Outgoing director Weitz reflects on Opera Omaha tenure: 'It was a dream come true'

In 1998, Roger Weitz had an internship with Opera Omaha in his hometown.

It was the summer between his junior and senior years at Carleton College in Minnesota. And he wasn’t sure what to expect.

“I didn’t know anything about running an opera company,” he says. “It was my first insight into that world. The only job I knew of at any opera was to be an opera singer.”

That job was an eye-opener and a life-changer. After graduation, Weitz became an administrator and later general director at Chicago Opera Theater. From there, in 2011, he accepted the top job in the company that gave him his first look at what could be a long-term career.