Lyric Opera

Evan R. Luskin, General Director

eluskin@kcopera.org

Evan R. Luskin became general director of the company on July 1, 1998. Mr. Luskin had served as the company's managing director since 1986. Previous to his association with the Lyric, he had worked at Michigan Opera Theatre, the Chattanooga Opera Association, and the Tulsa Opera. Mr. Luskin holds an MBA with a specialization in Arts Management from the State University of New York at Binghamton. He has served on the touring panel of the Missouri Arts Council, and as an on-site evaluator for the National Endowment for the Arts.

Ward Holmquist, Artistic Director

wholmquist@kcopera.org

Ward Holmquist joined the Lyric Opera in 1998 as the second artistic director in the Lyric's history. His academic training includes degrees from the Oberlin Conservatory, the University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign (as student of acclaimed coach/accompanist John Wustman) and a Fulbright study grant in conducting at the venerable Hochschule fur Musik in Vienna, Austria.

Mr. Holmquist began his professional career at the Houston Grand Opera as a member of Texas Opera Theater, the company's touring entity. Subsequently he joined the main company as part of the Houston Opera Studio as an apprentice pianist/coach/conductor. Over time he rose to the position of Resident Conductor of the main company. During his eight years as a staff member he conducted productions or selected performances of more than 20 operas, and was involved in world premieres of contempory works by Carlisle Floyd, John Adams and Philip Glass, among others. In January, 1995 he received international acclaim for leading the world premiere of Stewart Wallace's Harvey Milk.

His active guest conducting schedule has included productions with numerous regional American and Canadian opera companies, including organizations in Edmonton, Hamilton, Louisville, Memphis, Omaha, Raleigh-Durham, Salt Lake City and Tulsa, as well as summer engagements with the Opera Festival of New Jersey and the Utah Festival Opera.

Mr. Holmquist continued his happy association with a former teacher, Carlisle Floyd, when he conducted performances of the composer's widely acclaimed recent opus, Cold Sassy Tree (based on the bestselling novel by Olive Ann Burns) for Lyric Opera of Kansas City in May 2002.