WNO President Michael Sonnenreich in the Kennedy Center's Hall of Nations

When Michael Sonnenreich was six years old, most New York City boys would have given anything to hang out in the dugout at Yankee Stadium. This kid, however, stood in the wings at the Metropolitan Opera, enthralled by the beautiful voice of Met star Richard Tucker. Thus began a lifelong love affair with opera. Today, the Harvard Law graduate-turned-entrepreneur (he's a pharmaceutical executive by day) is the unpaid president of the Washington National Opera (WNO).

"When I first got involved with the Washington Opera twenty years ago, it was a nice little regional opera company," says Sonnenreich, now 66. "Today it can hold its own with the opera companies of San Francisco, Chicago and many other major cities. Is it as good as the Met? No, but it is still very good. The comparison I like to make is that the Metropolitan Opera is to the Washington Opera as the Metropolitan Museum of Art is to the National Gallery of Art. There is no world-class city that doesn't have a world-class opera, and now we have one."

Credit for what Sonnenreich calls "this marvelous work-in-progress" goes first to him and his 67 fellow trustees. But such progress would not have happened with such impressive speed had it not been for the addition, in 1996, of artistic director Plácido Domingo, a mega-star in the operatic firmament who continues to sing with the company at least once each season. Another of Sonnenreich's coups: getting Supreme Court Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer and Anthony Kennedy to play bit parts in the opening-night performance of Strauss' comedic opera Die Fledermaus last year.

Of course, Sonnenreich expects to face new challenges as president, including the search for new directors "so that the institution can perpetuate itself." Instead of simply looking for fresh talent, the trustees decided to cultivate it through the opera's Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program, which invites twenty-something opera singers, coach-accompanists, directors and conductors to learn and perform each summer.

"There is no world-class city that doesn't have a world-class opera, and now we have one." —Michael Sonnenreich

On a similar note, the company is working to attract younger opera-goers with Generation O, a program that offers 18- to 35-year-olds an operatic newsletter, invitations to special events and CDs previewing upcoming performances. This season, that includes a few old favorites (think Verdi's Il Trovatore and Puccini's Tosca) but also some new blood, including the Washington premiere of Andrea Chénier (September 2004) and the world premiere of Democracy: An American Comedy (January 2005), based on Henry Adams' quintessential Washington novels.

Sonnenreich, a self-described Type A personality with enough frequent flyer miles to buy his own small airplane, plays as hard as he works. He runs daily, plays golf as a member of two area clubs, and only recently gave up skiing by helicopter. He also collects Japanese art, plays the guitar, and was the first American member of La Tuna, a famed Spanish choral group that dresses up in traditional costumes every Friday night and serenades people until dawn.

Despite all these personal and professional accomplishments, this Renaissance man won't likely rest on his laurels. Actually, he wouldn't dare, because several floors above his WNO office his 96-year-old mother, Fay Trubow, manages his business affairs. "She," says Sonnenreich with a wide smile, "is the real power behind the throne." Sounds like an idea for an opera.