Evan Luskin sits at his desk at the Kansas City Lyric Opera, chatting on the phone about the budget. After hanging up, he says it’s “for the last time.” After 26 years, Luskin will leave the opera in June.

As general director since 1998, his steady financial hand has kept the opera in the black, despite the wavering economy.

“He knows the repertory and the artistic side, but his businesslike approach to running an arts organization has really been extremely helpful to us,” said Richard Bruening, president of the opera’s board. “There may have been operas we wanted to do and singers we wanted to have, but if it didn’t make fiscal sense, we didn’t do it.”

Luskin’s tenure has seen the opera develop its own endowment and a cash reserve.

“A problem that a lot of arts organizations face is that you start performing in the fall, but it takes a while into the year until all your fundraising dollars start coming in, but you’ve got to pay for two fall productions, and it can be a real cash flow challenge,” Luskin said. “We have some reserves in the bank, so that it gets us through the fall without our having to borrow money and pay interest. That provides incredible stability for the company.”

People ask him why he’s leaving now, when the opera has just moved into the new Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. Luskin says he wants the opera to have a general director who can “come to Kansas City now, with all of these resources, and carry the company into the future,” he said.

At 65, he also wants to do other things, such as traveling and visiting his grandchildren, but will miss working with the people at the opera.

However, “I certainly did not want to miss one season in the Kauffman Center. It’s great fun being in there … I can think back to when I was a wee young intern at the New York City Opera. The one thing I did have was I could run around the theater, and it was just kind of fun to do that, to see what it was like sitting upstairs or downstairs. So, maybe I’m reliving my childhood — I get to do that again,” he said.

Luskin calls the move to the new stage a “catalyst” for the opera building its own new rehearsal space and scenery storage facility.

The opera’s latest production, Mozart’s Così Fan Tutte, is a “very intimate opera” that would have worked on the smaller Lyric Theatre stage.

“We’re still going to be able to do that kind of opera without it being swallowed up (by the larger facility) … it gives us that flexibility. Doing a big grand opera at the Lyric, we couldn’t truly do it justice with that stage, and now we can. It’s expanded the range and type of opera we can do,” Luskin said.

Before coming to Kansas City, he had studied a variety of subjects before earning an MBA in arts management. Luskin gained experience in Chattanooga, Tenn., Tulsa, Okla., and Detroit before settling into his role here.

His favorite part of the job is watching how the audience reacts to the performances.

“When you think about it, you spend months and years working towards opening night. It is so incredibly exciting, and you want to see how the audience reacts. It’s almost like you’re sitting there saying, ‘Come on, guys. Look at what we did. Isn’t this great?’ And you hear people applauding,” he said.

Other points of pride for Luskin are the continued improvement in the opera’s artistic standards as well as expanded educational programming for children, which includes a summer opera camp. Many companies use a group of sopranos when the score calls for a children’s chorus in operas such as Carmen, he said. However, because of their educational outreach, the Kansas City Opera has a good talent pool of children.

“I wish there was a lot more arts education in the schools, but at least we are providing some of it,” he said.

Bruening says he will miss working with Luskin.

“Evan is a joy to work with,” Bruening said. “He’s a very calm and thoughtful influence in the management of the opera.”

Luskin will remain an opera buff, even after he leaves.

“I guess I’ll still be able to go to the opera and enjoy it and watch it, but it will be different,” Luskin said.

The Lyric Opera

The Lyric Opera of Kansas City continues its 54th season with W. A. Mozart’s Così fan tutte performed at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts through Nov. 13.
Così fan tutte will be sung in Italian with English titles visible on personal monitors mounted on each audience member’s seatback in the Muriel Kauffman Theatre.
Ticket availability varies by performance. To purchase tickets, call Patron Services 816 471-7344 or 1-800-OPERAKC (673-7252). Patrons can select their own seat and print their tickets at home by visiting www.kcopera.org.