{"id":68970,"date":"2020-08-26T12:26:26","date_gmt":"2020-08-26T16:26:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=68970"},"modified":"2020-08-26T12:26:26","modified_gmt":"2020-08-26T16:26:26","slug":"scoop-canadian-opera-companys-alexander-neef-start-head-paris-opera-september","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2020\/08\/26\/scoop-canadian-opera-companys-alexander-neef-start-head-paris-opera-september\/","title":{"rendered":"THE SCOOP | Canadian Opera Company\u2019s Alexander Neef To Start As Head Of Paris Opera This September"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_68971\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-68971\" style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-68971\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/08\/Alexander_Neef-Paris_Opera.jpg\" alt=\"Alexander Neef (Photo: Bo Huang)\" width=\"1200\" height=\"628\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/08\/Alexander_Neef-Paris_Opera.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/08\/Alexander_Neef-Paris_Opera-300x157.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/08\/Alexander_Neef-Paris_Opera-1024x536.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/08\/Alexander_Neef-Paris_Opera-768x402.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-68971\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Alexander Neef (Photo: Bo Huang)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Canadian Opera Company has confirmed General Director<strong> Alexander Neef<\/strong> will be departing Toronto one year early to begin as head of Op\u00e9ra national de Paris.<\/p>\n<p>The appointment, <span style=\"color: #ff0000\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2019\/07\/24\/the-scoop-canadian-opera-companys-alexander-neef-to-leave-toronto-for-paris-opera\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">announced last July<\/a><\/span>, required Neef to cut his recent contract extension with the COC short by five years (2025\/2026).<\/p>\n<p>The move follows approved of a formal request by France\u2019s Minister of Culture <strong>Roselyne Bachelot-Narquin<\/strong> to the COC Board of Directors to allow Neef to accelerate his Paris start date this September.<\/p>\n<p>The sudden appeal came after <span style=\"color: #ff0000\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2020\/06\/12\/scoop-cocs-alexander-neef-responds-rumors-early-departure\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">news<\/a><\/span> that St\u00e9phane Lissner would be departing as head of Op\u00e9ra national de Paris earlier than expected due in part to conflict surrounding a \u20ac40M deficit and strike action.<\/p>\n<p>The agreement between the COC and Op\u00e9ra national de Paris will see Neef relocating with his family to Paris, where he will begin overseeing both opera companies until the COC can hire a new general director.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe believe he can ably lead both companies in this dual capacity, particularly given the current suspension of fully staged opera in Toronto due to ongoing COVID-19 restrictions,\u201d said COC Board Chair <strong>Jonathan Morgan<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBeing able to minimize air travel remains the safest course of action for my family right now,\u201d said Neef. \u201cThis year\u2019s pandemic has asked so many of us to adjust to unexpected shifts in circumstance, and I am grateful for the complete support of the COC Board in arriving at this solution. [\u2026] I am also looking forward to getting to know my Paris colleagues, as their musical programming begins in less than a month. At a time when there are countless obstacles to the creation and sharing of opera, I am heartened to see our art form persist, and find new audiences, across the globe through innovation and adaptation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>According to <strong>Colleen Sexsmith<\/strong>, Chair of the COC Succession Committee, the search for a general director continues on schedule.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWith Alexander retaining his current role at the COC and with the support of the company\u2019s experienced management team, the Succession Committee is able to confidently focus on securing the best possible candidate for his replacement,\u201d said Sexsmith.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"western\"><em>#LUDWIGVAN<\/em><\/h3>\n<p class=\"western\"><em>Want more updates on classical music and opera news and reviews? Follow us\u00a0on <\/em><span style=\"color: #ff0000\"><em><a style=\"color: #ff0000\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/LudwigVanToronto\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><b>Facebook<\/b><\/a><\/em><\/span><em>, <\/em><span style=\"color: #ff0000\"><em><a style=\"color: #ff0000\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/ludwigvantoronto\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><b>Instagram<\/b><\/a><\/em><\/span><b> <\/b><em>or <\/em><span style=\"color: #ff0000\"><em><a style=\"color: #ff0000\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/LudwigVanTO\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><b>Twitter<\/b><\/a><\/em><\/span><em> for all the latest.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Canadian Opera Company has confirmed General Director Alexander Neef will be departing Toronto one year early to begin as head of Op\u00e9ra national de Paris.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":68971,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[33451,39,43,63],"tags":[223,628,27562,37507],"yst_prominent_words":[13294,7623,10057,32228,7620,6985,8496,7617,37505,37504,37503,7621,7613,12399,6886,7622,7614,7611,7560,37506],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/08\/Alexander_Neef-Paris_Opera.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9bakr-hWq","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68970"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=68970"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68970\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":68972,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68970\/revisions\/68972"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/68971"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68970"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68970"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68970"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=68970"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}