Minnesota Opera Appoints New Interim General Director

Minneapolis - Minnesota Opera today announced the appointment of Nina Archabal to serve as its interim General Director. Ms. Archabal succeeds Kevin Ramach who announced his resignation as President and General Director. Ms. Archabal, who most recently served as Director of the Minnesota Historical Society, joined the Minnesota Opera on November 20.

"I am thrilled to have an opportunity to work with Minnesota Opera," Ms. Archabal stated. "As an opera lover and longtime season ticket holder, I have watched the Opera grow to its current level of artistic brilliance. It is a privilege to have the opportunity to be a part of this great organization."

Mr. Ramach joined the Company in 1988, serving in a number of positions in production and operations until 1999, when he left the Company for a time to work at the Kentucky Opera. Mr. Ramach returned to the Company in 2006, where he served as Production Director for the next six years, followed by two years as President and General Director. "We are grateful for his long and dedicated service to the Company and for his leadership these last two years," said Minnesota Opera Board Chair Jim Johnson.

"It has been a pleasure working at Minnesota Opera and I am proud of the Company's many accomplishments during that time," Mr. Ramach stated. "However, for virtually all of my career, first as a designer and then in production management, I was involved in the direct creation of opera, from which I frequently felt removed as a general director. This is a good time for me to return to my creative interests. Minnesota Opera has a tremendous reputation and is artistically operating at the highest level. I am confident that the Minnesota Opera will continue to be one of the country's most innovative and artistically successful companies."

Over the last two plus years, Mr. Ramach presided over impressive successes at the Opera including the Silent Night broadcast on PBS, the Opera in the Park concerts in 2013, the Opera's innovative production of The Magic Flute in the 2013-2014 season, which was the best-selling opera in the Company's history, and the recent La fanciulla del West simulcast in Rice Park coinciding with the Opera's opening of the 2014-2015 season.

"We are sorry to see Kevin leave, as he is a person of immense talent and ability, with deep roots in the Company's history," said Mr. Johnson. "We are, however, excited to welcome Ms. Archabal with her many accomplishments including the creation of the Minnesota History Center in St. Paul, the Mill City Museum on the Minneapolis Riverfront, and the Mille Lacs Indian Museum on the Mille Lacs Reservation of Ojibwe, a project that led to her receiving the National Humanities Medal from President Clinton in 1997. Ms. Archabal holds three degrees in music, bachelors and masters degrees from Harvard University and a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota.

Ms. Archabal previously was associated with the Minnesota Historical Society for over 30 years including as its Director and State Historic Preservation Officer beginning in 1987, and since 2011 as its Director Emerita. Ms. Archabal has served on the governing boards of the St. Paul Academy and Summit School, St. John's University, Carleton College, as well as an Overseer of Harvard College, and past chair of the American Association of Museums and the U.S. Committee of the International Council of Museums and currently serves as a presidential appointee to the U.S. State Department's Cultural Property Advisory Committee. Since retiring from the Minnesota Historical Society, Ms. Archabal has immersed herself in the Minneapolis/Saint Paul music community and currently serves as president of the board of the Schubert Club, one of the Opera's partners in the Arts Partnership.

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