"When I first discussed the idea of creating a Ring Festival at a Los Angeles Times roundtable in March 2008 with several of my colleagues from other cultural institutions, we all thought that it would be a wonderful way to celebrate the diversity of our city’s world-class cultural offerings, centered on a genuine cultural milestone: the first complete Ring cycles ever presented in Los Angeles. Opera, and especially the Ring, invites exactly this sort of intensive analysis and discussion, and the Festival will provide many different forums for gaining insights into the past and exploring moral issues. The arts are important precisely because they offer so much more than entertainment, and have profound influences on politics and history, while reflecting the times in which they were created. For example, I am proud that LA Opera has been a leader in presenting operas by composers who were affected by the Nazi regime via our Recovered Voices project, which has brought several unfairly neglected works to our stage with great critical and audience acclaim. The arts allow us to immerse ourselves in worlds and experiences that can lead us to greater enlightenment and understanding for us all."