Presenting the Madison Opera Center
With the help of a generous supporter, Madison Opera has purchased the space
for a new home. Located at 335 W. Mifflin Street, the completed Madison Opera
Center will house the company’s administrative offices, a rehearsal
hall, a costume shop, and more. It will be a cost-effective way to consolidate
our operations, while meeting future artistic needs and reaffirming our
commitment to participating in the development of downtown Madison
and the thriving Madison arts community.
The Opera Center will allow us to focus on the core of our mission: providing
our entire community with great opera performances and engaging educational
programs for decades to come.
Why We Need the Madison Opera
Center
Financial
Stability
Owning our own space allows us to control costs, rather than being subject to
fluctuations in the rental market for offices and rehearsal space.
When added to earned revenue streams, such as leasing our 88 parking stalls,
this promises greater financial stability for Madison Opera. Conservative
projections put us significantly ahead over the next 15 years, making this the
strongest move we could make for the company’s long-term health, keeping
us an important part of Madison for generations to come.
Artistic Opportunity
Owning our own space will enable us to expand our artistic,
educational, and outreach activities. Examples may include free lunch-time
recitals with our new Studio Artists, a regular preview series, summertime
programs for youth interested in opera, and open houses as part of National Opera Week.
Community Opportunity
The Opera Center is in the heart of Madison’s cultural center, as the
arts are an integral part of downtown Madison. The Opera Center expands
that artistic impact, with rehearsals literally at street level. Imagine
walking down Mifflin Street to the Farmer’s Market or the new Central
Library and pausing to peer into the Opera Center’s windows to see
art being created! The rehearsal hall will allow us to share our resources with
our community, as it will be used by several performing arts groups.
We Need Your
Help
The Madison Opera Center is unfinished – we purchased it with a dirt
floor and no mechanical systems. Over the next few months, we will be building
it out, and we need your help. We have raised over $1.1 million of our $1.8
million campaign, which includes the initial building purchase, and hope you
will join us in building this dream.
Any gift given between now and July 1, 2013, will be matched by the Challenge Grant for the Madison Opera Center,
doubling its impact. Read more about the challenge here.
You can make a donation online here. For more information, or to
discuss a multi-year pledge, please contact Beth Tolles at 608-238-8085 or
tolles@madisonopera.org.
Help Us Meet the
Challenge Grant for the Madison Opera Center
An extraordinary gift has been offered to Madison Opera by our
longtime friends and supporters. The will match
dollar-for-dollar any gifts to the Madison Opera Center Building
Fund, up to $200,000. Their challenge gift will match all contributions
to this fund
through July 1, 2013.
Our new Madison Opera Center space is unfinished, so the next step
is making it a place we can share with our community and its arts
groups. Won’t you help
Madison Opera take this step and meet this challenge? The inspiring
generosity of our friends will double your gift and
double the impact
for the Madison Opera Center Building Fund. All donations are
tax-deductible and very much appreciated.
To make a gift, or for more information, please contact Madison Opera at 608-238-8085 or e-mail us at tolles@madisonopera.org.
Madison Opera thanks the following individuals
who have made pledges to the Madison Opera Center Building Fund as of February 1, 2013.
An Anonymous Friend
J. Marshall and Millie Osborn
Martin and Kay Barrett
Phillip and Melinda Certain
Terry L. Haller
Joyce and Thomas Hirsch
Stephen Hurley
Fran Klos
Susan and Jonathan Lipp
Patricia and Stephen Lucas
Peter and Jill Lundberg
Robert and Pam McDonald
Sally and Charles Miley
Thomas E. Terry |
Bert and Diane Adams
Carla and Fernando Alvarado
George and Ann Croal
Robert and Paula Dinndorf
Gina Gialamas
Charles and Mary Mueller
Helen L. Wineke |
Elizabeth Campbell
W. Wallace Cleland
Richard and Doris Dubielzig
Michael and Anne Faulhaber
Charles Ford and Sharon James
Kennedy Gilchrist and Heidi Wilde
Mr. and Mrs. A. Paul Jensen
Dave and Jean Johnsen
Rosemary Johnson
Noël Marie and Steven Klapper
Bill and Fern Lawrence
Michael and Clare McArdle
Sonja and Paul Micksch
David Newby and Kathleen McElroy
Meg and Neil Skinner
Elaine M. Staley
Janine Wardale
Thomas and Suzanne Wilkinson |
Thank you for helping us to literally build for our future
– and that of the arts in our community.
Back
to Overview
Take a Look at the Madison Opera Center
Click below to see artist renderings, groundplans, and photos of the Opera Center.
Back
to Overview
Construction has started! Check back here for regular updates on our progress, as move from dream to reality.
Back
to Overview