Opera at the Anchor!

Eat Drink & Be Merry while supporting
Kentucky Opera!

On Monday, July 9 from 5-10pm come to the Village Anchor Pub and Roost (11507 Park Road, Anchorage, Kentucky 40223) for dinner and Kentucky Opera will receive 10% of dinner sales.

Make reservations by calling at 502-708-1850 and tell them you’re eating for the Opera!
Bring your friends (100 people is a lot. If you come with one other person that’s only 98 we have to bring!) Carry out orders count too! – Just tell them you’re eating for the Kentucky Opera!

If 10% proceeds to your favorite opera company isn’t enough to entice you, how about cold hard cash?

Thanks to US Bank The Private Client Reserve, we will be giving away three $100 gift cards as door prizes!
You must eat to be entered to win!

A call to action!

   This is an opportunity to hear what the candidates say about the future of arts funding.  Let them know our community demands stability for the arts!! 

The Kentucky School of Art Presents......

A Conversation with the 2010 Louisville Mayoral Candidates

               about the Future of the Arts in Louisville

Hosted by The Kentucky Center for Performing Arts

 moderated by David Cupps, Executive Director, Arts Kentucky

 Monday, February 8, 2010 Time: 6-8 p.m.

ALL 13 CANDIDATES ARE COMMITTED TO ATTENDING THE FORUM!!

Tyler Allen, Nimbus Couzin, Burrel Charles Farnsley, Greg Fischer, Jackie Green, Hal Heiner, Jim King, Connie Marshall, Lisa Moxley, Jonathan Robertson, David Tandy, Chris Thieneman, and Shannon White

Followed by a Meet and Greet in the East Room, Cash Bar  8-9:00 p.m.

 Location: The Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts, Bomhard Theatre 502 W. Main St., Louisville

 Free and open to the public  Open seating, tickets are not available

 for more information call (502) 618-4600

E

A Delicious Opportunity!

From the Guild of Kentucky Opera:

The witch's house on stage.

Hansel and Gretel is fun. It's got cute kids, a sandman, a dew fairy and the mean ole witch who lives in a gingerbread house dripping with candy to entice her victims! The Guild of Kentucky Opera is always looking for new ideas to raise funds and found this opera wrought with possibilities!

Since Hansel and Gretel takes the stage at the Brown Theatre the weekend before Thanksgiving and the advent of the holiday season, Kitty Shaw, the Guild Treasurer, had the wonderful idea of finding a local baker to make us a gingerbread house. The original thought was a charming, standard gingerbread house. Then, when the challenge was brought to the talents of Helen Friedman, the owner of the exceptionally decadent Desserts by Helen offered to make a house based on actual witch's house that will be in the production. This was an opportunity NOT to pass up. So the Guild brought the master baker photographs of the set, and off she and her talented staff went. In a little over two weeks, Desserts by Helen crafted a tabletop version of the witch's house adding snow covered trees, gingerbread men, and a snow covered base. Although all of the elements are completely edible, we doubt you will want to consume this piece of gingerbread art!

The gingerbread house crafted by Deserts by Helen.

The Guild of Kentucky Opera is raffling tickets for the house at $10 apiece. The drawing will be on December 8 at the Guild's holiday party. Tickets are available at both performances (11/20 & 11/22) of Hansel and Gretel AND the final dress rehearsal for students tomorrow (Wednesday 11/18). You can also contact Tracy Terry at 561-7935 or tracy_terry@kyopera.org.

For more information on Hansel and Gretel go to the website! KYOpera.org.

Posted for The Guild of Kentucky Opera

KYO receives Economic Stimulus

Tuesday, August 11, Gov. Steve Beshear presented checks to each of the 18 organizations and to the group of arts workers whose jobs were preserved through the economic stimulus funding. This federal funding is a part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) provided to Kentucky through the National Endowment for the Arts and granted through the Kentucky Arts Council.

Kentucky Opera was one of 12 of the groups to receive the highest amount of $20,000.

"The arts industry in Kentucky has made significant contributions to our Commonwealth as well as local economies by generating tax revenue and enhancing cultural tourism," said Gov. Beshear. “This federal funding will help preserve jobs within our art industry during this critical time when our nation is facing such a tough economic downturn.”

"We were fortunate to have a little over $300,000 in resources from the NEA to fund the 18 organizations that demonstrated the strongest need and best plan to sustain jobs or pay for artists' fees,” said Lori Meadows, executive director of the Kentucky Arts Council.



Photo (l. to r.) : Lindy Casebier, Deputy Secretary, Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet; Todd Lowe, Chairman, Kentucky Arts Council; Deanna Hoying, Director of Education, Kentucky Opera; Tanja Eikenboom, Director of Development, Kentucky Opera; Gov. Beshear; Marcheta Sparrow, Secretary, Tourism Arts and Heritage Cabinet; and Lori Meadows, Executive Director, Kentucky Arts Council.

Mayor Cuts Arts Funding in Half

Mayor cuts City budget, arts funding cut in half!

David Roth's statement:

While we are shocked at the severity of the cutback in this fiscal year from Metro Louisville, we at Kentucky Opera have anticipated this inevitable drop in external funding from Metro Louisville and possibly the Kentucky Arts Council since each started to announce a month ago their estimated revenue shortfalls from the current economic slowdown. We, like other businesses, must prepare to weather this economic storm with noticeable changes in staffing and programming for this year and the next. Because we have in recent seasons developed a very lean business model, any further changes will require structural changes to programming on our subscription series and our educational outreach.

We are thankful that Brown-Forman has already confirmed their season sponsorship for our Fall 2009 season.

We encourage all Kentucky Opera patrons, subscribers and even single ticket buyers to participate in the Subscriber Appreciation Receptions so we can get your feed back on this and other issues facing your opera company.

Please call us 502.584.4500 and let us know when you would like to attend (dates and times below). There are two morning breakfast opportunities, two afternoon lunch opportunities and two after work opportunities. The receptions will take place at ArtSpace located at 323 West Broadway.

Wednesday, December 10 at 9:30 am

Thursday, December 11 at 9:30 am

Tuesday, January 6 at 12:30 or 6pm

Monday January 12 at 12:30 or 6pm