The end of an aria? Why the Inland Northwest Opera suspended operation, and will it return?

Spokane’s professional opera ceased operations last month in a move that surprised many of its staff and supporters.

The employees and artists of Inland Northwest Opera said they were blindsided by an email from the organization’s board sent Feb. 12:

“It is with heavy hearts that we announce the suspending of Operation of Inland Northwest Opera, a nonprofit performing arts organization that has been a cherished part of the community for 24 years. Despite the board of directors’ and staff’s unwavering passion for the arts and commitment to providing enriching cultural experiences, there is a stark reality of financial challenges that have become insurmountable.”

After the email, the opera’s website was no longer online.

“I’m still shocked by this,” longtime Inland Northwest Opera donor Jim Karel said. “I had no idea this was coming. The way it happened is abysmal.”

The South Hill resident, who owns Karel Capital Inc., had been a sponsor of the opera for more than 20 years.

Marlo Finney Faulkner, a founding member of the opera , said she is incensed over its suspension.

“This is a colossal failure in administration, from the executive director to the president and the board,” said Faulkner, who organized the annual fundraising opera cruise called Opera on the Lake. “They didn’t make much of an effort to raise money.”

But the opera’s board chair, Mary Velazquez, said raising money after the COVID-19 pandemic has been challenging .

“There’s economic hardship out there,” Velazquez said. “There’s uncertainty with the economy. Opera can easily be crossed off the list when it comes to discretionary income. That’s the way it is in our country and across the world.

“Many organizations have suffered significant drops in funding. In ’21 and ’22, those seasons were propped up by federal relief funds, and in ’23 those funds dried up.”

What bothers Faulkner and Karel is that the opera was stable not that long ago when Dawn Wolski was the general director and artistic director from March 2017 to April 2022.

“When Dawn came in, she raised the opera to a whole new level of excellence,” Faulkner said. “She left INO in great artistic shape and in great financial shape, which they coasted on.”

Velazquez counters that the organization has never been in a strong financial position.

That claim raised the ire of Wolski.

“INO saw significant budget surpluses every full year I was at the helm, even during the height of the pandemic,” Wolski said.

She said 2022 began with up to nine months of operating expenses as a buffer, for emergency use only, ideally reserved to expand artistic programming in 2023.

The most recently available tax records of the organization show that it generated revenue of about $431,000 in 2022, but spent about $496,000. A year before, however, it earned $515,000 while spending $472,000.

Velazquez said Inland Northwest Opera assets are still in the board’s possession.

Assets include the opera truck, which is a mobile stage designed by Wolski; her husband, Mateusz Wolski; former market director Melody Heaton; her husband, Arthur Heaton; and Inland Northwest Opera technical director Justin Schmidt.

“It was a brilliant idea by Dawn to build the truck,” Schmidt said. “It took a lot of time, sweat and some blood to create the truck.”

Prior to 2023, Inland Northwest Opera, which traditionally pays actors, had a loaded schedule. Coming out of the pandemic in July 2021, there was an opera cruise on Lake Coeur d’Alene with “The Maid Turned Mistress” by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi. There was a two-person semi-staged opera with piano accompaniment. There were two performances on two attached cruise boats on Lake Coeur d’Alene, also in July 2021, as well as a show with full orchestra at the Fox Theater, “Orpheus and Eurydice,” in September.

The year 2022 was kicked off by a children’s show, “Carmen and the Bull” at Riverfront Park. There was a spring outreach and educational tour to many different outdoor schools and libraries using the opera truck. The shows were funded primarily via grants. The Opera Cruise Show, “Don Pasquale” by Gaetano Donizetti, was on Lake Coeur d’Alene in July. The main stage show, “La traviata,” by Giuseppe Verdi, was held in September. It was a full-staged production with a full orchestra at the Fox. The fall Opera Truck concerts, free to attend, were held at parks in Spokane and Coeur d’Alene.

In 2023, there was a children’s show, “Earth to Kenzie,” by Frances Pollock and Jessica Murphy Moo, at the downtown library. The Opera Cruise show was “Elixir of Love,” by Donizetti, in July. It was a five-person semi-staged show with one performance. By the time fall came around, the main stage show, “Don Giovanni,” was canceled, but planned for December at the Bing Crosby Theater in Spokane.

According to Velazquez, the seven-member board voted unanimously to nix the show. After the cancellation was announced, there was the issue of paying performers, who banked on “Don Giovanni” hitting the stage.

“Most of the contracts have been resolved and paid,” Velazquez said. “There are two outstanding, and our intention is to pay those contracts in full. We’re working on a resolution with the artists.”

However, the opera’s artistic director, Dan Miller, scoffed at the claim.

“They owe money to every one of those artists,” Miller said, calling from San Jose. “Mary is talking about conciliatory pay. The performers all accepted 20% payment with 100% if the show was rescheduled. They still owe money.”

Stage Manager Mike Janney, who started work for the company in November, heard from the opera on Feb. 28 about receiving 20%.

“I was told that a check is in the mail,” Janney said.

“I really feel for the artists, the singers, who were looking forward to the work. Some people were really counting on that money and had to find other work outside of this field to cover expenses. The real shame is that Spokane missed out on a phenomenal show. Dan assembled an amazing cast. Artists from all over the place were coming to Spokane with the goal of putting on a phenomenal show. It would have been a production that was never seen in Spokane, but it fell apart. ”

However, Velazquez claims neither Miller nor his agent reached out to extend his contract.

“My contract was up,” Miller said, “but the choice about me coming back was not made by me. I didn’t have a choice. I expected to be back no matter what happened.”

Miller, who said he was told that he lost his work the day before the email announcement was sent last month, said his finances and reputation have been harmed.

“I turned down work for this year since I expected to be with INO. Now I’m desperately scrambling to fill in the gaps.”

Velazquez said the decision to suspend operations was by the board. Six members voted to suspend operations and one abstained.

“It’s a shame for this to happen, especially when INO had someone as talented as Dan,” Faulkner said.

Miller is the stage director for the Wolftrap Foundation for the Performing Arts and was the stage director of the Kentucky Opera. The University of Washington alumnus is working on a production of “Rigoletto” for Opera San Jose.

Miller doesn’t understand why he wasn’t consulted when Inland Northwest Opera was struggling. When asked why Miller wasn’t consulted about the financial crisis, Velazquez said Miller and General Director Max Mendez, who did not respond to calls for comment, were welcome to help.

“Max and Dan were always invited to attend all of the board meetings,” Velazquez said. “We often asked Dan for his suggestions on how we could save on costs of productions.”

However, the meetings to cancel “Don Giovanni” and to suspend operations occurred outside of scheduled meetings.

Schmidt believes the board should have reached out to Miller.

“I’m ticked off, because they didn’t include Dan in the discussions,” Schmidt said. “Dan was the best hope for the organization to continue and to thrive. Dan was a great successor to Dawn.

“About him being welcome at the meetings, that’s fine, but if you’re having discussions about struggling, you have to include Dan in the discussions.”

Miller wishes the board let him know what was happening.

“All of this is unfortunate, since I hoped to accomplish so much with INO,” Miller said. “There was so much potential. But the lack of private donors and the inability to maintain relationships with those donors led to the bricks falling off the facade.”

Velazquez believes the opera can make a comeback .

“We hope to be a company in the future,” Velazquez said.

The opera’s website came back online last week with an “INTERVALLO,” or intermission, statement on its homepage.

“Although we are all saddened by the suspension of operations at this time, we want you to know that the board is looking at new models for bringing beautiful operatic music and performances to the Inland Northwest. We are searching for solutions that address the financial challenges presented by increased costs, reduced revenue and fluctuating audience attendance – solutions that align with the financial expectations of our community. INO may look different in the future, but it is our goal to ensure that the mission will continue on.”

Opera has proved difficult to sustain in Spokane.

Uptown Opera, later Spokane Opera, was launched in 1986 by Bill Graham and Marge Halverson. It went defunct in 2010 as a result of funding problems.

Still, many had assumed Inland Northwest Opera had figured out the formula for lasting success in Spokane.

“Dawn as artistic director left the company in fabulous shape,” Schmidt said, pointing to Wolski’s leadership. “She knows how to raise money. That is a skill that is rare in the arts.”

Wolski remains stunned that her beloved opera is on pause.

“The enormous sacrifices made to keep opera alive in our region for over 40 years have been truly immeasurable,” Wolski said. “So many hearts are broken. I cannot fathom why this was handled the way it was, without inviting the community and the company’s loyal stakeholders to participate in the solution.

“INO’s lack of transparency has certainly eroded public trust. But there is one thing that artists will never cease to bring to the world around us, and that is hope.”

Karel plans to donate to a future local opera company and believes other sponsors will follow.

“I have no doubt the opera will be back, and when it does, I look forward to being a supporter again,” Karel said.

In the interim, there’s a void in the Spokane arts scene.

“The arts both form and reflect the soul of a community,” Schmidt said. “It is always sad to see quality arts organizations go under, as it is also the death of a piece of that soul.”