Organization Summary 2007-2008

The Magic Flute

2008 marks the 31st anniversary of Rogue Opera whose mission is “to present high quality opera to regional audiences, to train young performers and to direct its resources into the education and enrichment of our youth and community”.  Rogue Opera is a non-profit corporation, incorporated under the laws of the State of Oregon in 1976. Rogue Opera is governed by a twelve-member Board of Directors who reside in southern Oregon. Other support boards are comprised of a six-member Adjunct Board, a ten-member Emeritus Board of Directors and a fourteen-member Advisory Board.  In addition, Rogue Opera has approximately 260 contributing donors and in excess of 35 business members (advertisers and sponsors) and 14 major In-Kind Sponsors totaling over $130,000 in In Kind donations. Rogue Opera Guild members support Rogue Opera through financial gifts, volunteer projects, as well as providing assistance to many Rogue Opera programs.

Rogue Opera’s season activities center on an expanded Opera in the Schools Program, a youth outreach program for grades K-12 projected to reach 20,000 students in 100+ shows in southern Oregon and northern California during our 2007-2008 Season, a Main Stage Production, Otto Nicolai's The Merry Wives of Windsor with shows in the cities of Medford, Ashland, Grants Pass in April and May 2008, Voices from the Valley Opera Scenes Concerts, annual fundraising concerts featuring local talent, Tickets for Youth which provides up to 250 free main stage tickets a year for disadvantaged children and their families through their schools and community organizations, and three Southern Oregon University and Rogue Opera collaborations: 1) The Complete Singer Training Series, a series of one day training programs with a master class led by noted faculty from the best opera training programs in the country, 2) Opera Workshop, the nine-week long Opera Workshop at Southern Oregon University which is open to professional and pre-professional singers in the community and music students from SOU,  and 3)Behind the Scenes Youth Mentoring Program, a mentoring program in musical/drama and technical skills for area high school and college students that takes place during main stage productions. SOU students may apply for college credit when participating in # 2 and # 3 above. Rogue Opera also provides Scholarships for Southern Oregon University Voice Majors in exchange for student participation in Rogue Opera productions.

Fundraising activities include Direct Mail Membership Drives, Season Ad Sales Program, Sponsorship Program (corporate and private) and Direct Ask Events, Operafest Fundraising Luncheons in Medford and Ashland.

Our “Discover Rogue Opera Tours” are held monthly in Ashland and Medford as part of our public awareness campaign.

Amahl and the Night Visitors 2004

With over 870 school and main stage performances, Rogue Opera has become a treasure in the arts community and an integral part of southern Oregon’s cultural community. For nineteen years, Rogue Opera has been providing children from southern Oregon and northern California an opportunity to experience the power and potential for self-expression that exists when music and drama are united in opera. Over 226,000 children to date have witnessed Rogue Opera’s Opera in the Schools productions. Rogue Opera has presented Opera in the Schools and Main stage productions of La Traviata, Rigoletto, Die Fledermaus, La Boheme, Hansel and Gretel, Madama Butterfly, The Magic Flute, The Barber of Seville, Don Pasquale, Pirates of Penzance, The Best of Bernstein, The Merry Widow, The Telephone, Carmen, The Mikado and H.M.S. Pinafore, Amahl and the Night Visitors, to name just a few of our quality presentations. 

Some of our honors include receiving the Arts Council of southern Oregon's Non-Profit Organization of the Year award in October 2000. This honorable acknowledgment from the arts community was based on Rogue Opera's outstanding show of leadership and long-time dedication to the arts in Southern Oregon. In June 2005, Rogue Opera was granted Professional Company Member Status in OPERA America the most prestigious opera parent company in the US. Willene Gunn is Artistic Director of Rogue Opera. Ms. Gunn was the Director of Opera programs at San Francisco Conservatory for 30 years prior to moving to the Rogue Valley. Dr. David MacKenzie serves as Conductor and Education Director. David is an international conductor and is the Music Director and Conductor of the New Bedford Symphony Orchestra in New Bedford, Massachusetts.