The study of the business of opera has taken on new importance in the present harsh economic climate for the arts. This book presents research that sheds new light on a range of aspects concerning marketing, audience development, promotion, arts administration and economic issues that beset professionals working in the opera world. The editors' aim has been to assemble a coherent collection of essays that engage with a single theme (business), but differ in topic and critical perspective. The collection is distinguished by its concern with the business of opera here and now in a globalized market.

Contents: Introduction, Anastasia Belina-Johnson and Derek B. Scott; Trends and innovations in opera, Nicholas Payne; Baroque opera, historical information, and business; or, how a nerd became a hipster, Christine Fischer; From state opera to multilevel opera business: the transformation of opera governance in Berlin, London and Paris at the end of the 20th century, Sarah Zalfen; The business of composing opera: a composer's perspective, Paul Alan Barker; Interdisciplinary support for opera practice in the UK, Christopher Newell; The world opera: a new global format for the business of opera, Jason E. Geistweidt and Niels W. Lund; Opera orchestral contracts considered as a research resource, George Kennaway; Behind the curtain: shaping a new Siegfried, Cordelia Chenault; A Ring for people and place: creating expectation and fulfilling demand, Jennifer Daniel; Strategic nationalism towards the imagined community: the rise and success story of Finnish opera, Liisamaija Hautsalo; Bibliography; Index.