![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/Christopher_Stowell_0809.gif?resize=150%2C226\" "\\"Christopher")
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Today came the surprise announcement of the resignation of Oregon Ballet Theater (OBT) artistic director Christopher Stowell, effective December 31. Part of a wave of new administrators\/artistic directors at the major Portland arts institutions (among them Carlos Kalmar at the Oregon Symphony, Christopher Mattaliano of the Portland Opera, and Chris Coleman of Portland Center Stage) that heralded a burgeoning arts scene in Portland centered around a renewed pursuit of a level of artistic excellence that belied the relatively small size of the city.<\/p>\n
Said Stowell in his announcement:<\/p>\n
\u201cOBT\u2019s Board of Trustees has determined that the organization must adopt a new business model and, after much thought, I have come to the conclusion that I am not the best candidate to lead OBT into that future.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
My guess as to what the new model will entail? One need only look to what’s happening in the Twin Cities these days. Smaller company size (less dancers). Reduced orchestra services, or even the elimination of the orchestra from all productions (Stowell championed the use of live music over the financial objections of the bean counters, and established a fund to try to enable more performances with live music). In the end the artistic payroll is the highest portion of the budget, and that is where the cuts will be made. That’s my take on it.<\/p>\n
Clearly, Portland is not immune from the attitudes of entrenched boards operating within a bunker mentality. Who will be next to leave?<\/p>\n
\n
- Oregonian<\/em> article<\/a><\/li>\n
- Oregon Arts Watch<\/em> article<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Read the complete official press release:<\/p>\n
[gview file=”http:\/\/www.obt.org\/news_links\/press_releases\/11-28-12_Christopher_Stowell_Media_Release.pdf”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Today came the surprise announcement of the resignation of Oregon Ballet Theater (OBT) artistic director Christopher Stowell, effective December 31. Part of a wave of new administrators\/artistic directors at the major Portland arts institutions (among them Carlos Kalmar at the Oregon Symphony, Christopher Mattaliano of the Portland Opera, and Chris Coleman of Portland Center Stage) […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":303,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1,61,25],"tags":[3207,3205,3208,1340,3206],"class_list":["post-8049","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-oregon","category-portland","tag-board","tag-christopher-stowell","tag-new-financial-model","tag-oregon-ballet-theater","tag-resignation"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa8kC-25P","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1906,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2009\/02\/12\/fearnomusic-disjecta-friday\/","url_meta":{"origin":8049,"position":0},"title":"fearnomusic @ DISJECTA friday","author":"Charles Noble","date":"February 12, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Agniezka Laska Dancers - Photo: Chris Leck Fear No Music will be presenting its second concert of the season, Home Grown: Fresh, Delectable Sounds by Oregon Composers, at Disjecta (8371 North Interstate Avenue, Portland, Oregon 97217) this Friday February 13th at 8 p.m. It should be a fascinating and enjoyable\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "chamber music"","block_context":{"text":"chamber music","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/chamber-music\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"ald","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/02\/ald.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":979,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2008\/05\/19\/crosscut-article-full-interview\/","url_meta":{"origin":8049,"position":1},"title":"crosscut article: full interview","author":"Charles Noble","date":"May 19, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"As you may know, I was recently profiled as part of a Crosscut article about Portland arts advocates. It was ably written by Portland music writer and musician Stephen Marc Beaudoin. It was an honor to be included, and I was happy with the article as it was published. I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "bloggers"","block_context":{"text":"bloggers","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/bloggers\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2479,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2009\/05\/04\/important-message-if-you-care-about-the-arts-in-pdx\/","url_meta":{"origin":8049,"position":2},"title":"important message if you care about the arts in pdx","author":"Charles Noble","date":"May 4, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"A message from conductor Niel DePonte to the students attending the 15th annual Young Artists Debut! concerto concert on May 3, 2009, at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. I have chosen to address my remarks this evening to the 1500 students in the audience. What the arts will look like\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "fundraising"","block_context":{"text":"fundraising","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/fundraising\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"niel_deponte_0809","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/niel_deponte_0809.gif?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":497,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2007\/10\/19\/perspective\/","url_meta":{"origin":8049,"position":3},"title":"perspective","author":"Charles Noble","date":"October 19, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"I wasn't able to attend the Oregon Symphony's annual membership meeting this afternoon due to teaching commitments, but I did read the summary by local arts journalist James Bash, and I have some thoughts of my own. First of all, it must be said that the financial situation of the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "the orchestra world"","block_context":{"text":"the orchestra world","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/the-orchestra-world\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":17820,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2020\/03\/11\/coronavirus-hits-nw-arts-hard\/","url_meta":{"origin":8049,"position":4},"title":"coronavirus hits NW arts hard","author":"Charles Noble","date":"March 11, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"I will update this page throughout the coming days as I learn of additional postponements or cancellations. Running list of Portland-area cancellations and postponements. UPDATE: 3\/14\/20 10:00AM Basically, everything is canceled, and if it isn't, it's being live streamed. 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