Speight Jenkins
| Speight Jenkins | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 31, 1937 |
| Occupation | Opera General Director |
| Years active | 1983 - 2014 |
| Spouse(s) | Linda Sands (2 children) |
Speight Jenkins, Jr. (born January 31, 1937) is the general director of Seattle Opera.
Jenkins, a native of Dallas, Texas, is the son of Speight Jenkins, Sr. and Sara Baird Jenkins.[1] [2] His B.A. degree is from the University of Texas at Austin, and he graduated in 1961 from Columbia Law School. He served in the U.S. Army, and later became a music critic and journalist. He worked for seven years at Opera News as its news and reports editor, and later at the New York Post from 1973 to 1981 as music critic.[3] He has been a host for U.S. television's Live from the Metropolitan Opera[4] and a guest speaker on the Metropolitan Opera radio broadcasts.
Tenure at Seattle Opera
In the early 1980s, Jenkins was a guest lecturer at Seattle Opera for the company's production of Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen. His knowledge impressed the Seattle Opera board of trustees such that they offered him the post of general director of the company.[5] He began his tenure with Seattle Opera as general director in 1983. He was later extended another ten years, and in 2003 signed another 10-year extension to his contract.[6]
At Seattle Opera he has produced, among other operas, two complete cycles of Wagner's Ring and new productions of the other six frequently produced Wagner operas, as well as new productions of Prokofiev's War and Peace, Debussy's Pelleas et Melisande, Dvorak's Rusalka, Bellini's Norma, Gluck's Orphee et Euridice and Iphigenie en Tauride, four Strauss operas, many operas by Verdi and Puccini and several contemporary works. In 2010 Seattle Opera gave the world premiere of Amelia, by Daron Hagen.
Speight plans to step down as General Director of Seattle Opera in 2014, to be replaced by Aidan Lang. [7]
Other Work
Jenkins has released an art book, Pelleas + Melisande + Chihuly, and narrated a 4-CD commentary called Enjoying Wagner's Ring of the Nibelung with Speight Jenkins.
In 2011 he won an Opera Honor from the National Endowment for the Arts.[8]
Personal Life
Jenkins and his wife, the former Linda Sands, have two children, Linda Leonie Jenkins and Speight Jenkins III.[6] His daughter, "Linle," married James Froeb in 1998, and they have three daughters.
References
- ↑ Melinda Bargreen (20 October 1991). "Sara Jenkins: A Life Of Music". Seattle Times. Retrieved 2007-09-13.
- ↑ Melinda Bargreen (15 July 1996). "Sara Baird Jenkins, Activist, Grande Dame Of Seattle Opera". Seattle Times. Retrieved 2007-09-13.
- ↑ "Speight Jenkins Named Seattle Opera Director". New York Times. 21 December 1982. Retrieved 2007-09-13.
- ↑ Speight Jenkins (1 September 2002). "Speight Jenkins: My ultimate summer concert...". Seattle Times. Retrieved 2007-09-13.
- ↑ Melinda Bargreen (30 December 1996). "Seattle Opera's Jenkins' Personal Tour Of The `Ring'". Seattle Times. Retrieved 2007-09-13.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Melinda Bargreen (15 August 2003). "Speight Jenkins: Champion of the opera". Seattle Times. Retrieved 2007-09-13.
- ↑ {cite press release | url=http://www.seattleoperablog.com/2013/06/aidan-lang-to-become-seattle-operas.html | title=Aidan Lang To Become Seattle Opera’s Third General Director | accessdate=2013-06-20}
- ↑ "NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman Announces Recipients of the 2011 NEA Opera Honors". National Endowment for the Arts. 2011-06-24.