Minnesota Opera’s staff, board, and longtime friends mark the passing of Dr. Norton M. Hintz. A nuclear physicist, photographer, and opera producer, Dr. Hintz was a founder of the original Center Opera Company in 1963. While working as a professor and researcher at the University of Minnesota, he served as chairman of the music committee on the Center Arts Council in the late 1950s. With the opening of the new 1,437-seat Tyrone Guthrie Theater, once located next to the Walker Art Center, he saw an opportunity to create a chamber opera company, which could perform on nights when the stage was not in use. The first season opened in January 1964, with a doublebill — a world premiere of composer Dominick Argento’s The Masque of Angels paired with 17th-century composer John Blow’s The Masque of Venus and Adonis. The original intention was to engage emerging composers, conductors, directors, and designers. Martin Friedman, then director of the Walker Art Center, later remarked, “One of the reasons the Russians are moving toward the moon faster is our physicists are devoting their talents to putting chamber opera into production.” To which Norton replied, “Both require large budgets."
During the first season, Norton was the company’s general director and continued to serve as chairman for several years. Truly a Renaissance man, he had notable achievements as a professor of physics, including supervising construction of the University’s Linac Proton Accelerator and, with other colleagues, continued research in elementary particle physics. Also an avid dancer, Norton and his wife, Mary Abbe, visual arts critic for the Star Tribune, sponsored a dance floor at the University’s Weisman Art Museum. Former Minnesota Opera President and ceo Kevin Smith recalled, “Norton Hintz was one of the most interesting, extraordinary people I met during my 30 years at Minnesota Opera. Given Norton’s great achievements as a nuclear physicist and professor at the University of Minnesota, I found it wonderful that he counted his role in the founding of Minnesota Opera (Center Opera of the Walker Art Center) as one of his most meaningful and satisfying accomplishments. Norton possessed a quintessentially creative mind, whether it involved science, art, or just plain living. On reflection, he was just the type to leave a legacy in every aspect of his life.”
| THE SHINING
Photos provided by Mary Abbe Hintz
In Memoriam
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