The Michigan Opera Theatre’s founder and artistic director Dr. David DiChiera is battling pancreatic cancer.
Board members of the MOTshared a letter from DiChiera, who is retiring.
In his written statement Thursday, the 82-year-old DiChiera acknowledged that he had been preparing to leave MOT for the last two years and his diagnosis was unexpected.
“Life, of course, is never predictable,” he said. “As someone once said, we don’t lead our own lives; they lead us. And often they surprise us, as mine has recently done.”
DiChiera said he intended to attend a gala event planned next month in his honor.
DiChiera launched the MOT in 1971. In 1989 he acquired two old movie theatres in Grand Circus Park, led renovations, and opened the Detroit Opera House in 1996.