Tuesday, June 12, 2012

The Magic Number = 35,647

35,647. Read that again. 35,647. Wow. That’s a big number. You’re intrigued, right? You’re wondering what 35,647 has to do with opera, right? Well, let me tell you...


Apart from the fabulous mainstage productions that Opera Colorado does each season, we have a thriving set of education programs. We’re quite proud of them. Each year, we take opera out into our schools, the community; basically anywhere that we can. Each year we keep track of what we do, where we do it and how many people we’re able to reach. That’s where this number comes in. During the 2011-2012 school year, we reached a total of 35,647 students and adults through our education programs. It’s amazing when you think about it. Go ahead, think about it. I’ll wait.


To us, that’s more than 35,000 individuals who have been exposed to opera, the majority of them for the very first time. It’s a lot of work. It takes a lot of time and resources. So, why we do it? The answer in two words; it’s important. Opera is important. It’s an art form that people need to know about and if the media is doing the teaching, their opinion will be skewed (think ladies in horned helmets and you’ll know what I mean, but that’s a blog for another day). Opera is part of our history. It’s part of our present. It’s an all-encompassing entertainment experience. Like that one? It took me awhile.

35,647. That’s just plain awesome.

By: Cherity Koepke, Director of Education & Community Programs

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