Townsend and Fresno Grand opera companies to partner

In what is hoped will be a precedent-setting artistic partnership, Modesto’s Townsend Opera and the Fresno Grand Opera are joining forces.

Matthew Buckman, the current Townsend general and artistic director, has been named the next general director of Fresno Grand Opera. He will serve as the head of both groups, merging the two companies’ production seasons to share costs and increase reach. Both companies will remain separate entities, with their own board of directors, but will produce the same operas moving forward.

“This is an exciting new way to produce opera,” said the 33-year-old Buckman, who has been with Townsend since 2008. “We have the ability to create a new model for opera in the Central Valley.”

Both Townsend and Fresno Grand have established roots in the community. Townsend Opera Players was founded in 1983 by Modesto native and company namesake Eric Buck Townsend, who led the group for 25 years until his death in 2008. Buckman was brought on shortly before Townsend’s passing to serve as executive director and was named its general and artistic director in 2012, when the group dropped “Players” from its name. Before joining the company, he worked as development director for the Modesto Symphony Orchestra.

Fresno Grand Opera was incorporated in 1998 under its founding and now departing general director, Ronald Eichman. In addition to its opera season, the organization has produced several high-profile shows in the Fresno community, bringing in world-class artists such as Placido Domingo, Andrea Bocelli and Audra McDonald.

Eichman said the board approached Buckman about taking over for him. Eichman is leaving the position he has held for 16 years to work on a private venture. He said the Fresno board was impressed by Buckman’s work in Modesto. The two companies had already agreed to collaborate on the upcoming season, with each of Townsend’s two scheduled operas receiving one performance in Fresno as well.

The managerial partnership takes that collaboration to the next step, Eichman said.

“We were looking at a sustainable model to pay for, support and increase quality for markets of our size,” he said. “We have relatively comparable audiences; these are Central Valley communities, without audience overlap. This maintains a high level of quality for our professional companies. We understand the constraints and realities of economies of our Central Valley communities.”

Townsend and Fresno Grand operas will share their season, producing the same operas and using the same casts, sets and costumes for each production. The season will consist of two operas per year, with two performances in Modesto at the Gallo Center for the Arts and one in Fresno at the William Saroyan Theatre. The 1,250-seat Modesto theater has about half the capacity as the Fresno venue, hence the different number of shows in each location.

Still, Buckman said increasing the shows from two to three will make a huge difference in the level of talent the companies can attract. Both companies employ professional performers for their principal roles, most coming from the Bay Area, Los Angeles and New York.

“It’s great; it’s transforming our company in terms of the level of talent we’re bringing into the community,” Buckman said. “Artists we couldn’t touch a year ago we can now because our model is bigger. It transforms what the company is doing from a programming and quality perspective.”

The two companies will split all production expenses 50-50, from cast to wardrobe to props and more. The two opera choruses in Modesto and Fresno will remain separate, but Buckman said all the chorus members will be invited to sing at any of the productions. Townsend has a volunteer opera chorus and Fresno Grand singers receive a small stipend.

“We’re still engaging a first-rate opera chorus from Fresno, and that is the local flavor of the production we’re putting on the stage,” Eichman said. “And in Modesto, there will still be local hands on board, too. This will still truly be a locally produced product.”

The merging of the management will not merge the two companies’ budgets. Modesto operates on a $400,000 annual budget and expects to see about 20 percent in savings with the partnership. Eichman said Fresno’s annual budget has fluctuated over the years but averages around $1.4 million, and he expects to see about 35 to 40 percent annual savings with the collaboration.

The future of the auxiliary programming both companies have produced outside of their operatic season is still in question. Townsend has put on Opera Remix and recitals throughout the year, and Fresno Grand has held stand-alone concerts, among other events. Buckman said he hopes to bring together both communities’ programming to create more streamlined offerings in the future.

Buckman began a transitional period with Fresno Grand Opera at the beginning of November and will take over as general director Dec. 1. Eichman said he will stay on until the end of the year to help with the handoff. Buckman, who is a Fresno native, will split time between the two cities.

Townsend will have a staff of two, as well as production and contract staff, and Fresno will have four.

The 2015 opera seasons for both companies will begin in January with “A Streetcar Named Desire,” based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning Tennessee Williams play, and conclude in May with “Tosca” by the Italian master Giacomo Puccini. Buckman said he hopes to expand both companies’ repertoires in the future, bringing in different kinds of productions beyond the operatic classics.

Board presidents for Fresno Grand, Eddie Fanucchi, and Townsend Opera, John Mangelos, have praised the partnership and leadership of Buckman.

“Our board is extremely pleased with Matt’s new role at Fresno Grand Opera,” said Mangelos in a statement about the changes. “We think there is great potential for opera companies throughout the Central Valley to combine resources, and Matt’s leadership of the companies in Modesto and Fresno can begin to make that happen. We are all really excited.”

While the regional partnership model is a new one locally, there are other communities across the country that have merged their companies over the years. Arizona Opera produces shows in Phoenix and Tucson, and the Long Beach Opera and Chicago Opera Theater share a general director.

“This is going to be a groundbreaking experiment,” Buckman said. “That’s what I wanted our company to be for a while. The question is how to make opera an art form that is more about the 21st century. We’re at the forefront of trying a new model that other communities can look at.”

This story was originally published November 16, 2014 at 10:00 PM with the headline "Townsend and Fresno Grand opera companies to partner."