General Director & CEO

Robert M. Heuer is the General Director of Florida Grand Opera (FGO). His opera management career began in Detroit as the Founding Managing Director of Michigan Opera. He joined Florida Grand Opera as Director of Production in 1979, became Assistant General Director in 1983 and became General Director in 1985. As General Director, Mr. Heuer led the effort to merge the Greater Miami Opera and The Opera Guild Inc. of Ft. Lauderdale, creating Florida Grand Opera in June 1994.

During Mr. Heuer’s seasons as General Director and CEO, FGO has mounted 90 main-stage productions, including 25 operas never previously seen in South Florida. Among these productions are Richard Strauss’ Salome and Ariadne auf Naxos; Britten’s The Turn of the Screw; Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea; Handel’s Julius Caesar; Janacek’s Kátya Kabanová; Marc Blitzstein’s Regina; Bellini’s La sonnambula; and the American premieres of Rossini’s Bianca e Falliero and Ede Donáth’s Szulamit, and the world premieres of Robert Ward’s Minutes till Midnight and David Carlson’s Anna Karenina.

Under Mr. Heuer’s leadership, the Company has developed one of the most important young artist programs in the country with the purpose of providing a bridge for singers from the educational to the professional arena. The Company’s Young Artist Studio is one of the most prestigious in the country, receiving over 700 applications from singers all over the world, seeking the eight coveted positions in the program.

Robert M. Heuer was at the forefront of the community effort to build The Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County in downtown Miami. In addition, Mr. Heuer spearheaded the purchase of a 43,000 square foot site immediately across the street from the Ziff Ballet Opera House, which will accommodate the James Byrd Anderson, Jr. Opera Center. The Anderson Opera Center will house the Company’s rehearsal studios, production office and studios, costume shop, artist apartments, administrative offices, and a 485-seat theater.

Mr. Heuer has served as a board member and Vice-Chairman of OPERA America. Mr. Heuer has also served both as Chairman and panel member for the Opera/Music Theatre Challenge Grant Program and Opera/Music Theatre Grants Panel of the National Endowment for the Arts, and as a member of the State of Florida Music Grants Review Panel. In 1988, the Florida Commissioner of Education appointed him to the Florida Alliance for Arts Education, which is an affiliate of the National Education Program at the Kennedy Center. In 1990, the Republic of Austria awarded him the Grand Decoration of Honor in recognition of his commitment to producing the operas of Mozart. In 2001, he was recognized with the Narot Humanitarian Award presented by Temple Israel of Greater Miami. In 2007, he was awarded the Arts Management Excellence Award by the Arts and Business Council for his outstanding achievement in the management of a local arts organization.