Southern California presentation of The Ring of the Nibelung by Richard Wagner (abridged version by Jonathan Dove) in 2006. His recent credits as stage director include the award-winning staged adaptation in 2005 and 2007 of Schubert’s Winterreise. In the 2007-2008 Season, he conceived, directed, and conducted The Diary of Anne Frank in underground parking garages, and he staged Orpheus & Euridice by Ricky Ian Gordon in an Olympic-size swimming pool. In a recent production, he transformed the former engine rooms of the Queen Mary into a performance space where he directed, designed, and conducted The Emperor of Atlantis / The Clever One. In 2009, he received the “Arts Leader of the Year” award from the Long Beach Arts Council. He is also guest conductor at opera companies in the U.S. and Europe. Recently, he conducted Joruri in Tokyo, Eugene Onegin, Cosi Fan Tutte and Don Giovanni for Seattle Opera, Don Giovanni at Orlando Opera, the American Premiere of Jane Eyre by Michael Berkeley for Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, and Eugene Onegin for Teatro Municipal in Santiago, Chile. He has also conducted the Austrian and Italian premieres of Nixon in China.

Under Mitisek’s leadership the company quadrupled its subscriber base, eliminated a long standing deficit and grew its annual budget from $434,000 (2004) to $1.1 Million (2010). According to The Los Angeles Times (01/25/10): “…in these hard times, it now appears perhaps the artistically healthiest opera outfit in the country.”

THE COMMUNITY

Located on the Southern California coast about 30 miles south of Los Angeles, Long Beach is the fifth largest city in California. Long Beach is a community of just under 500,000 residents, and one of the most diverse cities in the United States. Long Beach is home to one of the world’s largest ports and is the site of The Queen Mary and the Aquarium of the Pacific, which are major regional tourist attractions. Airport-close, a brief and pleasant cruise away from Catalina Island and a short distance from Disneyland, Universal Studios Hollywood and everything Southern California has to offer, Long Beach is the perfect destination. With an average temperature of 74 degrees and myriad parks and beaches, Long Beach provides many opportunities for outdoor recreation. The city also boasts a vibrant cultural community including the Long Beach Symphony, the Long Beach Museum of Art, and the Museum of Latin American Art (the only museum of its kind in the western United States), among others.

THE POSITION

The Director of Development is the senior advancement leader for the Long Beach Opera, reporting to the General & Artistic Director. The Director of Development is responsible for planning and executing the organization’s strategic and operational development activities in support of a total organizational budget currently at $1.1 million. She/he will work closely with the Board of Directors and local, regional and national foundation, corporate, government and individual funders to identify and grow the resources to support the Long Beach Opera’s artistic vision and strategic organizational development. The goal is that LBO will grow in quantity and quality of productions, diversity of venues, and expanded educational impacts to an annual budget of $3.5 million by 2015.

ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

The Director of Development works with the General & Artistic Director and Board to support the artistic vision and help attain the company’s goals. She/he will guide ongoing development activities including the annual fund, major gifts, special events and partner with senior leadership on community relationship building and maintenance. The Director of Development also will work with the Board and General & Artistic Director to create and implement a planned giving program as the needs of the company evolve. Other essential duties include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Provide leadership for planning, creating and executing all annual fundraising activities including foundation, corporate, government solicitations, individual donor solicitation and cultivation, major gifts, planned giving and special events.
• Create a long-range strategic development plan with the Board of Directors and the General & Artistic Director that supports the vision of the organization, which includes corporate sponsorship, major donor cultivation, planned giving and endowment and capital campaigns.
• Oversee and actively participates in grant prospecting, planning and writing.
• Guide the implementation of the development plan with Board of Directors, General & Artistic Director, and staff.
• Manage donor and prospective donor relationships through a comprehensive program of identification, introduction, cultivation, and benefit fulfillment activities.
• Assist Board members in planning and meeting their individual development goals.
• Represent the Long Beach Opera to the community at events and conferences as appropriate.
• Establish development policies, systems, and procedures, with a special emphasis on professionalism and ethical standards for soliciting, tracking and reporting gifts and for exceeding the expectations of individual, corporate, foundation and government donors.
• Advise the General & Artistic Director and Board of Directors in service of the organization’s major donors and prospects and support good stewardship strategies for these donors.
• Create a “culture of development” at the Long Beach Opera with the Board of Directors, General & Artistic Director and staff.
• Oversee the planning and execution of the Long Beach Opera’s annual gala with the Gala Committee.
• Supervise the appropriate use of donor software and reporting, ensuring donor privacy, data accuracy and timeliness of reporting.
• Develop fundraising initiatives in support of the array of Long Beach Opera programs.
• Participate as a member of the senior management team.
• Manage development personnel and volunteers.

TRAITS AND CHARACTERISTICS

The selected individual will be a self-starting, creative, and entrepreneurial development professional with the ability to prioritize and achieve desired fund development goals. She/he will be a responsible problem solver who is a result-oriented leader that understands and appreciates the innovative artistic goals and vision of Long Beach Opera. The successful candidate will be a poised leader with the creativity and flexibility to identify and pursue new avenues for growth who can balance a strong interest in music and opera with a bottom-line focus on generating the resources to support the work of the company. Leading candidates will demonstrate resiliency in successfully working with a wide-range of people and will possess a strong customer orientation. She/he will be a highly skilled communicator who is able to generate enthusiasm among diverse stakeholders with a team-oriented approach. The ability to embrace challenges and opportunities with a keen sense of accuracy and urgency in order to keep development activities on track is highly desirable.

EXPERIENCE

Bachelor’s degree and a minimum of 5 years proven development experience at the managerial level with a successful track record in individual giving (major and annual), corporate, foundation, and government fundraising, and a working knowledge of special events. Experience in soliciting and closing donations in all core components of the fundraising mix. Excellent interpersonal skills, organizational ability, superior written and oral communication capabilities, and the ability to lead and motivate fellow team members and volunteers to achieve organizational development goals. Strong knowledge of contact management systems (experience with CHOICE is preferable), prospect research methods, and experience presenting to Boards and high-level donors.

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS

Competitive compensation and standard benefits package.

APPLICATIONS AND INQUIRIES

Please submit a letter and resume with a summary of demonstrable accomplishments to:

Laurie Dowling, Senior Consultant
|Arts Consulting Group, Inc.
|8581 Santa Monica Boulevard, Suite 406|
Los Angeles, CA 90069-4120
Tel (323) 721.0141
Fax (323) 936.1196
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Long Beach Opera is an Equal Opportunity Employer