OPERA NEWS

New Opera Pacific Exec: Mitchell Krieger, artistic administrator at Michigan Opera Theatre in Detroit, has been selected Opera Pacific’s director of operations, effective immediately, Krieger confirmed Wednesday. He will oversee all aspects of production, replacing Dan Duro, who left last month to become director of production at the Shakespeare Theatre in Washington, D.C. Martin Hubbard continues as interim executive director while a search continues for a successor to general director Patrick L. Veitch, who left the position abruptly in December. Besides his work in Michigan, Krieger has been a conductor, coach and chorus master for the New York City Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Cleveland Opera, Opera Carolina and other companies. He has also served as music director of Opera Pacific’s Apprentice Artists Program and as director of artistic resources for Opera Pacific and Michigan Opera Theatre. In 1994, he conducted Franz Lehar’s “The Merry Widow” for Opera Pacific, now based in Costa Mesa, at the Orange County Performing Arts Center. The company’s 1998-99 season opens in November with Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly.”