Final Day for NYC Opera to Raise Funds; $2 Million of $7 Million

Earlier this week, the Times reported that City Opera's board voted to start bankruptcy proceedings next week if it fails to raise $7 million by Monday. The opera will most likely not meet that goal after only raising about $1.5 million since it first made an urgent appeal for the $7 million this month.

Today, an email from General Manager and Artistic Director notes that the company has gotten slightly closer, now reaching 2 million:

"We have just finished our successful run of Anna Nicole, and raised $2 million towards our target of $7 million, however there is only one day left to make a difference and help keep NYC Opera in business.

Here's how you can help today:

Make a gift to NYC Opera by clicking here, or calling 212.870-5626.

Make a pledge to our Kickstarter campaign by clicking here. All Kickstarter pledges are payable only if we reach our goal and produce our 2013-2014 season.

Share this email with your friends, and spread the word through Facebook and Twitter. The more people we reach, the better our chances.

Thank you if you've already made a pledge or a gift!

Best wishes,

George Steel
General Manager and Artistic Director

Plácido Domingo, who launched his career at NYC Opera, tells the Associated Press:

"My early performances with New York City Opera were what really kicked off my international career, and I look back on those days with enormous pride. The company has done incredible work for so many decades, and it has played an essential role in New York's cultural scene for millions of opera lovers. It would be an absolute tragedy for that legacy to come to an end."
New York City Opera is looking for support to produce its 2013-2014 Season.

For 70 years, The People's Opera - New York City Opera - has focused on producing unique works, showcasing emerging young artists, and educating the next generation of performing arts lovers.

Throughout its history as The People's Opera, NYC Opera has made opera accessible and affordable. And now NYC Opera needs help to produce its upcoming season.

NYC Opera has recently announced an urgent fundraising appeal - the Company needs to raise $7 million by the end of September; without these necessary funds it will have to suspend the balance of its 2013-2014 season after the production of the first opera of the season, Anna Nicole.

We are coming to the Kickstarter community to raise $1 million of that total to help us produce our 2013-2014 season.

We need the help of the people to save The People's Opera: audiences, artists, students, and everyone who cares about a world filled with exciting and innovative art. We are asking everyone to come together, to stand by The People's Opera, and help us produce our 2013-2014 season!

Our goal is to continue to push the boundaries of adventurous and thought-provoking opera in the 2013-2014 season and beyond. Donate at any level today and help ensure the future of opera in New York!

The New York City Opera 2013-2014 Season

Take a look at what we have in store for the season ahead if we achieve our fundraising goal.

Note: Thanks to the generosity of our close supporters, we have secured sufficient funds to produced Anna Nicole and it will run from September 17 through 28. Come see the show!

Composed by Mark-Anthony Turnage / Libretto by Richard Thomas Conducted by Steven Sloane / Directed by Richard Jones

The season opens with the U.S. Premiere of Anna Nicole, a colossal co-production with BAM that launches the 2013 Next Wave Festival. The opera is based on the flamboyant life and tragic death of Anna Nicole Smith. The opera mixes comedy and tragedy and boldly confronts issues of modern celebrity, greed and exploitation. Turnage's dynamic score draws on jazz, blues, musical theater and traditional operatic structures; Richard Thomas (co-creator, Jerry Springer: the Opera) provides the razor-sharp and darkly humorous libretto.

Presenting a very rare, perhaps first-ever staging of a Johann Christian Bach opera in America, New York City Opera returns to El Museo del Barrio. The story ofEndimione centers on the characters of Diana and Nice. Through the mischief of Amore (Cupid), both fall madly in love with Endimione, a local shepherd. Pastoral mayhem ensues. J.C. Bach's ravishing score makes crystal clear his enormous influence on Mozart.

Béla Bartók's only opera, the one-act masterpiece Bluebeard's Castle is a mysterious encounter between two characters, Duke Bluebeard and his new wife, Judith. In the castle, Judith not only discovers great riches, but also bloodstained weapons, lakes of tears and, finally, the bodies of former wives. In his NYC Opera debut, director Daniel Kramer presents a vision that is brutally dark and full of shocking surprises. Performed with smoldering intensity by a 73-piece orchestra under the baton of NYC Opera's new Music Director, Jayce Ogren; dare yourself to watch Bartók's only opera within the depths of St. Ann's intimate warehouse, temporarily on loan to Duke Bluebeard and his special guests.

New York City Opera presents the final chapter in the landmark Mozart/Da Ponte cycle - The Marriage of Figaro. Following the success of 2009's Don Giovanni and 2012's Cosi fan tutti, critically acclaimed director Christopher Alden completes his daring trilogy at NYC Opera's original home, New York City Center.

Alden takes a darker look at one of Mozart's most popular operas, which takes a witty and subversive look at love and sex at the crossroads of revolution - all in a single day. NYC opera favorites Keri Alkema and Rod Gilfry lead the young, vibrant cast.

NYC OPERA'S MISSION

Since NYC Opera was founded by Mayor Fiorello La Guardia in 1943 as The People's Opera, NYC Opera has stayed true to its original promise: introducing young singers to New York audiences; giving the public exciting new works and compelling, fresh interpretations of classics; acting as a champion for American composers and performers; and ensuring that opera can be part of every New Yorker's life.

NYC Opera's repertoire spans five centuries, from Baroque operas to commissioned works by today's most important composers. To date, the company has given 29 world premieres and 62 U.S. and/or New York premieres. NYC Opera is celebrated for its marriage of first-rate acting and singing in stagings that bring new insights and new life to the repertoire.

EDUCATION

The Company is also building tomorrow's audiences by conducting an in-school education program that serves thousands of public school students each year throughout the New York metropolitan area. Drawing upon the company's contemporary approach to opera, NYC Opera Education provides students with a three-dimensional introduction to the art form, transporting them from the page to the stage and then taking them behind the scenes. As a pioneer in the field for over 40 years, NYC Opera knows firsthand the immediate and long-term benefits students reap when they are engaged in high quality arts experiences.