Charles MacKay became Santa Fe Opera's third general director on Oct. 1, 2008. Looked at one way, that means he'll have been on the job just 276 days when the 2009 season opens on Friday, July 3. On the other hand, there's an excellent case to be made that MacKay has been preparing for this position, sometimes on the job, for quite a bit longer. Try 40-some years.

The Albuquerque native — raised in Santa Fe and a Santa Fe High School graduate — was an SFO parking lot volunteer at 15. Under company founder John Crosby, the French horn-playing MacKay joined the orchestra at 17 and also held the down-and-dirty job of pit boy. He kept the orchestra pit clean and tidy, made sure the right music was on the right stands for rehearsals and performances, and helped with scheduling and logistics.

But fate and his own energy had more in store for MacKay than pushing a broom and tooting a horn, pleasant as those occupations were to a stage-struck lad. He moved up the SFO ladder by helping out in the accounting office and then moving over to the box office; he eventually became business manager at 28.

After a stint in that job, MacKay moved on to the Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston, South Carolina, for six years. He then became head of Opera Theatre of St. Louis, a position he held for 23 years. There was a local connection there, too. At St. Louis and SFO, MacKay succeeded Richard Gaddes, who came to work for Crosby in 1969 as artistic administrator and founded the St. Louis troupe in 1976.

"I'm feeling surprisingly serene at this moment, but I know that will change at various points as we get closer to the opening," MacKay said in a recent interview. "Basically,
I feel this incredible sense of wonderment that I'm really here, doing this job, and surrounded by such an incredible array of talent and such an incredible support system, in terms of the professional staff and the board. There is enthusiasm and loyalty and dedication. It's really remarkable. It buoys me up."

He added, "The other day, walking through the theater, I had one of those vivid moments of realization and awareness, thinking, Gosh, I'm the general director of the Santa Fe Opera. And it feels good!"

Seated in the cozy, rather low-ceilinged general director's office, MacKay did seem at ease despite his daunting duties. Mementos and books filled the shelves. DVDs and CDs were stacked here and there. A blooming orchid plant gave the lie to the dry New Mexico heat outside. A notepad and schedule page covered with neat handwriting stood next to a glass of water.

"I took over at a very interesting time," MacKay said, referring to the economic meltdown and the international stock market plunge of last year, which put many arts groups in jeopardy. Locally, it cut SFO off from drawing operating money from its endowment for some time and necessitated severe budget cuts and intensive new cost controls.

When we spoke a few weeks ago, ticket income was still 6 percent behind the same date in 2008; contributions were behind "a bit more"; and all capital projects had been put on hold since the fall. In addition, $5 million remains to be raised on a $30 million campaign that began in 2005, during SFO's 50th season.

Not all was gloomy. Ticket sales and gift projections are looking good — good enough that MacKay was carefully hopeful. "I think we are in good shape now and going forward," he said. "Sometimes I waver between cautiously optimistic and days when I might be guardedly pessimistic. But the needle is in the cautiously optimistic zone most of the time."

One reason for that positive position is that SFO hasn't spent time wringing its collective hands: it has put various ticket-marketing plans in place. A campaign, aimed at first-time New Mexico buyers, offered special discounts on tickets for four of the season's operas: Donizetti's The Elixir of Love, Paul Moravec's The Letter, Gluck's Alceste, and Mozart's Don Giovanni. (Verdi's La traviata was expected to sell out on its own.)

"When Richard [Gaddes] did a similar campaign for first-time New Mexico opera-goers [in 2001], we sold something like 7,000 tickets," MacKay said. "This probably won't sell as many, but we think it will do well.

"I think it's great for the opera field when people who are sort of unsuspecting opera lovers discover the art form. It sends a message that opera is accessible. It's dealing with larger-than-life emotion and beautiful music. It's such a gorgeous setting, the total experience is so powerful, that it can really have a magnificent effect.

"I was up at the box office ... and the box-office manager told me that a man had been buying tickets and said, 'I'm getting tickets for the opera, and my wife thinks I'm so cultured and sophisticated.'"

Once you get such first-time buyers in, how do you turn them into repeat customers? MacKay believes the easiest and only way is to insist on quality from top to bottom, from artistic matters to things as basic as keeping the theater, grounds, and restrooms spotless and welcoming. And yes, that includes the orchestra pit.

Looking past 2009, MacKay said, "I want to maintain the high artistic standards for which the opera is world famous. That means long rehearsal periods; that means recruiting the finest artists that we possibly can."

In terms of directorial and production concepts, he is open-minded as well. "I think that opera is a big enough art form to accommodate every style and approach in terms of production and performance. We have a unique situation in terms of our theater, which to a great extent defines our particular Santa Fe Opera brand."

As well as singers, directors, designers, and the administrative and backstage teams, MacKay is interested in the people on the podium. After all, conductors are the flywheel of the operatic engine. "I have been very interested in focusing attention on the conductors' roster. I'm very pleased about next year's list," he said.

He also looks forward to having former chief conductor Edo de Waart here this summer as an advisor, and not only for his experience with the orchestra players and skills honed around the world. MacKay played under de Waart when the conductor made his company debut in 1971, leading Wagner's The Flying Dutchman.

MacKay's incredibly full calendar includes many lunch talks and speeches to civic, cultural, and political groups as well as cultivation dinners. He enjoys such occasions not only because he gets to spread the SFO word, he said, but because he's reconnecting with old friends. "It's fun to open with the line, 'Is there anyone in the room with whom I went to high school?' You'd be surprised how often I come across them. Rediscovering those associations has been thrilling. I've even gotten as far back as kindergarten.

"When I first came to work for the Santa Fe Opera in the summer of 1968, I was just intoxicated with the music, the very powerful, palpable energy of everyone joining together in this creative experience," MacKay said. "It's so thrilling to look at so many young people working in the company, and I can only hope they are experiencing some of what I experienced when I was just beginning my career."

This summer's season has brought things full circle for MacKay in many ways. When he first played in the orchestra in 1968, that season's repertoire included The Elixir of Love. The set was littered with huge bales of hay — after all, the opera takes place in the bucolic Italian countryside — and that meant a lot of chaff and straw fell into the pit during each show.

"I think this will be a great Elixir this season," MacKay said. "After having had to sweep the pit every night back then, I made sure there is no straw in this production!"