Over the course of the last year, Opera Steamboat has experienced a transition in its approach to weaving the art of operatic performance into the fabric of the Yampa Valley community.
Four new board members recently joined the organization to nurture that transformation, foster continued growth and create strategies to reach new audiences throughout the region.
Opera Steamboat’s mission to enrich the well-being of the Yampa River Valley through innovative, educational and collaborative musical arts programs has been led for the last year by General Director and CEO Julie Maykowski. Since December 2023, she has brought new energy and approaches to the organization, revitalizing operations and promoting integration into the communities and schools of the Yampa Valley.
The new board members each bring unique perspectives and visions to the organization based in a wide variety of professional backgrounds from both inside and outside the area.
“Opera Steamboat is an organization in the middle of a refresh,” explained Maykowski. “We have been examining our business model, evaluating data and looking for new and fresh ways of examining who we are and how we want to fit into the Steamboat community. Bringing on new board members is part of that transition.”
The four new board members are Hilary Ginther, Solveig Olsen, Richard A. Spires and Spencer Tamblyn.
“I am extremely excited with the diverse backgrounds and skills this group brings to the organization,” said Maykowski. “Two of them are working artists. This was a priority for Opera Steamboat to make sure that the artist’s voice is at the table.”
Those artistic voices are captured in the arrival of Ginther and Olsen. Maykowski noted that their presence will help the organization navigate changes in operations, particularly surrounding maintaining a living wage for employees and artists, as the cost of living in the Yampa Valley continues to increase.
Ginther has been a professional mezzo-soprano operatic singer for more than a decade, performing with the Florida Grand Opera and in productions in New York City.
“I am so happy to be working with (Maykowski) to help keep bringing opera to audiences in the Yampa Valley,” said Ginter. “It is very reassuring as an artist that my perspective is valued on the board as someone who is working in today’s operatic industry.”
Olsen, who is a former performer and board member for Opera Theatre of the Rockies and faculty member for the University of Colorado — Colorado Springs, is excited to “provide a center for community members to come together to explore” the historically rich art form that is opera.
“I see a group full of enthusiasm for the growth of an art nonprofit,” Olsen said of Opera Steamboat. “While the opera world is entering a period of evolution, I see arts communities as a whole gaining an opportunity to evolve as well — all in a way that will draw patrons regardless of experience with the art form.”
Spires’ background in strategic planning and thinking, as well as his experience as a consultant, will complement Tamblyn’s deep community connections in the Yampa Valley.
“The arts enrich any community and opera, in my opinion, is such an endearing yet underappreciated art form,” said Spires. “I hope that I can play a small part in helping Opera Steamboat to continue to thrive and grow to both entertain and educate Yampa Valley citizens, and in particular, the children of the valley.”
Ginther echoed that sentiment in saying that “the arts are vital to a community’s cultural education and universal human understanding.”
“My hope for Opera Steamboat is for us to be able to deliver professional, high level operatic performances in a theatre suitable to the demands of opera with orchestra,” she noted.
She went on to explain that offering a variety of experiences throughout the season will allow the organization to reach different audiences. She hopes that one of those experiences might include Steamboat Opera collaborating with the Steamboat Symphony, which will make the experience “truly operatic.”
Additionally, Ginter noted the importance of opera as a healing medium which can place people in touch with their own vulnerabilities while deepening their connection with others as well.
“In a world where so many are seeking comfort from therapy, or are suffering from anxiety and depression, opera, live and classical music is an incredible balm,” she noted.
“It is a wonderfully unique piece to the incredible culture and arts environment in Steamboat,” said Tamblyn. “I am inspired to help Julie and her team … to raise the foundation of Opera Steamboat for a bright future of entertaining our community’s Opera lovers and those that soon will be.”
Maykowski hopes high hopes for the new leadership structure of the organization, noting the importance of past board members in building the foundation which current leadership is now building on.
“As we look to the future, the board is transitioning away from being a working board to becoming a fundraising and governance board, which is also amazing,” she said. “There would be no Opera Steamboat if it wasn’t for the time, talent, treasure and commitment for the past board members. As we look to the future, the board will be key in our success to achieving growth.”
More information on Opera Steamboat can be found at OperaSteamboat.org.