News
08-09 Season On Sale NOW
Dan & Lou Ann Gaydou
Annual Gala honors Dan & Lou Ann Gaydou, Saturday, May 10 at the Amway Grand Hotel. Table Sponsorships and Single Tickets are available.
Click here for more information.
Subscribe to our E-Newsletter
About Us:
Each of our productions is built from the ground up in Grand Rapids and utilizes a national cast, The Grand Rapids Symphony and the regional vocal talents of the OGR Chorus. Under the direction of Artistic Director Robert Lyall, what you see on stage at DeVos Hall is a unique lyrical theater experience of the highest artistic caliber.


Celebrating 40 years of great opera in a grand city
CARMEN
FIGARO
DUTCHMAN
Carmen Figaro Dutchman

Projected Scenery Casts New Light on Wagner Classic - The Flying Dutchman May 2 & 3
Get Tickets - Podcast PreViews - Meet the CasT - See Events

Dutchman SlidesDon't miss the exciting conclusion of our 40th Anniversary season. On May 2 & 3, Opera Grand Rapids will make a long overdue return to the celebrated work of Richard Wagner with a special presentation of The Flying Dutchman.

For his past transgressions, a Dutch sea captain is cursed to sail the Seven Seas until Judgment Day, unless he can be redeemed by one woman's true love. In Wagner's stormy re-telling of the picturesque and macabre legend of The Flying Dutchman, the audience is swept away by atmospheric music and thundering choruses. Will love rise above the waves and find a way to conquer all?

A stunning cast and a unique approach to staging and lighting design will make THE FLYING DUTCHMAN a night to remember. Lighting Designer Don Darnutzer will create the set through a combination of special lighting effects and projected images.

This Wagner classic will be sung in German with projected English titles.

Opera Grand Rapids Announces Rehearsal Hall Building Project -
The Betty Van Andel Opera Center

Click Here For Pledge Information
Click Here For Media/Information Kit

BVAOC RenderingFor 40-years Opera Grand Rapids has wandered from empty storefronts, to office suites to rehearse its productions. Opera Grand Rapids is proud to announce its intent to purchase land that will become its first permanent home.

Opera Grand Rapids recently entered into a buy-sell agreement regarding a portion of a parcel of land located on East Fulton, just West of Carlton SE. The property is currently owned by the Gilmore Collection, which includes local developer John F. Gilmore, who has a long history of supporting Opera Grand Rapids, serving as the Company's first President in 1967.

Under the terms of the buy-sell agreement, Opera Grand Rapids intends to purchase the parcel for $300,000 to build its first permanent home, which will include a rehearsal hall, costume shop, property storage and offices. The building will be named The Betty Van Andel Opera Center (BVAOC), in honor of one the Company's most avid supporters.

Betty Van Andel was a member of the Opera Grand Rapids Board of Trustees from 1981 to 1990. In 2001, the Jay and Betty Van Andel Foundation awarded Opera Grand Rapids a 1 Million dollar gift to jumpstart the building project. Since the announcement of this gift, the Company has focused on becoming fiscally solvent, to create a solid foundation from which to launch the construction of the BVAOC. In 2005 the Company established a reserve fund as a safeguard against future long-term deficits, and, in 2006 it retired a long-standing deficit of more than $500,000, allowing it to operate debt free. An adherence to careful budgeting and fiscal responsibility has allowed the Company to end its last three seasons in the black.

With this solid fiscal foundation, Opera Grand Rapids is prepared to build, maintain and operate the BVAOC.

To complete the BVAOC, Opera Grand Rapids has launched a Capital Campaign with a goal of $1,950,000. As of mid-April the Company has raised more than $1,360,000 or roughly 70% of its campaign goal.

"We have 100% participation from our Board, who has contributed more than $100,000 towards the project," said Opera Grand Rapids Executive Director John Peter Jeffries.

Fundraising for the BVAOC will continue throughout the spring and summer. Ground breaking for the project is expected to take place in   the summer, with plans for the Company to occupy the facility by 2009.

"This is a critical opportunity for us to get out in front of the community and let people know who we are, and how important having an opera company is for the city," said Opera Grand Rapids Development Chair, Win Irwin. "A lot of people don't understand that we are not a touring show that pops into town. Having this space will allow us to display the magic of building a unique show right here in Grand Rapids."

In the News

 

© Opera Grand Rapids 2007-2008 Season
161 Ottawa Ave NW, Suite 300, Grand Rapids, MI, 49503, Phone: 616.451.2741 Fax: 616.451.4587