National Endowment for the Arts Statement on the Death of NEA Opera Honors Recipient Speight Jenkins

Washington, DC- It is with great sadness that the National Endowment for the Arts acknowledges the passing of 2011 NEA Opera Honoree Speight Jenkins, who also served on the National Council on the Arts from 1996-2000. Jenkins was recognized nationally as a leading authority on opera and one of the most influential and accomplished general directors in the United States.

Jenkins began his career as an editor for Opera News (1967-73), a music critic for the New York Post (1973-81), and then as host for the Live From the Met broadcasts on public television (1981-1983). He was appointed general director of the Seattle Opera in 1983 and, with productions of Wagner's Ring cycle in 1986, 1987, and 1991, and ventures such as Prokofiev's War and Peace and Poulenc's Dialogues des Carmélites in 1990, he injected new life into the company's artistic standing and financial fortunes. Jenkins' knowledge of opera was reflected in the Seattle Opera's many innovative productions, substantial publications, and comprehensive education programs and services. In 2014, after 31 years with the opera, he retired. Following his retirement, the city of Seattle and King County named a street in his honor and recognized August 9th as Speight Jenkins Day.

In a video interview with the National Endowment for the Arts, Jenkins said to those looking to follow in his footsteps: "The advice I would give to a young general director is to know as much about opera as possible, to listen to as many singers as you can, to go to as much opera as possible, to just live within our world. That's what matters."