Maggey Oplinger, general director and CEo

Maggey Oplinger joined the Florentine as General Director and CEO in 2019. Under her tenure, the company presents timeless works "with a twist" within the context of the Milwaukee community, approaching opera as a powerhouse for different voices and stories. The Florentine brings opera to over 10,000 students and the city as a whole through great performance experiences, connection, community, and unsung voices at center stage. Recent stage successes include a Bronzeville Boheme set in Milwaukee's Harlem and Piazzola's Maria de Buenos Aires set in a ballroom known for its decaying grandeur.

The Florentine's Baumgartner Studio Artist program and Summer Studio Ensemble bring in talent from all over the country, and Maggey enjoys helping those performers grow their careers. She has judged the Metropolitan Laffont competition many times, and was invited to judge the inaugural Duncan-Williams competition in New York and the Cooper-Bing competition in Columbus as well. It's a wonderful opportunity to hear today's talent.

In her former role at the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Maggey served as Director of Community Partnerships and Director of Shared Experiences. She was charged with exploring how the symphony could become more present in Milwaukee, and participated in fundraising, corporate and community relationship-building, and curating 'fresh' takes on traditional performance, including Secret Symphonies and the neighborhood residency, which saw over 3,000 patrons in a week of free, neighborhood-embedded performances. She holds Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Voice Performance from McGill University, and a Graduate Diploma in Nonprofit Business Administration from Concordia University’s Molson School of Business. She also spent five years with Johnson Controls as an innovation catalyst and sales proposal team lead.