George Manahan Is Stepping Down as Portland Opera’s Music Director

Next May, there will be an opera party in Manahan’s honor.

George Manahan (Courtesy of Portland Opera)

By Suzette Smith

Portland Opera announced today that their music director George Manahan is stepping away from the position he’s held with them since 2012.

“We are so grateful to be shaped and inspired by Maestro Manahan’s deep love of opera, and Portland Opera,” the organizations’s general director Sue Dixon said in a press release.

Along with the announcement of Manahan’s departure, Portland Opera informed audiences of a concert in his honor, which will be called George and Friends and held in May of 2022. Tickets for that concert go on sale in November.

“Maestro Manahan will remain a close advisor and beloved colleague for the company as the baton is passed, and the search begins for Portland Opera’s next Music Director,” the release further reads.

Describing his time with Portland Opera, Manahan was similarly ebullient: “Working with this amazing chorus and wonderful orchestra has been a constant joy,” Manahan writes. “I want to express my deepest gratitude to Christopher Mattaliano for inviting me to guest conduct in Portland and later appointing me Music Director.”

Throughout his nine seasons with Portland Opera, Manahan conducted over 20 productions, including the fully digital An Evening with Portland Opera during the winter of 2020—which he conducted remotely, from his home in New York.

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