Sarasota Opera Receives $50,000 Arts Appreciation Grant

October 29, 2021 – Sarasota

Sarasota Opera is pleased to announce a $50,000 Arts Appreciation Grant from Gulf Coast Community Foundation. In a longstanding commitment to honor the cultural and economic contributions of the region’s cornerstone arts groups, Gulf Coast provides flexible funding to organizations so they can focus on their artistic missions. Sarasota Opera General Director Richard Russell states, “The Arts Appreciation grant from Gulf Coast Community Foundation will provide needed support to Sarasota Opera as we recover from the devasting year of the COVID shutdowns. It will help us as we once again host an in-person Youth Opera Program and return to full-scale opera productions.”

Acknowledging the region’s reputation as a leading artistic and cultural haven, Gulf Coast awarded Arts Appreciation Grants to 12 arts organizations in the area, including Sarasota Opera. Sarasota Opera’s 63^rd consecutive season will begin this week with Rossini’s The Silken Ladder. The 2022 Winter Festival will open with Puccini’s Tosca, followed by Donizetti’s The Daughter of the Regiment, Bizet’s The Pearl Fishers, and Verdi’s Attila. The Gulf Coast grant also supports the Sarasota Youth Opera, which will be presenting a special concert with the Sarasota Opera Apprentice Artists and the Sarasota Opera Orchestra in March 2022. With generous backing from the entire community, Sarasota Opera was the only opera company in the U.S. to present a season in their theater during February and April 2021.