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Despite the fickle economic climate and the complex vagaries of presenting professional opera, Doig is bullish about the coming year -- but his optimism contains more than a dash of pragmatism.  "We achieved much more than we anticipated last year. We kicked a number of goals -- most importantly the company's important artistic start with Carmen. The gala dinner in the Town Hall proved that there is an audience for this sort of event. The concert with Teddy Tahu Rhodes, Suzanne Prain, Simon and Dorothee Jansen was wonderful -- but everything ultimately came down to Carmen and selling tickets," Doig says.  "No-one was in place for the cast in February 2007, but we pulled it off in six months. The lead singers were great. The chorus, despite early anxieties about finding one, came together. We used local singers wherever we could without compromising the value of the production.  "Most importantly, Carmen was virtually a sell-out season with more than 7000 seats being sold. Reviewers might equivocate, but we attracted a wider audience, many of whom had never been to opera before, and some of who told me that they will come back to see another.
"It was a good first step for Southern Opera. We started with nothing and, on the final analysis, we've come out ahead of our budget."

The way ahead now lay with building on the audience numbers and the company profile. The marketing surrounding Carmen had dispensed with cliched opera imagery and was deliberately designed to attract a younger audience.  "There is an established audience which doesn't need to be persuaded to go to opera productions. Last year we saw a different audience for Carmen."

Southern Opera's plans for 2008 include a smaller-scale touring production, a major production later in the year and the establishment of a Southern Opera Ensemble.  The 16-singer ensemble, officially launched this week, will present its first concert in May, with a programme of opera choruses, solos, duets and ensembles. It will then perform throughout the South Island, especially in the smaller centres, reinforcing Doig's view that a market exists for quality performance work in a small-theatre context.  "I fervently believe that the strength of an opera company resides in the capabilities of the chorus and the orchestra. We need to invest in this while providing the best possible training and performance opportunities for our young singers.
"We intend to present three programmes during the year in three different locations. We'll also market the ensemble for corporate entertainments."
Australian vocal coach and former head of voice coaching at the Australian Opera, Sharolyn Kimmorley, will also work with local singers, individually and collectively, during a series of workshops.

Southern Opera's 2008 touring production, Time Pieces, will place Maurice Ravel's operatic farce, L'Heure Espagnol (The Spanish Hour), sung in English by a cast which includes Helen Medlyn and Jared Holt alongside Ticked Off, a humorous musical excursion back-stage at the opera -- an opera within an opera.  Directed by Linda Kitchen, Time Pieces will be performed in Nelson, Christchurch, Dunedin, Queenstown and Invercargill during March and April.  "Touring this production is a gutsy move. If you are a taxpayer living in Dunedin or Nelson, you have as much right to see the arts as possible. We're funded modestly by central government, so we're looking at the widest constituency we can service. That's why we're called Southern Opera. It may be centred on Christchurch but we intend to spread out," says Doig.

Southern Opera's major 2008 production will be another operatic blockbuster - Verdi's Il Trovatore starring the Russian-born mezzo-soprano, Elena Bocharova, and American tenor Carlo Scibelli. Following its Christchurch season (September 30 to October 9), the production will travel south for a one-night performance at the Otago Festival of the Arts on October 11.  "While our original scheduling saw Richard Strauss's Salome as the major production for 2008, we realised that this was not the most prudent choice. With its predominately male cast and phenomenally difficult principal roles, this opera would not have utilised the wealth of talent, especially with female singers, in Canterbury," Doig says.

Meanwhile, the company is planning a 2009 season, which includes a touring production of Puccini's one-act opera Gianni Schicchi and Mozart's Die Zauberflote (The Magic Flute).

Southern Opera's 2008 season will be launched during a function in Christchurch on Friday.