GETTING TO KNOW ROB AINSLEY

BY NICK RICHARDSON

Glimmerglass’s new Artistic & General Director Rob Ainsley came to us in September 2022 from Washington National Opera, where he ran the Cafritz Young Artists program and the American Opera Initiative. He has worked as a musician and artistic leader at opera companies across the U.S., including at Portland Opera, Minnesota Opera, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, and the Greenwich Music Festival. In his native England, he served as guest Chorus Master with the English National Opera. Rob himself is a graduate of a Young Artist Program (The Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program), and he holds degrees from the University of Cambridge and Mannes School of Music.

What drew you to opera? How did you decide to have a career in this field?

Opera tells stories and plumbs the depths of the human psyche in ways that no other art does. I’ve found myself in floods of tears at opera performances, and I don’t do that as often when watching a movie, reading a book, or seeing a painting. There’s something so visceral and immediate. I’m sure that’s because I’m a great lover of music and voices. The human voice is the greatest of all instruments. People always say that, but it truly is. It has more colors, possibilities, and emotional core to it than anything else. Not only can it produce some of the most beautiful sounds you’ll ever hear, but when connected to text and drama, it’s just extraordinary what it can do and what its possibilities are.

When you saw that this job was available, what made you say, “I want to come to Glimmerglass”?

You know, there were very few jobs that could’ve pulled me away. Everything that I’ve done has always been very vocational. But something felt very right about this particular one. I know all of the great summer festivals because it was part of my job to travel to them, scout artists, and see what was happening. I think Glimmerglass combines all of the best bits. It has a focus on emerging artists and fostering their careers, but also has really experienced artists involved. It also has a great theater.

I love the festival atmosphere. I love the fact that we have a balanced slate of offerings and content. I love what it does for young artists, who have always been such a huge part of my life and my career. I’ve known so many artists who have come through Glimmerglass, whose careers have been made and built by it. This is a dream job.

The Festival has grown so much over the past few years. What more is there for Glimmerglass to do? What new directions can Glimmerglass pursue?

Everything in art and everything in life is about balance. It’s often not a matter of doing more; it’s a matter of how and why. I think there are niches where we can really excel because we have this beautiful theater that’s the right size for opera. I love the fact that we can do something like Aida or Dutchman in this house, but I also think that this is an ideal house for Baroque opera. I love that we do musical theater, and that we do it in a way that acoustically requires great singing. I have several titles in mind that I think will fit the house very beautifully.

This is a festival where you have musical theater performers, dancers, and great singers. You have incredible apprentices in every possible discipline. You have a scene shop and a costume shop, and you design all your own productions. It’s an artistic playground! I want to use that combination of talent in innovative and new ways, and let the talent that’s available drive some of the choices.

I’d love to see artists having agency in our commissions or in what we program on a concert. For example, Mike Mayes [Captain von Trapp in The Sound of Music, 2022] not only sings opera, but also sings folk music, and plays guitar. If someone has a special skill, then that should be part of the Festival. We should draw on the talent that we have available to us. Artist-driven content is important to me.

Though you’re not directly in charge of the Apprenticeship Program, do you have any ideas or plans for how to keep it growing in the future?

We’re coming to this point where people can’t afford to spend hours upon hours of their lives for the sake of experience. That’s just changing in society in general. This wonderful matching gift from Denise Littlefield Sobel has let us pay the Apprentices in an equitable way, and we’ve upped the stipends of the Young Artists as well. It’s a hard thing to do in a budget, but it’s the right thing to do, and I’m really proud of that step. We have to find ways to sustain that going forward, and I’ve got to raise as many funds as I possibly can. And that’s something I love doing. I love talking about the music, and the art, and playing piano.

I’m happy to talk to anyone and sell them on the opera gospel.

Too often, Apprentices are kind of behind the scenes (because that’s where they work), but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be given the same kind of developmental resources that anyone on the stage is getting. I think our program is fantastic. It’s the only program I know of that is complete in that way. There aren’t many places where you’ll get to work with people like Abby Rodd [Director of Production], our wonderful technical director Ross Rundell, and Wyatt Nyman [Production Coordinator]. They’ve all come up through that same system. You’re really working with the best in every field.

I feel that even our newest, entry-level employees want to have a say in this company, and I have to believe that’s special to Glimmerglass. It seems like people are really invested in Glimmerglass and want to be part of it in bigger ways.

A huge part of that is the incredible staff here. A lot of them—Andi [Lyons, Executive Director] and Abby—started here as Interns. This company has been their life, and you can really tell. It’s because Glimmerglass is in this kind of community where everything is interwoven and everybody knows everyone. It takes a village, as they say.

It takes a few!

It truly does. I think that filters all the way down through the company. Everyone can feel that we are all working towards the same aim, and everyone’s part is crucial. There are no “small people.” If this person isn’t doing their job, then this prima donna doesn’t get to do theirs. As I said, artist-driven culture and content is definitely something I’m excited about. We have to function that way now. That hierarchical structure in opera doesn’t work anymore. We have to find other ways to do it. And I’m easily overruled. I hope I’m not an autocrat!

Why do we need opera today?

I think it’s a deeper question: Why do we need art in our lives? For me, it’s a no-brainer. We’re humans, and we tell stories about what being on this crazy planet means to us. We do that in any possible way that we can, and the most wild and wonderful way is opera. It’s one of the most ludicrous art forms ever invented, yet it has the most possibilities. People will continue to make opera.

That’s not to say it’s easy. Opera is very expensive because it’s so complex and it involves so many people. And it’s really hard to get right! Actually, that’s what I love most about it —the more things you add that can go wrong, the harder it is to get it right. But striving for when it does go right, even if that’s for a fraction of a second, makes it worth trying. That’s why we keep doing these pieces over and over again.

I’ve seen a billion Carmens, but you’re always striving for the Carmen. It’s an Olympian activity in all ways—not just vocally, but in every way. It’s the greatest of challenges.