Allan Naplan has resigned as president and general director of the Minnesota Opera. The organization said that Naplan, who has been on the job for one year, left for personal reasons.
Kevin Ramach, production director for the past six years, has been appointed interim managing director. The status of artistic director Dale Johnson and incoming music director Michael Christie are unaffected by Naplan's decision.
Naplan's departure is curious, coming only 12 months after he arrived following an extensive search to replace longtime president Kevin Smith. Board chair Sidney Emery Jr. would only say that Naplan's decision was "personal and I have to respect his decision to move on."
Emery said the board will assess what the needs of the organization are for the next five to ten years before establishing a search committee.
"We're in no hurry," he said. "We're very comfortable with the state of the company."
During Naplan's brief tenure, Minnesota Opera staged the world premiere of "Silent Night" by Kevin Puts and commissioned another new work, "Doubt," which was recently workshopped and is slated for production next year. Christie's hiring marked something of a milestone — the first music director in nearly decades — and the Opera's first webcast, of "Werther" in February reached 77,000 viewers.
Naplan came from the Madison Opera, where he was general director for six seasons. He previously had held key artistic positions at Pittsburgh Opera and Houston Grand Opera.
