Chapter 11. Beth Morrison Projects: ambitious vision urges opera forward

In this case study focused on an ambitious startup company, founder Beth Morrison’s experimental opera and music-theatre company, Beth Morrison Projects (BMP), intersects with an opera field with a shrinking audience and doubtful future, in need of a new direction. Armed with deep knowledge of the art form of opera and arts management training, BMP is created as an innovative business model combining the best of existing nonprofit and commercial forms. Beth establishes herself and her company as solid producers and prescient tastemakers, winning critical praise and awards. To reach her goal of carving out a place in the tradition-bound opera field for theatrically adventurous, small-scale works, she must convince entrenched opera producers to take on her work. After years of making her own opportunities and crafting partnerships in the presenting world, LA Opera reaches out to her for an ongoing producing relationship, a milestone for both companies and evidence that Beth’s years of trying to change the world of opera had paid off.