Opera Providence leader steps down after 7 years

After about seven and a half years as executive director of Opera Providence, Loriana De Crescenzo has resigned, saying she wishes to explore other options.
She leaves behind a nonprofit organization that experienced some major difficulties during her tenure, but one that has shown signs of creating a sustainable future.
Most of the difficulty came from having to take a hiatus from staging full-scale operas about three to four years ago because the cost of productions wasn’t being offset by ticket sales, sponsorship or other revenue streams, said Robert DeRobbio, president of the Opera Providence board of directors.
Under De Crescenzo’s charge, the opera company continued to offer themed, concert-style performances. In the 2005/06 season it offered fully staged opera with a piano accompaniment.
Since then it has staged productions with an 11- to 13-piece chamber orchestra composed of musicians from the Rhode Island Philharmonic and a 23-piece orchestra for “Michelangelo,” an original work by Rhode Island composer Enrico Garzilli presented at the Providence Performing Arts Center in April.
Along with increasing the venues and performers during the past three years, De Crescenzo said, the nonprofit has increased attendance by 200 percent with talent attracted by the hiring of music director Timothy Steele, a full-time opera studies faculty member at the New England Conservatory in Boston who came on board two years ago.
Steele will be staying with Opera Providence, DeRobbio said, though De Crescenzo and operations manager Christie Lee Gibson left Nov. 9.
But Steele’s presence doesn’t mean Opera Providence is in the clear.
“We have been in a deficit, with some outstanding liabilities, but have improved on that in the past year through our fundraisers,” DeRobbio said, adding that the nonprofit has been able to relinquish some of its debt. “Things are definitely on the move upward in a positive direction. …We will still go strong as long as the Rhode Island community continues to support us.”
The resignations will not affect the next two productions in the 2007/08 season, the development of the 2008/09 season, or strategic thinking about ways to boost revenue, he said. DeRobbio is filling in for De Crescenzo while the board looks for a replacement.
Lynne McCormack, director of the Providence Department of Art, Culture and Tourism, said part of the problem for organizations such as Opera Providence is that the nonprofits arts and culture sector in Providence “has grown considerably over the past 10 years, and this growth has put a lot of pressure on funding agencies and private donors.”
In addition, arts and cultural organizations compete for the same audiences, often on the same weekend, DeRobbio said. He suggested that there should be a way for arts organizations to coordinate so that several productions don’t take place on the same weekend.
“I think all of the organizations would prosper” from the effort, he said. It might also be good, he said, to sell multiple subscriptions in one, such as a package that included Opera Providence, the Philharmonic and Festival Ballet Providence.
De Crescenzo facilitated much collaboration with entities such as Waterfire and McCormack’s office, which sponsored Opera on the Hill at DePasquale Square this summer. McCormack said it was one of the department’s most successful summer programs.
De Crescenzo also provided access to opera for Rhode Island’s school children and special needs population through an education and outreach program called OPERAtunity, which won accolades from Gov. Donald L. Carcieri and Mayor David N. Cicilline.
“I am proud to have done my part,” De Crescenzo said. “I will always look back at [working for Opera Providence] very fondly.”
DeRobbio said he and the board “will definitely miss her presence … but we would never hold anyone back from doing what’s best for themselves and their family.” •