Minn. Opera names new president

The Minnesota Opera has named Allan Naplan its new president. Naplan, currently the general director of the Madison Opera in Madison, Wis., will replace outgoing president Kevin Smith, who guided the Minnesota Opera for 30 years.

Naplan says opera today has a great potential to thrive because of growing opportunities in new media and other areas to connect with audiences.

"And Minnesota Opera has already embraced social networking and technology, certainly with HD, and other initiatives that are coming up, and most notably through the 'New Works' intiative," said Naplan. "They are proving that opera is not a dying art form or a museum art form, but it's a growing living art form."

Naplan says he wants to engage the Minnesota Opera in new collaborative projects and reach out to non-opera audiences. He'll assume his duties on March 1, 2011.