Opportunities to Support
All gifts to the Voice Your Dreams Endowment Campaign are tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law. Please consult your financial advisor for clarification and confirmation.
Gifts to the endowment are NOT eligible for the Colorado Enterprise Zone Tax Credit.
Your gift will be matched 100%!
Support the Company and the Festival Season
Central City Opera’s Endowment is an investment fund set aside for the long-term support of the company. It creates opportunities to invest in a way that provides stability to the organization. Supporting the Endowment Campaign guarantees a long-term relationship with CCO for you and your family. Over time your fund will grow, as will your fund’s support of the company! The CCO Endowment Fund (CCOEF) is a separate 501(c)3 organization with an independent Board of Trustees and is currently invested with Innovest Portfolio Solutions. Income generated is directed by the CCOEF Board and contributes to CCO’s operating fund each year.
NAME YOUR FUND - Double Your Impact
Your Endowment Contribution Matched $1 for $1
*Annual Endowment Fund Draw to Central City Opera (Estimate)
Support the Performers
The Bonfils-Stanton Foundation Artists Training Program is currently our largest endowed fund and is a national model for the professional development of young singers. Created by Artistic Director Emeritus John Moriarty in 1978, the rigorous 10-week program integrates daily opera training in diction, movement, stage combat, acting, stage technique, individual coaching and role study; sessions in career management; rehearsals and performance opportunities in the summer’s main stage and additional festival productions.
The program, which selects approximately 30 participants from nearly 1,000 applicants each year, has provided valuable voice training for many of America’s most notable opera stars, including Denyce Graves, Alan Held, Cynthia Lawrence, Margaret Lattimore, Alexandra Loutsion, Michael Mayes, Mary Mills, Emily Pulley, Greg Turay, Latonia Moore, Matthew Polenzani, Jesus Garcia, Chad Shelton, Daniel Belcher and Celena Shafer.
Orchestra & Singers - NAME YOUR FUND - Double Your Impact
Your Endowment Contribution Matched $1 for $1
*Annual Endowment Fund Draw to Central City Opera (Estimate)
I am so happy to play a small part in ensuring the future of Central City Opera. From the high-quality productions to the special charm of our jewel-box opera house in the mountains, every production is an event not to be missed. As a flutist in band and orchestra throughout all of my school years, classical music is in my bones and one of my great loves. I chose to name my fund in honor of the Principal Flutist to recognize the talent and hard work of the Principal Flutist and all of the other amazing musicians in the pit who add so much to our opera experience.
Support the Productions
On a chilly March evening in 1878, the curtain opened for the first time on a new Opera House. The patrons, primarily the community of Welsh and Cornish miners, basked in the splendor of their achievements. Raising nearly $20,000 dollars, they had created a new home for the arts. As the curtain closed on that evening’s performance, gold and silver nuggets thrown from the audience showered the stage as the performers took their curtain call. The miners had created a space for their favorite pastime: SINGING! Over 140 years later, we invite you to start your own legacy with Central City Opera.
Production Underwriting - NAME YOUR FUND - Double Your Impact
Your Endowment Contribution Matched $1 for $1
*Annual Endowment Fund Draw to Central City Opera (Estimate)
Support Historic Properties
“Hard rock miners, many from Wales and Cornwall, had produced the gold to create a prosperous community that boasted the Teller House, the finest hotel between Chicago and San Francisco. Not satisfied with that, the citizens of Central City subscribed funds to build ‘…the best and most convenient Opera House in the West,’ complete with eight sets of scenery, two hot air furnaces, and a chandelier with 100 kerosene lamps.”
—”The Central City Opera House” by Charlie H. Johnson, Jr.
Today, Central City Opera’s mission of historic preservation is dedicated to award-winning stewardship of the Opera House and 27 other vintage properties in the Central City / Black Hawk National Landmark Historic District. The distinctive Opera House, the charming Teller House hotel, several former commercial and industrial buildings and more than two dozen houses are maintained as performance, training, and residence facilities for the Summer Opera Festival and as hallmarks of Colorado’s role in the settlement of the Rocky Mountain West.
Historic Properties Maintenance - NAME YOUR FUND - Double Your Impact
Your Endowment Contribution Matched $1 for $1
*Annual Endowment Fund Draw to Central City Opera (Estimate)
Having dedicated much of her volunteer time at Central City Opera preserving, maintaining, and updating the historic properties owned by Central City Opera, on May 12, 1993, Melissa Trask was the recipient of the first Central City Opera Historic Properties Distinguished Service Award; it was, therefore, an easy decision for the Trask Family Foundation to create the Trask Family Fund for Historic Property Maintenance as part of the Endowment. May Melissa’s love of these special and unique properties carry on into the future.
Support Education & Community Programs
Through our Education and Community Engagement Program, we reach thousands of students in school each year that otherwise may never have an opportunity to experience opera up close. Central City Opera’s year-round education and touring programs connect 40,000 students, families and seniors each year with live performances, workshops and residencies throughout Colorado. Our touring programs are designed to enhance existing curriculum for young students and lifelong learning for everyone. We perform in schools, churches, retirement homes and community venues across the state to spread our love of opera and classical music.
Education & Community Programs - NAME YOUR FUND - Double Your Impact
Your Endowment Contribution Matched $1 for $1
*Annual Endowment Fund Draw to Central City Opera (Estimate)
My experience with Central City Opera began when I was a music teacher at Samuels Elementary in DPS. Central City Opera supported our school with extraordinary artistic resources. The Central City Opera education department, with its Music! Words! Opera! program, provides an all-inclusive, fully integrated and multi-sensory learning experience. I am thrilled to support these programs for many years to come!
Our Donor Stories
Read on to learn why Colorado’s community leaders and supporters of the performing arts have committed to the endowment fund.
Endowment Fund Board & Campaign Committee
The Central City Opera Endowment Fund (CCOEF) is a separate 501(c)3 organization with its own Board of Trustees.
Donor Benefits & Recognition
Join the Endowment Campaign and receive invitations to special events and more.
More Information & Contact
The beginning of the Central City Opera Endowment was realized from the lease of the Teller House when gambling was approved by the state of Colorado in 1991.