Kansas City's Lyric Opera Changes Leadership

Changes are happening at Kansas City’s Lyric Opera. Its general director, Evan Luskin, is retiring next month after 26 years with the company. 

During Luskin's tenure, the Lyric launched a capital campaign for a new Opera Center, including set and costume production, rehearsal space, and administration; the annual budget nearly quadrupled; and opera is now performed in its original languages.  He oversaw the company's transition to the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts.

Thursday on Up to Date, Steve Kraske talks with Luskin about his long career and changes he’s made at the institution, and we sit down with the woman stepping up to fill his shoes this summer: Kentucky Opera’s Deborah Sandler.

We'll take a look at how opera has grown here at home and ask the question: how does this classical art form stay alive and relevant in the modern age?