Patricia K. Beggs

General Director/CEO

­Patricia K. “Patty” Beggs joined Cincinnati Opera in late 1984 as Director of Marketing following a successful corporate career. Her creative marketing campaigns helped effect the Opera’s remarkable turnaround in attendance in the late 80s and 90s, becoming a leading industry standard for new approaches in audience development. She was promoted to assistant managing director (a newly created position) in 1991 and her track record of success made her the ideal candidate to take over the management of the company in 1997, with the title of Managing Director. In November 2004, upon the company’s adoption of a revised organizational structure, she was named General Director and CEO.

Reporting to the President of the Opera Association and the Board of Trustees, Patty manages a full time professional staff of 26, and provides staff leadership to a Board of 98, an Executive Committee of 25, and 16 permanent committees. During the months when the company is producing main stage operas, the employee ranks swell to over 300 artists, musicians, and production staff. Fiscal responsibility has been the hallmark of Patty’s administration and she has effectively continued the Opera’s longstanding tradition of ending each year with a balanced budget – 21 consecutive years with the close of the 2010 season. Patty administers the company’s annual operating budget of $7.0 million (FY10) and an endowment of $14 million. When she became Managing Director, the company’s budget was approximately $2.6 million. Under her strategic leadership in partnership with her artistic counterpart, Nicholas Muni, the company doubled the size of the operating budget, added performances, and dramatically increased the quality of its artistic product. She appointed Evans Mirageas as Artistic Director in September 2005, and Cincinnati Opera has since enjoyed unprecedented critical and audience success, and presented a 90th Anniversary Season in 2010 that has been by recognized both nationally and overseas.

Patty also led the company’s combined capital/endowment Festival Campaign to fund the Opera’s long-range plans. Announced on opening night of the 2004 Summer Festival, the Festival Campaign exceeded its $12 million goal. One of the pillars of the Festival Campaign was the renovation of the north wing of Music Hall to create the Corbett Opera Center (completed in October 2005). Patty was instrumental in the conception, planning, and development of this project, which transformed an underutilized area of Music Hall.

She serves as a member of the Music Hall Revitalization Project board, which will oversee the restoration, preservation and revitalization of historic Music Hall, the jewel in the Queen City’s crown.  This vitally important initiative will ensure the future of Music Hall as a cultural and economic anchor in Cincinnati’s historic Over-the-Rhine neighborhood, as well as the continued success of its resident arts groups the Cincinnati Symphony, Cincinnati Opera, May Festival and Cincinnati Ballet. The objectives for the project are to position Music Hall as a world-class venue that delivers a higher standard of patron amenities and services, supports the artistic excellence of its tenants and serves a community gathering place.

Patty is also a member of the Washington Park Steering Committee, which played an advisory role in the planning and design of the renovation of the historic Over-the-Rhine park. Construction has begun on the project, with a projected completion date of autumn 2011.

Patty also has served on the board of OPERA America, the national service organization for the opera industry, where she was Treasurer for four years, and she was a member of Leadership Cincinnati’s Class XVII. Recognized frequently as a distinguished leader, she was named a Woman of Over-the-Rhine Story of Success in 2007, a 2006 YWCA Career Woman of Achievement, a Woman of the Year by The Cincinnati Enquirer in 1999, and a Woman of Distinction by the Great Rivers Girl Scouts in 1992.

On the occasion of her 25th Anniversary with Cincinnati Opera in 2010, she was awarded the national service award, BRAVO, by Opera America, and she was presented with the Mayor’s prestigious Key to the City of Cincinnati.

Community service and collaboration is fundamental to Patty’s successful leadership strategy.  In 2008, Patty and the Cincinnati Opera were honored by the NAACP for their extraordinary efforts in building connections to the African American community. She is currently on the board of The Society for the Preservation of Music Hall and the Greater Cincinnati Arts and Education Center. She has served on numerous local boards including the Over-the-Rhine Chamber of Commerce, Downtown Cincinnati Inc., the Great Rivers Girl Scout Council, the Cincinnati Speech & Hearing Association, Enjoy the Arts/START, Downtown Council, the Greater Cincinnati Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Arts Services Committee of the Fine Arts Fund, and many others. She is also a proud member of the Cincinnati MacDowell Society.