The Industry Introduces Sarah Wass, Our Interim Executive Director

I’m thrilled to share that I have accepted the position of Interim Executive Director for The Industry! Our outgoing Artistic and Executive Director, Tim Griffin, leaves us with a strong administrative and financial foundation, not to mention a remarkable legacy of artistic innovation and community building, and I couldn’t be more excited to be here at this particular moment.

While this is a new role for me, I am certainly not new to The Industry. In fact, my history with the organization dates back to its very origins. If you attended Crescent City, that was me in the orchestra loft, playing various flutes and, at times, pretending to be a shakuhachi while navigating Anne LeBaron’s richly nuanced and colorful composition. If you came to Invisible Cities, that was me on flute in your headphones as you wandered through Union Station, accompanied by the haunting and melancholy strains of Chris Cerrone’s score. And if you traveled the Green Route as part of Hopscotch, you saw me in Chinatown Plaza performing a mystical scene composed by my dear friend Veronika Krausas that never failed to create a wash of wonder on the faces of passersby who had suddenly found themselves in the middle of an opera.

The Industry’s mission—to experiment boldly while creating inclusivity and access to the arts—strongly resonates with my own background as both a performer and advocate of new music and a music educator who has worked with historically underserved communities throughout Los Angeles. We are working with innovative artists on a dynamic slate of programming that we can’t wait to share with you in the coming months. And our more frequent gatherings that allow for experimenting around opera at an intimate scale will continue in 2027 in different locations around Los Angeles, featuring members of our stellar company of artists.

As I step into this role, I’m especially excited to reconnect with the many people who have helped make The Industry what it is today, and to welcome those who may be discovering us for the first time. I hope you’ll join us for what comes next: experience one of our upcoming projects, bring a friend, and continue to imagine with us what opera can be.

Thank you for being part of The Industry’s community. I look forward to seeing you, hearing from you, and sharing this next chapter together.

Warmly,
Sarah Wass
Interim Executive Director