Caldwell, Sarah

Caldwell, Sarah,

1924–2006, American opera director and conductor, b. Maryville, Mo. In 1957 she founded the Boston Opera Group, later renamed the Opera Company of Boston, and headed it until its demise in 1990. Under her direction, the company became noted for its innovative productions of a wide range of operas such as Moussorgsky's Boris Godunov and Schoenberg's Moses und Aron and it consistently featured many of the world's finest singers. In 1976 she became the first woman to conduct the Metropolitan Opera.

Caldwell, Sarah

(1924–  ) opera director, conductor; born in Maryville, Mo. After violin studies, she became an assistant to Boris Goldovsky and then, while affiliated with Boston University, formed her own opera company in Boston in 1958. Overseeing every detail of the productions, staging, and music, she was notorious for averting last-minute deadlines and financial crises, but she made her opera company one of the most distinguished and innovative in the U.S.A., especially noted for its productions of modern works such as Schoenberg's Moses and Aaron. In the 1970s she began to appear as guest conductor of major orchestras.