OPERA America
Collaborated with the Chief Advancement Officer to produce the Marketing & PR Forum for OPERA America in Fall 2021. Responsibilities included topic ideation, session planning, speaker coordination, and management of the honorarium budget. The forum offered a space for professionals to explore key issues such as audience engagement, media trends, and communication strategies in a digital age—fostering idea-sharing, strategic collaboration, and peer-to-peer support.
Forum Sessions Included:
- Social Media 101: Prioritizing Your Platforms — presentation by Kimberly Sears (Movers+Shakers)
- Accessibility 101: Website, Video, and Live Performance — presentations by John Orr (Art Reach), Beth Prevor (Hands On), and ChrisTiana ObeySumner (Epiphanies of Equity), moderated by Michael Solomon (Lyric Opera of Chicago)
- Social Media: Response and Care Strategies — presentation by L. Michelle Smith
- Front of House and Equity — panel including Teresa Coleman Wash (Bishop Arts Theatre), Hunter Gullickson (Guthrie Theater), and Crystal Brewe (Kimmel Center Cultural Campus); moderated by Chris Cox (Pittsburgh Opera)
- Video Content Creation for Promotional Purposes — panel including Imani Thomas (Dallas Theater Network), YuJune Park and Caspar Lam (Synoptic); moderated by Emma Storm (OPERA America)
- What Would Make Digital Content Worth It? — panel including Frank Luzi (Opera Philadelphia), Anh Le (Opera Theatre of St. Louis), Chase Hopkins (Haymarket Opera Company), and Kathryn Appleton (San Francisco Opera); moderated by Kerriann Otano (Opera Memphis)
- Embracing Newly Won Audiences — conversation between Geoffrey Jackson Scott (Peoplmovr) and Christian Benjamin (StoryMKTG) with Q&A moderated by Tamara Vallejos (The Juilliard School)
OPERA America leads and serves the entire opera community, supporting the creation, presentation, and enjoyment of opera. Founded in 1970, the membership includes over 600 opera companies, educational institutions, affiliated businesses, and other entities. More than 40,000 staff members, artists, and trustees at these organizations join nearly 3,000 individual members in empowering this national champion for opera.
Through national convenings, research, advocacy, granting, thought leadership, and a variety of programs for artists, administrators, educators, trustees, and appreciators, OA moves opera forward as an industry and an art form. The quarterly Opera America Magazine highlights the progress of the sector and the impact of more than $15 million in strategic grants we have awarded to increase new work, audience engagement, civic practice, business innovation, and inclusivity. The National Opera Center, our custom-built rehearsal and performance facility in New York City, serves as the centralized home for the industry, welcoming 80,000 visitors each year.
Let’s Get Social