The end of an era

It's been more than a year since Melia Tourangeau came to Salt Lake City as the new president and CEO of Utah Symphony/Utah Opera.

It was a big change for her, though she wasn't new to running a performing arts organization — she was, after all, CEO of the Grand Rapids Symphony prior to coming to Salt Lake City.

But USUO is a much larger organization, with a significantly bigger budget than at Grand Rapids. And there's an opera company to boot.

Tourangeau has taken it all in stride and seems to have adjusted to her new surroundings.

The Deseret News met with Tourangeau recently in her Abravanel Hall office, where she discussed the past year, talking about Keith Lockhart's imminent departure as music director and her vision for the future of USUO.

"It's been an amazing year, especially with the opera," she said. "That's been a new experience for me, and it's been a fantastic experience."

This is Tourangeau's first exposure to the world of opera, and it's been a lot of fun. "I've always loved opera, but I've never seen it put together. I've never seen the process. It's been wonderful to learn."

On the orchestral side, Tourangeau has enjoyed her association with Lockhart, although their partnership has been rather brief.

"It's been terrific working with Keith," she said, "but I'm sad it's been so short. We'll miss him, but he's not severing his ties with the symphony completely, because of his emeritus status after this season."

Lockhart returns next season for two weeks as conductor laureate to direct the Utah Symphony. He will also lead the orchestra and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir in Mahler's Second Symphony as part of the Tanner Gift of Music series.

Speaking about Lockhart, Tourangeau listed several things that she believes will mark his tenure in Utah. "I've been able to learn a lot about his legacy," she said. "He took the orchestra on its first European tour in 19 years. It made its first recording in 15 years with Keith, and he got the organization involved in the Olympics."

And perhaps more importantly, Lockhart was a driving force behind the creation of the Deer Valley Music Festival and the Utah Symphony/ Utah Opera merger in 2002. "Deer Valley was Keith's brainchild," Tourangeau said. "It's been a huge success and an important part of what we do."

Lockhart lobbied tirelessly for the symphony/opera merger, and Tourangeau believes it was important for the two organizations to be combined. "It was brave of him to go ahead with the merger and move forward with it …"

(The Deseret News attempted to contact Lockhart for this story but was told he was unavailable for comment.)