President’s Message
We in the Seattle Opera Guild are so lucky to have an organization in which to share our love of music. I don’t know when I’ve appreciated music so much as during this last year. Recently, we attended an online memorial service for a dear friend, John Shevlin. He and his wife Carolee were new members of the Guild, having joined last fall. The service was deeply moving and when they played Mozart’s Requiem, the effect of the music was profound. It resonated with my feelings of deep sorrow and yet was comforting at the same time. This is truly the power of music, isn’t it?
Things are moving right along with the Seattle Opera Guild, and we look forward to being able to meet in person in not too many months. Penny Wade, our intrepid VP of Administration, chairs the Directory Committee with Roberta Lyon and Maria Van Horn. Look forward to receiving an up-to-date printed directory in the near future. We had a fundraiser in lieu of our Holiday Luncheon at the Seattle Tennis Club in early December, and with the creativity of Penny Wade and Maria Van Horn who purchased a $100 gift card at Amazon as a prize, netted $3,000! Every ten dollars of your donation amounted to a chance on winning that gift card, and the money kept coming in even after the winners were announced: Carl and Carol Corbin!
Christine Szabadi chairs the Award of Distinction Committee, as she was the last to receive that award which is presented each year to a member who has given so much to the Guild with their energy, time, focus and skills. Christine is also in charge of our Singers’ Development Awards Committee, and is beginning to plan this year’s auditions, likely in late summer.
Mary Scott is our secretary of the Board of Directors and takes elucidating minutes, keeping us on track with our various projects. Sally Buckingham continues as our undaunted Treasurer, keeping us up-to-date Development Awards. We hope to donate to Lisa Bergman’s NOISE (Northwest Opera in the Schools) Program, in which Lisa and her singers visit and perform at many elementary schools around the state. One of the Guild’s primary missions is to “promote opera education for all age groups to ensure future opera audiences.” For many years we have also donated to the Metropolitan Opera National Council/Northwest (MONC/NW). John Marzano, Seattle, was our regional winner this year and will compete for more prizes at the Metropolitan Opera in NYC this spring.
Judi Kalitzki is our L’Aria newsletter editor, and has produced two exquisite issues for September, 2020 (featuring SOG’s early history) and January, 2021. We are so fortunate to have her remarkable expertise as editor. We learn much from each issue— if you have ideas for our newsletter, please contact Judi ([email protected]).
Our past president, Gayle Charlesworth, has picked up the role of Historian, along with her role of VP of Membership. We also so appreciate the contributions of Danielle Gaines and Patricia Pavia during our monthly board meetings.
Seattle Opera’s online production of Flight will have closed by the time you read this, but I hope you had the chance to view it online. Two previous winners of our Singers’ Development Awards had roles: Sarah Larsen and Margaret Gawrysiak. You might remember Sarah and Margaret from The Consul in 2014, about people trying to get through interminable office red tape to get to America. (It was a compelling opera.) Andrew Stenson also performed in Flight—SOG helped him with his training when he was a member of SO’s Young Artists Program in 2010-2012.
We look forward to working closely with Seattle Opera’s Christina Scheppelmann, General Director, Allison Rabbitt, Development Director, and Alejandra Valarino Boyer, Director of Programs and Parternships, as they proceed with SO productions. Keep enjoying your music. It helps us enormously to get through this difficult period and look to better times!
—Suzy Mygatt Wakefield