Los Angeles Opera Company

“Voting members of the governing body the executive committee is empowered to exercise all the duties of the board between meetings of the board and when the board is not in session, except those matters precluded under section 5212 of the california nonprofit corporation law.”

“Payments for music director services provided by james conlon were made to the amadeus music production corp (a company unrelated to la opera). James conlon received $732,783 in compensation for his services.”

“The final draft of the form 990 is reviewed by the chief financial officer and president of the la opera, and edited if required. Prior to presentation to the audit committee, the chair of the board reviews the draft and proposes edits, if required. It is the practice of the la opera to circulate the public inspection copy, without schedule b (confidential donor list), to the audit committee for discussion, review and approval prior to filing. Further, the public inspection copy without schedule b is made available to the full board subsequent to filing by electronic or other means.”

“Monitoring and enforcing compliance with conflict of interest the organization has written conflict of interest policies adopted by the board. Any proposed transaction where there is, or may be, a conflict of interest with a board member is discussed and may be subject to approval by the board. Annually, a personalized letter to each board member, signed by the chairman of the board, is circulated specifically requesting review of the policy, which is attached to the letter along with a questionnaire. A response to a questionnaire is requested to be sent to the chief financial officer. Any potential conflict is discussed with the chairman of the board and the president. The chairman or the president decide if a potential conflict exists and if it should be submitted to the board of directors. In addition, human resources distributes the company conflict of interest policy and a questionnaire to all employees at the director level and above on an annual basis. Employees are asked a series of questions and required to disclose any potential conflict of interest, sign and certify the form, and return it to human resources. The vp of human resources, ceo and cfo discuss any potential conflicts and determine if any action is required.”

“Process for determining compensation the compensation committee of the board meets to review and approve the compensation, or change in compensation, of the following positions: - president and chief executive officer - music director - chief financial officer - vice presidents the compensation committee is composed of board members independent with regard to the compensation arrangement. In its efforts to compensate employees fairly for their services, the committee utilizes the following in determining appropriate levels of compensation: - compensation surveys or benchmarking studies of comparable organizations - industry group surveys (opera america) - form 990 of comparable organizations compensation agreements are approved by the committee and the board of directors. Documentation includes the terms of the agreements and the date approved , members present during the meeting and those who voted, the data relied upon and how it was obtained, and any actions taken with respect to consideration of the transaction by anyone who is otherwise a member of the authorized body but who had a conflict of interest with respect to the transaction.”

“The la opera makes its governing documents, tax exemption letter, conflict of interest policy available to the public upon request. The form 990 and audited financial statements are posted on the organization's website www.laopera.org.”