The Opera Guild Today

The Opera Guild of San Antonio has a very active calendar. The Guild’s focus is on education of both children and adults and on enhancing the experience of opera in the South Texas region.  The Guild has over 400 volunteers who are at work in a wide variety of programs.

Opera in the Schools

The Guild’s outstanding Opera in the Schools program is arts education at its best.  Since 2002 the program has reached thousands of San Antonio students each year with specially produced opera performances.  In addition, the Guild designs, commissions, purchases and produces opera-related educational material and supplies them to the teaching staff of local schools through our volunteer liaisons.  This highly successful program recently received national recognition from Opera Volunteers International.  Today we reach over 16,000 students per year and we continue to grow!

This season we will again tour The Pied Piper of Hamelin by Seymour Barab to elementary schools with students participating in roles as rats and chorus members.  We will also provide our middle and high school students with a dress rehearsal opportunity at the San Antonio Opera’s productions of Madama Butterfly and of The Daughter of the Regiment. The UTSA Lyric Theatre will be performing Pirates of Penzance and the world premier of A Short History of Root Vegetables for middle and high school students at the Buena Vista Theatre on the UTSA Downtown Campus.  All performances will be free of charge to the students, many of whom have never had an opera experience before.

Adult Education
The Opera Enhancement Evenings feature prominent opera-related speakers and are a wonderful opportunity to learn more about what goes on behind the scenes in the opera world. In addition to the speakers, these evenings regularly include arias from famous operas sung by regional talent.  This year the Guild enjoyed a performance by Annamaria Delperdang a mezzo soprano from UTSA’s Lyric Theatre.  
Previous speakers have included:
•    Richard Gaddes, General Director of  Santa Fe Opera
•    William Walker, General Director Emeritus Ft. Worth Opera
•   Russell Patterson, Conductor Laureate   Lyric Opera of Kansas City
•   Martin Feinstein, the first executive director of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and later general manager of of the  Washington National Opera
•    Austin Lyric Opera's Richard Buckley
•    Gilda Cruz-Romo, Metropolitan Opera Soprano (ret.)
•     Seymour Barab, composer of the operas Gods of Mischief and Little Red Riding Hood
•    Margaret Perry, Director Armstrong Community Music School’s
•    Mezzo Soprano Gloria Parker

The Guild’s Opera Study Course provides a video series on opera history and appreciation for groups of adults interested in learning more about opera.  In 2009 - 2010, Opera Guild members will be studying How to Listen To and Understand Great Music. This program is a wonderful opportunity for opera fellowship and has gained such popularity that it is offered by reservation only.

The Guild has acquired special audiovisual equipment and now special Matinee at the Opera events in which videos of entire operas are projected on large screen format.  Our most recent event at the San Antonio Country Club featured  Vincenzo Bellini's Norma.   Due to it’s popularity, the Guild has added showings at the Village of Incarnate Word in their Christus Heritage Hall.

The Guild also provides a Sunday bus trip to the Austin Lyric Opera for our members which includes a box lunch and beverages.  This continues to be a very successful part of our adult education.

Financial Support of Opera  & Opera Students
The Guild has established an endowed scholarship in opera at the Department of Music, UTSA.  In addition, the Guild supports the regional Metropolitan Opera Auditions, makes donations to the opera production companies in our region in support of their work and offers awards to regional operatic students.

Social Events and Fundraisers
The Guild has a long history of outstanding social events and fundraisers. The Guild’s premier event in recent years has been the opera themed Fashion Show and Luncheon at the San Antonio Country Club which is attended by hundreds of members and their friends and brings monetary support for the Guild’s educational programs.  Other fundraisers, wine tastings, holiday and membership parties are also a part of the annual social events.