LA Opera has concluded its 40th Anniversary Season with a return to pre-pandemic attendance levels, record ticket sales and an estimated $57.46 million in regional economic activity across Los Angeles.
Using the Arts & Economic Prosperity 6 calculator, the company’s $51 million in operating expenses, combined with audience spending, generated the economic impact figure, supporting more than 1,000 jobs and an estimated
$47.15 million in household income. During the season, LA Opera employed over 1,000 people, including more than 600 union-represented performing artists and craftspeople.
Audience demand was exceptional, with the company surpassing its ticket sales goal by more than 20 per cent. For the first time in the company’s history, two productions – Akhnaten and The Magic Flute – received additional performances in a single season. The season also included the world premiere of Sarah Kirkland Snider’s Hildegard, presented through the company’s Off Grand initiative and named Best New Opera by the Music Critics Association of North America.
The season marked the conclusion of James Conlon’s
20-year tenure as the company’s Richard Seaver Music Director, with his final season including acclaimed performances of West Side Story, Falstaff, The Magic Flute and Noah’s Flood, alongside a farewell concert. Conlon will become Conductor Laureate, while incoming music director Domingo Hindoyan will lead the company’s next chapter.
Christopher Koelsch, LA Opera’s President and CEO, said: “This season affirmed something powerful: Angelenos are returning to opera with real enthusiasm, and LA Opera is meeting that moment both onstage and across the community. As we look ahead to Domingo Hindoyan’s arrival, we do so with record-setting audience response, expanded civic impact, and renewed momentum for LA Opera’s next chapter.”