Joseph Volpe

Humanitas Visiting Professorship in Opera Studies (2011-2012)

The Humanitas Visiting Professorship in Opera Studies showcases the multi-faceted art of opera. Bringing in opera singers, directors, and conductors, the initiative explores the place of opera in today’s art and society.

The Visiting Professorship in Opera Studies is made possible by the generous support of Clore Duffield Foundation and is hosted by New College, Oxford.

Joseph Volpe is the former General Manager of the New York Metropolitan Opera.

In his lecture, entitled Whither Opera in the 21st Century, Volpe reviewed opera’s current state of funding, particularly in North America. He painted a gloomy picture, describing falling box office receipts and the increasing difficulty of attracting the support of wealthy philanthropists. He outlined the challenge of renewing the audience base for live opera, arguing that the situation seems less dire in Europe, where state subsidies, although shrinking, still underpin most opera houses, and where audiences remain buoyant.