The duties of former Los Angeles Opera general director Placido Domingo will be absorbed by company’s president and CEO, the company’s board of directors announced Monday. Domingo last week resigned as general director, a job he held since 2003, saying his ability to continue at the opera was compromised by multiple accusations of sexual impropriety that have been leveled against him in recent weeks. His duties will be absorbed by president and chief executive Christopher Koelsch.
“We are fortunate to be able to centralize our management structure … under a leader like Christopher, whose vision, compassion and dedicated commitment to further expand opera’s presence in Southern California we fully support,” the board wrote in a statement to the Los Angeles Times.
Domingo has disputed the accusations, which have been exhaustively reported by the Associated Press, saying that the allegations were, “as presented, inaccurate.”
While Koelsch is not a global opera superstar like Domingo, he has worked with the opera since 1997 and rose to president and chief executive in 2012.
“I think Christopher is one of the bright lights in opera in terms of leadership vision, how well he executes plans and how forward-thinking he is,” opera star Renee Fleming told the TImes. “And that’s something that opera needs across the country.”
New York Philharmonic chief Deborah Borda told the paper that Koelsch has, “in essence been running the company and fulfilling this position for quite a while. He brings a passion to L.A. Opera that will be unsurpassed.”