The Cincinnati Opera has announced that a major transition is set to come in 2020.

The company revealed that Patricia K. Beggs, The Harry Fath General Director and CEO, will retire at the close of the company’s 100^th anniversary season after 35 years with the company. As a result, a national search for a new general director will begin.

Beggs, who began with the company in 1984, was a crucial part in helping Cincinnati Opera’s turnaround in attendance in the late 1980s and 1990s, becoming a leading industry standard for new approaches in audience development.

During her time as the general director, the company moved to the Corbett Opera Center. Moreover, she ensured the founding of Opera Fusion, the first official program between an opera company and a conservatory which saw the Cincinnati Opera and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music join in collaboration.

“I’ve had a dream job for almost half of my life,” Beggs said in a press release. “To go to work at one of the most iconic buildings in the country, to be inspired daily by the glorious music being created in Music Hall, to learn from the best and brightest people who make up the Opera’s staff, Board, Guild, and volunteers, as well as my arts colleagues, and finally to sit in glorious Springer Auditorium on Cincinnati Opera’s opening night, and know that I played a small role in making the magic happen. The best job ever!”

Beggs also helped the company launch the Opera Campus initiative, expanding the company’s reach beyond Music Hall and into additional venues in Over-the-Rhine, including Washington Park and the Corbett Theater at The School for Creative and Performing Arts.

In addition to her work with the Cincinnati Opera, Beggs was also treasurer on the national board of OPERA America. She received numerous awards throughout her storied career

Along with the new of Beggs’ retirement the Cincinnati Opera announced that Evans Mirageas, The Harry T. Wilks Artistic Director of the company since 2005, renewed his contract through the 2022 season and longtime Opera board member Liz Kathman Grubow, Vice President and Managing Creative Director at worldwide brand and innovation consultancy LPK, has been voted President-Elect of the Opera Board of Trustees.