40th Birthday Fundraiser – for the next 40 years of Anchorage Opera

Our new General Director, Ben Robinson is turning 40 years old! He’s “over the hill” and fundraising for Anchorage Opera with a goal of $40,000 by the end of the season! Your gift in any amount, be it $4, $40, $400, or even $4,000, is truly appreciated!

All donations up to $10,000 will be MATCHED by a generous gift from Audrey “Aviva” Lewis

DONATE to the 40th Birthday Fundraiser Match : CLICK HERE
To DONATE by phone call: 907-279-2557
To DONATE by mail please send your gift to:

Anchorage Opera
1507 Spar Avenue
Anchorage, AK 99501

Opera is EXTRA!

• Extra relevant – telling stories that need to be told to raise awareness and help with healing in our community
• Extra emotional – speaking to our shared humanity and awakening feelings
• Extravagant – combining all the art forms of theater, symphony, dance and singing
• Extra expensive – with the cost of producing going up on everything from paint to personnel, the harsh reality is that ticket income alone only covers a mere fraction of our costs.

Can we rely on extra help from you to make it through our 2023-24 Season?
We’re EXTRA grateful for your support!

Only with the continuing support of dedicated patrons like you can we realize our vision to “Enrich. Inspire. Educate. Collaborate. Build Community…one note at a time!

The Impact of Your Gift: helps us serve our community

Our Community is our Stage!

Your donation enables us to connect directly with our community in new and more meaningful ways helping us produce and perform main stage operas, new socially relevant works, educational programs and community collaborations for which we will engage the talents of some 400 singers, musicians & theatrical artists approximately 87% of which live in the greater Anchorage area.

Each season new works are presented to serve our community
  • Missing (Feb ’23) by Métis playwright Marie Clements and Juno-winning composer Brian Current gives voice to the story of the current epidemic of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls (MMIWG). A private, free performance for survivors and families of the MMIWG crisis was presented on March 8. For all performances, grief counselors were present for those in need of assistance. Alaska Native Dance Groups began each performance bringing representation to the different cultures they were from. Voth Hall (adjacent to the Sydney Laurence Theatre in the Alaska Center for the Performing Arts where Missing was performed) served as a space for opera attendees to view exhibits and informational tables from partner organizations before and after the show. In partnership with the Alaska Humanities Forum, “When Words Aren’t Enough: A Conversation Addressing MMIW in Alaska”, presented at the Anchorage Museum. More partnerships with Alaska Native Heritage Center, Native Movement, Data for Indigenous Justice, Alaska Native Women’s Resource Center, Alaska Native Justice Center, Native Peoples Action, Anchorage Museum, Alaska Humanities Forum, Southcentral Foundation, CIRI, Alaska Airlines, Anchorage East Rotary, and more, took the impact of the production beyond the stage and into the community.
  • Scalia/Ginsburg (Feb ’24) At a time when America has become deeply polarized politically, and antisemitism and discrimination based on race or ethnicity are on the rise, Derrick Wang’s hilarious, and touching, one-act opera demonstrates the power of the arts to transcend intellectual, religious, and ideological differences. To foster dialogue in our community, we utilized Voth Hall as a space for opera attendees to view exhibits and informational tables from partner organizations, informing the public of their missions, including Anchorage Youth Court, Alaska Native Justice Center, Alaska Jewish Museum, UAA Justice Center, Alaska Common Ground, The Alaska Center, and ACLU Alaska.
  • Frida (Feb ’20) Voth Hall became the site for our interactive Frida Exhibition during all performances of the show. Community members and organizations whose missions align with Frida Kahlo’s legendary life were invited to be a part of it to shine a spotlight on them and their causes.  Indra Arriaga, Identity, Inc., Rotary Club of Anchorage East, Alaska Miss Amazing, The Piñata Shop,Alzheimer’s Resource of Alaska and Tim Pearson for participating. You all made our production a richer experience for everyone.
  • An American Dream (Feb ’19) dealt with WWII Japanese American internment & AO used the opera to include the topic of Alaska Natives’ internment, inspiring discussion of discrimination & the current treatment of refugees/immigrants. Prelude to the Opera speakers were in the camps themselves, #AKIncarcerationStories seat cards were created. JACL, Alaska Jewish Museum, ACLU, Bridge Builders, Congregation Beth Sholom, National Park Service, Japan Alaska Association & Identity participated.
  • As One (Feb ’18) told the journey of a trans protagonist. Partnering with Identity, we engaged new audiences & addressed discrimination based on gender identity/sexual orientation. Prelude to the Opera featured local trans men & women relating their own stories, #TRANSformativeStories seat cards were placed. An exhibition of art by local trans artists was in Voth Hall, where Identity, Fair Anchorage & Welcoming Anchorage manned informational tables.
  • Glory Denied (Feb ’17) served our military population an we collaborated with Anchorage VA‘s, Alaska Veterans Museum & military bases. With #AKVetStories, memories of AK vets were put onto cards and placed on each theater seat. Talk Backs with the artists let audiences discuss the show & their experience of it.Bravi tutti!

 

The Impact of Your Gift: helps our schoolchildren

  • Our education program, AO2Go, partners with the faculty of UAA and UAF to present operatic performances that tour to area schools and far afield to remote Alaska Native villages.
  • In a time when music and theater arts education in our schools is suffering drastic funding cut-backs, Anchorage Opera is dedicated to bridging that gap. Our entire community benefits when our children have the arts in their lives.
  • Each season more than 1700 students attend final dress rehearsals of operas at the PAC free of charge.

In the weeks before the Alaska premiere of Frida, AO took the cast and artistic team onsite to organizations engaged through the project for a program of excerpts and discussions about the production, including Anchorage School District classrooms. “One in five students comes from a household where English is not a first language and 23% of those report Spanish as their first language.” Smith said. “Opportunities to experience the arts, especially opera, are limited for ASD students. We’re proud to have reached many under-served segments of our community while simultaneously demonstrating the diversity of artists and our art form in current times, thereby making it relatable to them.” 

The Impact of Your Gift: enables community partnerships

Making magic onstage and OFF in our community on collaborative events with:

  • Anchorage Downtown Partnership
  • Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center
  • Anchorage Rotary Clubs
  • Alaska Zoo
  • Alzheimer’s Resource of Alaska
  • S.T.A.R. (Standing Together Against Rape)
  • Local Restaurants
  • …and more!

The cast of La Boheme  took South Restaurant + Coffeehouse by storm with a Flash MOB-pera

First Friday, Feb 7, 2020 – Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center