John Peter “Jeep” Jeffries joined Tulsa Opera as Executive Director in July 2008. Prior to his move to Tulsa, Jeffries was Executive Director of Opera Grand Rapids for nearly seven years. In that capacity he was responsible for managing the company’s operations and administering its staff.

For nearly 30 years, Jeffries has worked throughout North America at both large and small opera companies including Florida Grand Opera, Canadian Opera Company in Toronto, Portland Opera and Opera Idaho. In his position at Opera Grand Rapids, Jeffries became known for his business acumen which included a combination of tactics that resulted in reducing costs and increasing earned and donated revenue.

Before leading Opera Grand Rapids, Jeffries served as Managing Director for Opera Idaho, a small professional company located in Boise, Idaho. Jeffries was responsible for overseeing all aspects of Opera Idaho's business operations, including marketing, fundraising and finance. Before moving to Idaho, he worked from 1996 to 2000 as Director of Production for the Portland Opera, in Portland, Oregon, where he managed all aspects of putting the company's five-opera season on stage.

Prior to that, Jeffries held similar positions with the Canadian Opera Company, from 1989 to 1996, in Toronto, Ontario, where he managed a production budget totaling nearly $6.5 million annually and negotiated contracts for the company's international tours, and with Florida Grand Opera, in Miami, Florida, from 1984 to 1989, where he was the first director of the company's Technical Apprentice Program and set up the company's first costume and wig shops. He initially joined Florida Grand Opera as Technical Director, a post he held from 1980 to 1984, to manage the company's stage operations and extensive set rental program.

He began his professional opera career by alternating winter seasons at the Opera Company of Boston, from 1978 to 1980, where he served as Master Carpenter, with summer seasons at the Lake George Opera Festival, 1979 and 1980, and where he ultimately served as Technical Director. During this period, he also participated, in a variety of technical positions, in several of Opera New England's tours of the Northeast.

Before moving full-time into the world of opera, Jeffries spent one season on the road, 1977-1978, with the national tour of The Acting Company, then under the direction of John Houseman, and one winter as a staff assistant at the Interlochen Arts Academy, 1976-1977.

Along the way, Jeffries has accumulated a good deal of experience in labor relations, successfully negotiating many contracts with all of the major theatrical unions. He has also been involved in a wide variety of facilities-related projects, including the planning of new theater spaces, the renovation of existing ones, the establishment of technical shops, and the relocation of both shop and warehouse spaces.

During his career, Jeffries has been active in two major professional associations: Opera America and the Canadian Institute for Theatre Technology. He is a frequent presenter and moderator at Opera America's Annual Conference. He was a founding member of Opera America's Technical and Production Committee, which advises the organization on production-related matters. He has also served as Advisor or Host to three Opera America Fellows, providing guidance and advice to aspiring opera technicians, during their yearlong fellowships.

Jeffries was a charter member of the Canadian Institute for Theater Technology and served as President of that organization's Ontario Section from 1992 to 1994 and as National Vice President from 1994 to 1996. While with the Canadian Opera Company, he also served as a member of the Province of Ontario Ministry of Labour's Occupational Health and Safety Advisory Committee, which developed guidelines for safety in the theater and entertainment industries.

Jeffries graduated from the University of Michigan in 1975 with an Honors Degree from the Department of Speech, Communication and Theater.

Jeffries shares his life with his wife Iliana, who was born in Cuba, and who has served as a senior arts manager in a variety of positions, most recently as the executive director of the Arts Council of Greater Grand Rapids, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Jeep and Iliana live with three cats, Maggie, Lola and George.