Deborah Sandler Kemper Exits Lyric Opera of Kansas City After 15 Years, Leaving $2.5M State Funding Legacy
At the conclusion of the 2024-25 season, Deborah Sandler Kemper will step down from her position as CEO and general director of the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, following the performance of Puccini's La bohème on October 21, 2023. Since taking office in July 2012, she has played a crucial role in obtaining $2.5 million in state funding for fiscal year 2025 through the Missouri Humanities Council Trust Fund. Board chair Tony Durone commended her for her creative revenue approaches and artistic vision, which included new partnerships and extended casting timelines. Honored by Musical America in 2022, Sandler intends to spend more time with her grandchildren in Maine. A search for her successor is currently in progress, with Durone highlighting her significant legacy.
Key facts
- Deborah Sandler Kemper is leaving the Lyric Opera of Kansas City at the end of the 2024-25 season, which opens Saturday with La bohème.
- She secured $2.5 million in state funding for the opera through the Missouri Humanities Council Trust Fund in fiscal year 2025 appropriations.
- The funding was obtained quietly, without headlines or press releases, and went unnoticed amid news of state arts budget cuts.
- Sandler personally spoke with Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe, who attended Roméo et Juliette in 2024 with his wife Claudia Kehoe.
- She arrived in Kansas City in July 2012 from Louisville and faced initial resistance from some longtime patrons.
- During her tenure, she commissioned three operas for young people, started an artists-in-residence program in 2016, and launched a 'date night' series.
- In 2022, Musical America named her one of the top thirty music professionals; in 2024, the company received a Grammy nomination for its recording of The Shining.
- Board chair Tony Durone said a search for her replacement is underway and credited her artistic vision and team-building for future success.
Entities
Artists
- Deborah Sandler Kemper
- R. Crosby Kemper
- Mike Kehoe
- Claudia Kehoe
- Tony Durone
- Robert Trussell
- Nancy Leazer
- Christopher Allen
- Brad Trexell
- Garnett Bruce
- Elena Kholodova
- Tracy Davis-Singh
- Melinda Henneberger
- Don Ipock
Institutions
- Lyric Opera of Kansas City
- Missouri Humanities Council Trust Fund
- Berkowitz Oliver
- The Kansas City Star
- Musical America
- Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia
- Opera Theatre of New Jersey
- Kentucky Opera
- Temple University
- New York University
- Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts
- Municipal Correctional Institution
Locations
- Kansas City
- Missouri
- United States
- Louisville
- Kentucky
- Philadelphia
- Pennsylvania
- New Jersey
- New York
- Maine