Barre Opera House executive director Kurt Thoma has issued his resignation after less than a year on the job, the opera house announced on Tuesday.

Thoma, 48, told Seven Days he is leaving the opera house on March 21 to support his 21-year-old stepdaughter, a senior at Georgia State University in Atlanta, as she deals with ongoing health issues. Thoma’s spouse, Rae Fraumann, is pastor at Hedding United Methodist Church in Barre. Both jobs require a heavy commitment, Thoma said, “so it's not like one of us could easily be available if stuff came up.”

In its statement, the opera house expressed thanks to Thoma: "We appreciate his enthusiasm, contributions, and dedication to the Opera House during his tenure as Executive Director."



Speaking from Atlanta on Tuesday, Thoma said, “I am very grateful they've given me the time and flexibility to come down here and mostly just be available on the phone through March 21."

Thoma started as executive director in May 2023, replacing  longtime director Dan Casey, who left the post after 18 years to run Central Vermont Solid Waste Management District, the Barre-Montpelier Times Argus reported at the time.

Hiring Thoma "was a pretty clear-cut decision for the board,” then-chair Bill Koch told the Times Argus. Thoma's skills selecting programming and building relationships with the community and the board set him "head and shoulders above everyone else in terms of what we needed,” Koch told the newspaper.

In addition, Koch said, Thoma had been helping Casey with technical management and lighting design during the year before he was hired.

After taking the helm, Thoma quickly established himself as a valuable partner to other arts organizations. When catastrophic flooding submerged much of downtown Montpelier and Barre last July, the opera house, located on the second and third floors of Barre City Hall, was spared significant damage.

Lost Nation Theater, days away from starting its run of The Addams Family, was not so fortunate. The company's home stage is inside Montpelier City Hall, which sustained extensive damage. Lost Nation lighting designer Samuel Biondolillo called Thoma.

"Before he could even get the question out, I said, 'Sam, the answer is yes. Please use our theater,'" Thoma told Seven Days last fall. The opera house charged Lost Nation just enough to cover operating costs, Thoma said, allowing 1,000 people to see two performances of the musical.

Capital City Concerts, whose usual stage also was flooded, performed in the opera house in September.

Speaking on Tuesday, Thoma expressed pride in the variety the opera house has offered in its 2023-24 season. The schedule was partially set when he took over, he said, “but then I was able to flesh out the season to create a bit more diversity of shows, which brought in folks … who had never set foot in the opera house.”

Audience members, who come from throughout Vermont, New Hampshire and New York, “were absolutely wonderful and amazing,” Thoma said, “and I'm incredibly grateful for having had this opportunity to get to know the community of folks at the opera house.”

Prior to joining the opera house, Thoma was director of Chandler Center for the Arts in Randolph for less than a year. He left around 2015 for "personal reasons," Seven Days reported in a November 2015 article announcing his then-successor, Katie Trautz.

After leaving Chandler, Thoma pivoted to elementary education, working from 2016 to 2022 as an administrative assistant, substitute teacher and para-educator at Burlington's Integrated Arts Academy.



Barre Opera House is preparing to search for Thoma's replacement, its announcement said. The venue has a long, rich history: Fire destroyed the original opera house/city hall when it was 12 years old, in 1898, according to the opera house. The current building, erected on the same site, opened on August 23, 1899.

The opera house has hosted Helen Keller and her teacher, Anne Sullivan; socialist Eugene Debs; entertainer-composer-lyricist-producer George M. Cohan and his family; anarchist and feminist Emma Goldman; and John Philip Sousa and his band. William Howard Taft used the outer balcony as a soapbox when he was president in 1912.

Primarily a movie theater in the '30s and '40s, the opera house occasionally staged variety shows and boxing and wrestling matches before closing in 1944.  It reopened in 1982 and now  hosts between 70 and 100 events annually.

Upcoming shows include the U.S. Air Force Heritage of American Band Langley Winds on March 15; BON/FIRE Vermont, a tribute to AC/DC, on March 16; the Vermont Philharmonic orchestra on March 17; comedian Paula Poundstone on April 5; and "Britain's Finest: The Complete Beatles Experience" on April 12.

This post has been updated.