Vilcek Foundation

Richard Gaddes

Director, The Vilcek Foundation

As a student at Trinity College of Music in London, British-born Richard Gaddes inaugurated a series of lunchtime concerts at Wigmore Hall, to give performing opportunities to young musicians. It was a portent of things to come. While still in England, he met John Crosby, Founder and Director of The Santa Fe Opera; and in 1969, he moved to the American Southwest to join the burgeoning company as artistic administrator. In 1976, he moved to St. Louis, Missouri, to found another company, the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis. He was General Director there for almost a decade, before accepting the role as chief executive of St. Louis’s Grand Center. During his years in St. Louis, Mr. Gaddes maintained close ties to The Santa Fe Opera, serving as consultant to the company throughout the eighties.

In 1994, he returned to Santa Fe, and four years later was named to succeed John Crosby. During his tenure as General Director, from 2000 to 2008, Mr. Gaddes brought to The Santa Fe Opera the most important singers, conductors, directors, and designers, from the United States and abroad, and reinforced the company’s long-standing commitment to present new and rarely performed works.  He also greatly expanded the company’s outreach and presence throughout the state, via a series of fall community productions and, more recently, simulcast performances.

Mr. Gaddes has served as Vice President of Opera America, and on panels of the National Endowment for the Arts; he is currently on the Board of Directors of the Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts, the Britten-Pears Foundation and on the Advisory Board of the Royal Oak Foundation, the American arm of England’s National Trust.  He is also a frequent judge at national and international voice competitions, including the Metropolitan Opera National Council auditions. He has been honored by the Mayor of Santa Fe for his contribution to the arts, and was named one of the “Top 10 Power People in the Arts” in 2005 by New Mexico Business Weekly.  In 2006, Governor of New Mexico Bill Richardson presented him with the Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts, in honor of The Santa Fe Opera Company’s fiftieth anniversary. And in November 2008, Mr. Gaddes-together with soprano Leontyne Price, composer Carlisle Floyd, and conductor James Levine-became one of the first recipients of the National Endowment for the Arts Opera Honors award.