By Anne Constable, The Santa Fe New Mexican May 1--The Santa Fe Opera announced Wednesday that its 2009 season will include the world premiere of The Letter, an opera based on a 1927 stage adaptation of a W. Somerset Maugham short story.

SANTA FE, N.M. - The general director of the Santa Fe Opera plans to retire but will not do so until his successor is in place, he said Wednesday. Richard Gaddes, only the second director of the 51-year-old company, estimated the search would take 12 to 18 months.