Original Member of Livermore (CA) Opera Still Loves the Art of the Song

A decade and a half ago, Alan Frank saw a need and helped fill it. "I was heavily involved in singing with various companies in the Livermore area and there had been a couple of attempts here in the Valley to establish a company, and previous attempts had failed," he says. "The previous attempts had failed because the people doing it had no concept of the business realities of running a company, of what it took. They didn't understand finance at all."

That's where Frank stepped in. His artistic experience in the Valley had given him contacts in the community as well as the understanding that a local opera was indeed viable. "I had been singing in various companies in the Bay Area, and these other companies ... had demonstrated that there is sufficient audience support as well as potential audience support for a local company," he says. "I had had a lot of contact in the area, and had also played in the symphony. I knew many of those musicians, and I was able to use my contacts to bring in the kind of people we needed to get this started, and we were able to successfully get this started."

And so it happened that Frank became one of the founders of the Livermore Valley Opera, which began as an all-volunteer organization with the exception of the performers, who he says were paid "a little bit, not nearly what they were worth."
Now, after 14 years of service, Frank has chosen to become a member of the audience rather than one of the company's driving forces. He stepped down from his post on the Livermore Valley Opera board in late 2004.

He cites disagreement with the board's membership as a reason for his resignation, particularly insofar as financial management of the opera is concerned. "I think the biggest problem right now is that many of the newer members of the board don't understand that the higher and higher quality that they're pushing for means pushing expenses up, and they're doing so at a rate more rapid than income can support or justify," he says. "I think I got burned out."

But Frank believes that the opera's consistent goal of heightened quality can be beneficial. "As the company has grown, it has become more and more professional, and as the audience has grown and the cash flow has grown, the company has been able to work on a more professional level," he says, adding that the opera will need to balance its desire for professionalism with the limited budget of a community production.

And he still says he's interested in the Livermore Valley Opera - but these days that interest exists more from a front-row perspective than a desire to be behind the scenes. That said, Frank feels he's gained a greater understanding of his art through his opera involvement. "One of the major issues with the company, the initial concept of the company, was to promote community involvement in the production, and I personally feel that you get the most out of an opera if you're a part of it, not just seeing it," he says. "Opera is so complex. If you really want to learn an opera, the best way is to be a part of it."

Frank says that during his time with the opera, he was part of community-building, not only in terms of gaining the company an audience, but in fostering a basis of volunteer support and organizational manpower. "I knew (when we began this) that it would take a dedicated team of people to do this," he says.