Operating Support Grant

Artistic Quality is evaluated regularly by Co-General Artistic Directors, Cal Metts and Sarah Lawrence, and Music Director, Dirk Meyer. Artists are asked for feedback about work experience with the company. Children's tour is evaluated by students and teachers who participate, with each participant filling out a one page survey that is age-appropriate. We receive hundreds of these each year. Board of Directors evaluates budget goals, ticket sales goals, social media engagement, publicity effectiveness, and patron and sponsor development, all of which are reported on at each board meeting. Over the years, all of these methods of feedback have led to the addition of programming, shaped the type of repertoire we choose, the venues we select, the price of tickets, the ticketing platform we use, the housing and vehicles we provide for artists - even the entrees at the fundraising event. We seek feedback from our artists after each project. Their eagerness to return for another project is our best indicator of how our artists are being served by our work together, and their input is necessary to guide our artist housing decisions, our rehearsal and performance venue selections, and myriad other elements of our work. For our school tour, each school is given age-appropriate surveys and we receive hundreds of these each year, complete with artwork and insightful and honest responses from K-5th graders and their teachers. We have conducted audience surveys in the past to capture a sense of what operas our patrons would most like to see LOON produce. We also receive unsolicited feedback with increasing regularity. We receive notes and cards following every event. Often these notes say, "thank you for being here," and we also receive lots of suggestions, usually about repertoire, venue choice, and food options at the Soiree. We are able to segment our donor and ticketing data to see who is participating and when. If someone attended an opera and didn't come back, we make a point of inviting them again by telephone. If some seems to attend only certain types of operas, we can track that as well.This past winter, our Little LOON cast was giving a casual "Opera 101" performance at an area restaurant. An eight year old boy was there with his parents. After it was over, he said, for all to hear, "THAT WAS AWESOME!" Of course we love to hear a response like that. And we work really hard to make sure that our productions are accessible in the broadest sense. When we sing in school gyms for 450 students, we don't expect every single kid to love opera. But we hear from principals and teachers that their students stay engaged with our performances longer and more intensely than they do for other assemblies. While we do hope that some day there will be even more people who claim ownership of this art form in our community, we can't help but enjoy the most frequently heard remark in the lobby after our productions: "I had no idea that I liked opera!" Our work is guided by the principle: "All of the glamour, none of the pretense," and so far we've found that that idea resonates with our constituents. We are also guided by this theory: By meeting people where they are 1. Across ages ?from nursery school to nursing home 2. In a diversity of venues? from the ice house to the opera house 3. In a variety of formats from Les Unc to La Boheme We can provide a way in to the beautiful, elevating, enriching art of opera, and a way forward for those who already love it. Attached is a letter from a long time opera patron, Leonore Baeumler, which underscores what we perceive to be our public benefit.