Speight Jenkins, former Seattle Opera General Director, dies at 89

Speight Jenkins, the former Seattle Opera General Director who transformed the company into one of the most respected opera houses in the world, has died at the age of 89.

Jenkins, whose 31-year tenure at Seattle Opera spanned from 1983 to 2014, passed away Saturday, according to a news release from Seattle Opera, which credits him with transforming the organization “into one of the leading opera companies in the US.”

A “giant” of the opera world

“Seattle, Seattle Opera, and the opera world have lost a giant,” said former longtime Board Chair John Nesholm. “Speight brought Seattle Opera into the first rank of opera companies nationally and internationally. His groundbreaking productions of Wagner’s Ring attracted audiences from every state and dozens of countries. Speight’s manifold contributions to opera were extensive, influential, and brought many into McCaw Hall. In retirement, he continued teaching and inspiring others through his deep knowledge of and infectious passion for our beloved art form. He will be sorely missed.”

Seattle Opera called Jenkins an “icon” and a “passionate, precise, and persistent leader,” who was held in “the highest esteem across the opera industry.”

Building a world-class Seattle Opera

“Under Jenkins’ watch, Seattle Opera grew into one of the largest and most respected opera companies in the United States, recognized worldwide for its ambitious programming, its nurturing environment for young artists, and its vital presentations of the works of Richard Wagner, including the composer’s four-opera epic, Der Ring des Nibelungen,” the release said.

“As we mourn the loss of Seattle Opera’s former General Director, we also celebrate the extraordinary impacts he made on the world of opera and the greater arts scene in the Pacific Northwest,” said James Robinson, Seattle Opera’s current General and Artistic Director. “Speight was a force, a true impresario who launched countless careers over the years. He was exacting, demanding, and utterly committed to excellence, and he remains an inspiration to so many of us who now lead opera companies in the US.”

From music critic to opera leader

Before leading the Seattle Opera, Jenkins started his career as a music critic. He hosted the Metropolitan Opera’s “Live from the Met” television broadcasts and worked for several years for Opera News and later the New York Post.

In 1982, he came to Seattle and gave pre-show talks on Wagner’s Ring cycle.

“Jenkins’ enthusiasm for opera captivated the Board of Directors, who asked him to succeed founding General Director Glynn Ross,” the release said. “Although Jenkins had extensive experience in the music industry, he had never worked for an opera company.”

A Dallas boy “transfixed” by opera

Jenkins, a Dallas, Texas native, became “transfixed” by opera when he was six years old, according to the release.

“Jenkins recalls his mother’s explanation of the art form: ‘It’s like a play, but they sing. They have crazy stories,’ the release said. “The first time he heard Die Walküre, he was rapt. ‘I can’t explain it, but I was totally suckered in, absolutely dumbfounded,’ he said of the experience.”

Jenkins studied law at Columbia University and served in the US Army’s Judge Advocate General’s Corps. After he left the military, he began his career in music journalism in New York City.

Honors and lasting legacy

Jenkins received several awards over the course of his career, including a Mayor’s Art Award in 2009, the National Endowment for the Arts Opera Honor in 2011, the Governor’s Arts Organization Leadership Award in 2014, and honorary doctorates from Seattle University, the University of Puget Sound, and New England Conservatory of Music.

In 2000, The Seattle Times named him “one of the 150 most influential people who have shaped the character of Seattle and King County,” according to the release.

“In 2006, Opera News called him one of the 25 ‘most powerful’ names in American Opera,” the release stated.

When he retired, the city of Seattle and King County proclaimed August 9, 2014, Speight Jenkins Day, and the city named a street in his honor.

Frank Lenzi is the News Director for KIRO Newsradio. Read more of his stories here.

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