Passion is the opposite of apathy. Passion is powerful emotion, boundeless energy. Sharon Goodmonson-artistic director of Obsidian Opera Company in Bend, Oregon is passion personified.
Goodmonson is a trim blonde in her late forties. She radiates energy, and it is this energy that has allowed her to create an opera company literally out of the lava dust of this high-desert town in central Oregon.
“I am just nuts about the art form!” she explains.
Goodmonson sits on the edge of her chair, her hands moving in accompaniment to her words. As she speaks, her face is engaged and lively; she pauses for contemplation, then charges ahead with a barrage of articulate thought.
She is in love with opera. Goodmonson heard her first opera ( Amahl and the Night Visitors ) and felt that click of ardor and connection that has driven her along a life path to not only perform as an opera singer, but also form a company dedicated to singers.
Goodmonson graduated from Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon with double degrees in music and theater. Soon she found herself in central Oregon, working as the traveling voice teacher for the area. She had to create her own work-her business card at the time said, “Classical Singer-Weddings, Funerals, Luncheons.” Finding a severe dearth of opportunities for classical musicians in central Oregon-an area known more for logging and cows than for the arts-Goodmonson and a couple of friends decided to stage Don Pasquale in 1986.
This led to the creation of Juniper Opera. Working under the umbrella of the local community college, Juniper Opera began the process of educating the community to the joys of opera. Goodmonson sang, directed, worked on the sets, and took tickets. Finally, after four years, burned out and tired of feeling that her company couldn’t grow artistically due to the restrictions placed on it by the college, Goodmonson turned her attention to other things.
She obtained her master’s degree in public health, became an aerobics instructor, and was working full-time as a health professional when her old life came knocking. Without her hand at the helm, Juniper Opera had disintegrated (“They killed my baby,” she says grimly), and local musicians asked Goodmonson to come back to the area and start another opera company.
Refreshed by the opportunity to start from the beginning, Goodmonson turned her mighty attention back to music, and in 1997 Obsidian Opera Company was born.
“To create, develop, and support community thru the joy of vocal artistry.”
This is the mission statement of Obsidian Opera, now in its seventh year as a successful non-profit. Goodmonson is an excellent administrator, among other things. Obsidian has operated in the black every year. Audience numbers have grown steadily, and each performance always tops the previous in terms of revenue earned. This part of the business is not easy, however.
Sharon Goodmonson is one of those people who are blessed with the ability to juggle the right (creative) side of their brains with the left (linear) side. Most artists cannot do this, but this gift has allowed her to administrate her company successfully.
“Well, I’ve always been a logical person,” she says, pushing her sunglasses up on top of her head and looking calmly out of gray-blue eyes.
One might add “scrappy” and “focused” to describe her. Goodmonson has never taken a salary from Obsidian. For years she has acted as both artistic and executive director for the company. From the force of her personality, and with the help of a good board of directors, the Obsidian Opera supports itself from individual donations, ticket sales, and grants.
The current financial climate is difficult. While her audience is loyal, returning in record numbers to see this spring’s production of Die Fledermaus , Goodmonson has had to cut back on the outreach program to local schools, and also dropped a beloved project, the Northwest Vocal Competition. The competition was wildly successful in its inaugural year and will be back, but not just now.
Organized, precise, and driven, Goodmonson makes sure the inner workings of the opera company are functioning on a daily basis. It is in the artistic side of the company, however, that brings forth her passion.
“I wanted to create a musical company that was different than the big world. I wanted to make a supportive company, one where musicians supported each other, where singers were treated well. Why shouldn’t a musical experience be joyful?”
A talented soprano, Sharon Goodmonson knows exactly what it is to be a singer. She knows the vulnerabilities, the fears, the desires, and the hungers that are in the complex mix that make up every opera singer. And she understands that, given a little tender handling, singers can blossom. Get her started talking about singers, then sit back and watch her blaze.
“Just who is convincing these singers that they are worth so little?” she asks. “I have singers come to me, just a nobody artistic director of some Podunk little opera company in the middle of nowhere, and they are groveling for work. Groveling! It’s pathetic. I feel that my responsibility as director of this company is to preach respect and safety and set up a situation where the singer can be vulnerable. It’s my perception that this is not being done in the industry, and it makes me crazy.”
Setting up a safe place for singers to work is a priority for Goodmonson. She allows for a long rehearsal process, encouraging singers to discover their characters. She is fiercely protective of the artistic process.
“You are only going to do your best work if you are vulnerable. And you are only going to get vulnerable if you are in a safe place, a safe atmosphere.”
This understanding of that crazy and complex thing that singers do-namely creating life out of notes on paper-is vital to the success of Obsidian Opera Company. Local singers work for her again and again, trying out new roles, growing and shading their understanding of themselves as artists, and enjoying her desire for them to develop. Out-of-area singers rave about the kindness that Goodmonson demonstrates. She will take them into her home, befriend them, listen to them, and believe in them.
“Larger houses don’t necessarily care about artistic process. They have to care about the bottom line. I can invest time in up-and-coming talent. I want Obsidian to be a success story for the performer.” And this investment pays off, both for the singers and for the company.
When asked about the future of Obsidian Opera, Goodmonson sighs and sits back in her chair for the first time. “Well, I’d sure like to fund my position so we can hire a full-time executive director and allow me to focus on being an artistic director.” She grins and says, “There’s a lot of crap involved in running this company! But I really love it.”
Goodmonson plans on setting up an endowment in the next few years to guarantee the company’s survival. She wants to bring back the Northwest Vocal Competition and increase the number of master classes offered through Obsidian Opera. She wants to continue to improve upon each production by bringing in different singers and directors from out of the area. Mostly she wants to continue on the path that she defined for herself seven years ago: “I want to provide quality artistic vocal performances.”
Goodmonson’s passion for opera led her to form a company dedicated to the well-being of the singer. The “community” that is referred to in the mission statement of Obsidian Opera is a multi-faceted one. It is the flowing and changing group of musicians that make up the body of the company. It is the larger, more ethereal group of people in the world who love opera and singers. And it is also the population of central Oregon.
It is upon this last group that the future of Obsidian Opera Company rests. The audience members are now more savvy and more artistically aware than they were 20 years ago. They are also more critical.
Sharon Goodmonson is very clear about one thing: “This company is not about Sharon Goodmonson. It is about opera.”
She trusts that by educating her audience she is insuring the life of the company for years to come. This energetic, fervent lover of opera believes that the community with which she has shared her life ’s work will want Obsidian Opera Company to live.
