History of the Opera Guild

The Opera Guild of San Antonio has been in existence for more than three decades.  During this time it has had a significant impact on the opera scene in San Antonio.  Opera Guild members are proud of the history and social relevance of the organization.

The Opera Guild of San Antonio was founded in 1974 as a non-profit educational and charitable association under the auspices of the Women’s Committee of the San Antonio Symphony, now known as the Symphony League. Ginger Karren was the founder of the Guild and Margaret King Stanley the President of the Symphony Women’s Committee. Together they established an organization to support the Symphony’s annual opera season. The Guild’s original name was the Opera Guild of the Symphony Society. The work of the Guild included student performances, opera previews, an opera talent search and an "Opera in the Schools" project. Fund raising was one of the Guild’s major efforts.

After the Symphony announced that it would no longer produce opera, the Guild changed its name to Opera Guild of San Antonio and began to focus on opera projects in the local community. Fundraisers helped the Guild support a multitude of opera-related activities.  The acquisition and sale of the Anne Walker house created an endowment for the Guild that allowed the organization to increase its support of opera-related community activities and to establish two endowed scholarships in opera at Department of Music, UTSA.

In 2002, the Guild’s revitalized its Opera in the Schools program and has reached thousands of San Antonio students each year with specially produced opera performances. While it reached less than 1000 students in its first year, today  it reaches over 16,000 students per year and continues to grow.

In 2008, we were asked to bring a touring production of Hansel and Gretel to Austin by the Austin Lyric Opera Guild.    The Guild hopes to continue to provide opera to all of South Texas through similar partnerships.

The Opera Guild Archives are unique in their vision and design.  Currently over 20,235 items are archived by the Guild’s volunteers at the UTSA Archival Center at the Institute of Texan Cultures in downtown San Antonio.  These archival files contain items which best illustrate the purpose, activities and policies of the Guild.  We are very proud of our participation in this wonderful San Antonio resource.  A catalog of the Guild archives is available by clicking here.