Kathy Magiera, 1948 - 2002: Tireless leader kept opera viable

She orchestrated a decade of balanced budgets for Seattle Opera, negotiated the company's union contracts and networked more tirelessly than a Hollywood producer at Oscar time.

Kathy Magiera, Seattle Opera's highly regarded administrative director, died yesterday morning after a long battle with cancer. She was 54.

Her death is a blow not only to Seattle Opera, but also to the regional and national arts groups who relied on her expertise.

In October, the Corporate Council for the Arts gave her its "Unsung Hero" award for "laboring valiantly but quietly" on behalf of Seattle Opera and the entire Seattle arts community.

It was Ms. Magiera's hard work at fund raising, organizing and — most of all — long-range planning that made Seattle Opera fiscally solvent at a time when many comparable companies struggled with deficits. She developed a five-year plan, redone each year, which has been called a model of its kind by several national organizations. This plan has been the working charter for Seattle Opera for the last decade.

Ms. Magiera's impact on this region's arts community was extended by her service as a King County arts commissioner; as a co-chairwoman of the Arts Task Force established by former Mayor Paul Schell; as chairwoman of State Arts Day, and many other posts. In the summer of 2001 she was Seattle Opera's representative at the Salzburg (Austria) Seminar, which addressed issues facing opera companies worldwide.

She was an impassioned advocate of Marion Oliver McCaw Hall, involved from the earliest days of planning the transformation of the former Seattle Opera House into a new and modern showcase for the region's performing arts groups.

Until two weeks before her death, Ms. Magiera worked on the McCaw Hall project, attending committee meetings on every aspect of the hall, from its artistic needs to fund-raising possibilities. Marion O. McCaw Garrison, for whom the hall is named, made a $1 million donation to the hall in honor of Ms. Magiera; the hall's stage will be named in her honor.

Famous as a "people person" and well liked by everyone from stagehands and singers to donors, Ms. Magiera made an extra effort to relate to people and put them at ease. She pushed hard for opera education and community outreach in schools and libraries.

"If you have 3,000 people over at your house, you want to make sure they have a good time," she said in a 1997 interview.

Speight Jenkins, Seattle Opera's general director, called Ms. Magiera "an amazing and wonderful person whom we will miss terribly, on every level.

"She knew the names of every usher, everyone who had anything to do with the company or with the arts."

Born in 1948 in Omaha, Neb., Ms. Magiera graduated from Butler University, majoring in dance and minoring in both music and drama. She joined the staff of San Diego Opera in the early 1970s, later becoming the company's director of administration.

She moved to Seattle 11 years ago to take up her position with Seattle Opera.

Ms. Magiera is survived by her mother, Anne; three sisters and two brothers.

A funeral Mass will take place in Omaha. In Seattle, a memorial service will take place at St. James Cathedral on Thursday at 2 p.m. Contributions in lieu of flowers should be sent to Seattle Opera, P.O. Box 9248, Seattle, WA 98109, or to Hospice of Seattle, 425 Pontius Ave., Seattle, WA 98109.