Miami Living Magazine features the best Miami has to offer. Click on any magazine below and enjoy. You can download our free app on iTunes. Ideal for iPad and iPhone users.
Issue link: https://digital.miamilivingmagazine.com/i/182118
ML40 17-32_Layout 1 9/28/13 6:48 PM Page 27 ON THE SCENE Head of the Opera The Florida Grand Opera hits a high note with CEO /General Director Susan T. Danis Words by Andrea & Leandra Gallego | Photo Credit FGOpera / Nick Garcia In a dynamic city like Miami, the Florida Grand Opera needed just the right person to take the lead. After an extensive international search, whittled down to 47 highly qualified applicants, Susan T. Danis was selected last year as their new CEO /General v. Going as far back as the 3rd grade, Danis can recall her love of opera. Her school in Connecticut would send opera singers into classrooms to engage students in their productions --her first experience with it was Carmen—where she was immediately mesmerized. Remarkably, it was the first opera she worked on at both of her former resident theaters in Lake George and Sarasota. While her previous work has won her much admiration, the time had come for an entirely new act. Top: Susan T. Danis Left: Susan T. Danis and Maestro Ramon Tebar Then, I did some statistical analysis… had two independent meetings with department heads… did some writing work on a grant and prepped for the arrival of new staff members." Danis deals with a hefty multi-faceted schedule, many Fine Arts majors probably never consider what running an opera house entails. Danis' Masters in Business Administration, with a concentration in International Marketing, from the University of Hartford's Paris Program has come in handy. Originally attaining a Bachelor of Science degree from Indiana University, one would wonder how Danis stumbled upon working in opera. As life would have it, the arts called upon her. After studying in Paris, she eventually found work in San Francisco Mourning Becomes Electra working on projects Now, her beloved with Lawyers for the Carmen is nowhere on the playbill. Instead, Danis, along with Miami talents, Arts, "consisting of a group of friends …yanked in to help with board like Maestro Ramon Tebar, have brought something entirely fresh to the formations," she explains, "My undergrad focus was drama and theater. I did stage. With the hopes of reigniting love from opera aficionados and bazaar part-time jobs at a small opera company, Lake George Opera. I believe transforming Miami into an opera destination, the FGO is offering Mourning serendipity brought me to it," Danis states. Her business expertise, combined Becomes Electra. . Going unperformed anywhere else in the country, the FGO with her love of the art form, proved to be a true match. will be the 5th company to perform it since 1967. Written by Ft. Lauderdale's own Eugene O'Neill, Mourning Becomes Electra. is an adaptation of Greek Comparing the opera to sushi, Danis urges everyone try it more than once. To encourage new members, the FGO participates in Miami Culture Shock, which tragedy. "An intense story epitomizing a dysfunctional family," Danis adds that it may come across like a soap opera with its murders and family drama. In makes the opera more accessible by charging just $5 for students to attend, and scrolling the translation across a screen and using signs that light up to approximately a six week period, Danis and her team bring together people whom have never worked together before to create something that will indicate when to clap –so that the intimidating Pretty Woman idea of the opera (where you're not quite sure what to wear or how to act) is alleviated. restore the faith in former avid opera-goers and awaken the interest in those "There is something about being in a theater and enjoying it with other new to the art form. people. When the soprano cracks a note or interprets a solo... we don't have a more unique experience… People should try it and treasure it," states Danis. Danis has her hands in everything from administration to the artistic side, ML while working with a "fantastic senior team." "I'm a little bit all over the place. There is no real standard day," she says, "Today for instance, I had an 8 am For more information, visit: fgo.org breakfast meeting with a banker to help spread the word in the community. MIAMI LIVING 27