Carlisle Floyd at 100

Floyd advocated for opera and American artists by working with the National Endowment for the Arts, Opera America, and more, while helping to transform Houston Grand Opera through the creation of their famed Opera Studio. What's more, Floyd mentored many great composers and had a long legacy as a brilliant educator at the University of Houston and Florida State University. Americans experience opera from coast to coast in part because of Floyd's artistry, advocacy, and vision.

It is no coincidence, therefore, that Floyd's work has had such a presence at DMMO over the years. Longtime DMMO staff member and artistic advisor Dr. Michael Patterson remembered DMMO's founder, Robert Larsen, saying, "Robert loved Carlisle's work. He respected him so much. He had a particular fondness for Of Mice and Men, and he considered it one of the great American operas." Patterson continued, "Both Robert and Carlisle were from similar generations, and I think they spoke a similar language. There was a kinship between them." Throughout their careers, both Floyd and Larsen used their world-class artistry to educate young artists, promote American art, and produce opera in the most unlikely of places.

Beyond the mainstage, DMMO had many other connections to Floyd. Stage director Linda Ade Brand remembered seeing Carlisle Floyd and former stage director Buck Ross "shoulder-to-shoulder together coming out of a workshop of the opera Bilby's Doll at the Studio Theatre in the basement of the Blank Performing Arts Center. It must have been 1986 or so. Seeing this power-pair together, I thought, 'Oh man, something really special is going on here.'" Brand went on to assist Floyd on productions of Susannah at the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, just one of many DMMO staff members with connections to Floyd beyond the summer festival.