‘We Wanted To Be The HBO Of Opera’: Opera Philadelphia Changes The Model

Company general director David Devan, on the O17 and O18 festivals devoted to new work as well as about changes to regular-season programming: “Our industry is hanging on by a thread to models that were created in the ’50s-’70s. A subscription model focused on excellent performance in the traditional repertoire … This would be like ignoring the streaming movement and sticking to network television. We wanted to be the HBO of opera.”