Anthony Roth Costanzo is known around the world as an operatic voice — the leading countertenor of his generation, winner of a Grammy and prestigious vocal competitions, a star of major productions at The Met Opera and beyond. As of this summer, he also leads Opera Philadelphia, a small but storied institution facing considerable challenges.
Costanzo recently visited WRTI to talk about his decision to take the helm, which he sees as an extension of the independent curation and programming he's done over the last decade. "I realized that I could have a different kind of impact making things happen than I could as a singer," he says. "And that impact felt important: how can we help this art form move into the future? How can we change the structures around it so that more people can access it, and more people can have their lives changed by art?"
One early hallmark of his stewardship at Opera Philadelphia is a Pick Your Price initiative, which makes every seat in the 2024–2025 Season available for a minimum fee of $11. "That's an experiment that we had to take, and a risk that we had to take," Costanzo says. "But the idea that we would be inviting this city to the opera, and that you could come for $11 — I wanted our board, I wanted our patrons, to invest in that."
Elsewhere in our conversation, Costanzo touches on an emerging "anti-elitist" operatic model; issues of representation and diversity in opera programming; and how he plans to balance his commitment to the company with a busy performing career. (Can we expect to see him onstage in a future Opera Philadelphia production? You can bet on it.) And he enthuses about Missy Mazzoli and Royce Vavrek's The Listeners, which opens the fall season later this month, in a North American premiere.
Host and interviewer: Nate Chinen
Senior Producer: Alex Ariff
Camera and lighting: Jason Fifield
Assistant Director of Production: Tyler McClure
Classical Program Director: Zev Kane
Operations Manager: Joe Patti
Associate General Manager, Content and Programming: Josh Jackson General Manager: William Johnson
Production Assistant: Melanie Spiegel
Special thanks to Frank Luzi, Luzi Media
