Two (2) Tier B Tickets to an 11th Season Performance of your Choosing!

St. Petersburg Opera was founded in 2007 by Mark Sforzini with the financial assistance of the late Doyle McClendon.  The company began with a two fully staged performances of La Bohème and the Florimezzo Orchestra.  From the beginning, Maestro Sforzini believed in the necessity of a vital Emerging Artist program and in community outreach and opera education.  La Bohème generated enough in ticket sales to encourage Sforzini and McClendon to continue and the following season, the company produced two operas, with two performances each.  The company formed a Board of Directors in 2008 which has grown to 15 members.  In addition, as Mr. McClendon retired, the company established a network of loyal donors and supporters who have helped the company grow. It began an annual fundraising gala tradition in 2011.

Over its first ten years, the company has grown to produce three fully staged operas with three performances each, one Broadway or light opera show with three to six performances, and a holiday program with two performances.  In addition, it produces a monthly series of adult education programs, Evenings with the Maestro, established with a Culture Builds Florida grant from the State of Florida.  This series outgrew its original location and has expanded to a second full series location and a third partial series location. Children’s educational programming has not been neglected either, with efforts ranging from a children’s opera, to special performances of mainstage operas open only to students, to in-school programs.   In 2015, Opera Express was created: a free, family friendly day of opera and participatory music education.

In 2012 the company acquired its own home, Opera Central, in downtown St. Petersburg.  The building houses offices, set and costume construction and storage space, a large rehearsal hall and a small rehearsal hall which doubles as an art gallery.  It has truly become a cultural hub for the city, with an amazing variety of activities.