Fort Worth Opera (FWOpera) has launched FWOpera FOREWORD to raise $1 million over the summer to ensure the future of one of the city’s oldest and most acclaimed arts organizations. The fundraising effort was initiated by a combined $250,000 lead gift from two long-time FWOpera supporters in honor of the company’s 11th Festival season.
The campaign offers the community-at-large and artists from across the United States an opportunity to share their stories on FWOpera’s social media platforms and official website as a celebration of the impact and importance of arts and culture on Fort Worth, FWOpera said in a news release.
“Great art in Fort Worth has always been a major contributor to our rich heritage. Embraced and celebrated by our citizens, the Fort Worth Opera is one of its crown jewels and a part of that heritage. Valued partners like the Fort Worth Opera are helping to shape our cultural future for generations to come,” Karen Wiley, president and CEO of the Arts Council of Fort Worth, said in the news release.
Fort Worth Opera was founded in 1946 and is the oldest continually performing opera company in Texas, and one of the 14 oldest opera companies in the United States. The organization has received national attention from critics and audiences alike for its artistic excellence, pioneering spirit, and willingness to take risks, the news release said.
“Building upon the success of our critically acclaimed 2017 Festival, FWOpera looks to write the next chapter as it embarks upon an epic 2018 Festival,” the opera said in the new release. “Not only will the organization present the first performance of an opera from Wagner’s heroic Ring cycle in company history, but next season will also highlight the second year of Noches de Ópera, featuring community outreach programming and the red-hot tango opera, María de Buenos Aires.”
The campaign looks to the future but builds on past high points of FWOpera from hosting the farewell operatic performance of the legendary Lily Pons and fostering the burgeoning career of a young Plácido Domingo, to igniting the career of soprano Beverly Sills and presenting the globally acclaimed premiere of JFK at the world-class Bass Performance Hall.
The 2018 FWOpera Festival will include Wagner’s legendary Das Rheingold; Astor Piazzolla’s tango opera, María de Buenos Aires, a surreal, immersive theatrical experience unlike anything in FWOpera’s history; and Donizetti’s hysterical bel canto comedy Don Pasquale, set in the golden age of Hollywood. The Festival will also usher in the sixth year of Fort Worth Opera’s critically acclaimed new works showcase, Frontiers.
For more information or to donate, go to: fwforeword.org. Select “Give Online.” You may enter your comments and stories about the Fort Worth Opera in the “Story Box” area at the bottom of the form.
To donate by phone: (817) 288-1212
– FWBP Staff