Baroque opera offers full immersion in the world of 17th  and 18th-century culture with elaborate scenic design, virtuosic singing, stylized dances, colorful orchestras, and profoundly human stories. No other musical genre from this era has quite the same capacity to move, excite, and inspire audiences.

During the 2018/19 season, Ars Lyrica Houston offered its first full-length Baroque opera: Agrippina, Handel’s first operatic masterpiece. Since then, Ars Lyrica has offered an opera production every other season: Jonathan Dove’s The Other Euridice (2021), Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas (2022), and Handel’s Amadigi di Gaula (2024).

Members of Ars Lyrica’s Opera Circle guarantee that we can keep our cultural stories and history alive. Your gifts allow us to make opera resonate anew through imaginative staging in collaboration with the world’s most respected experts in dance, theater, and music. Through your multi-year financial commitments, we are able to grow the organization as curators and caretakers of this exceptional art form.

“Annual Baroque operas present Ars Lyrica with a golden opportunity: to advocate for an exceptional and seldom heard repertoire, on par with major companies around the world.” 
- Matthew Dirst, Artistic Director

Sponsorship Opportunities 

Ars Lyrica Opera Circle sponsorships offer a range of benefits, including behind-the-scenes access to artists, recognition, special invitations to exclusive events, and much more. Please explore the options below for more information on specific sponsorship opportunities.  

Production Guarantor: $15,000 and up 

Production Guarantors help secure the future of Baroque operas by pledging a minimum of $15,000 annually with a three-year commitment.  Production Guarantors receive special recognition and benefits, including invitations to Opening Night events with principal artists, ALH Directors and Board, cast parties, backstage tours, and VIP performance tickets.

Thank you to our Production Guarantors:

Robin Angly & Miles Smith

Kathryn & Brendan Godfrey

Drs. Elizabeth Grimm & Jack Roth

John A. Lemen

Principal Artist Sponsor: $10,000 and up

Principal Artist Sponsors make a multi-year commitment towards principal artists to ensure the highest caliber of artistic excellence for ALH opera productions. Principal Artist Sponsors enjoy special access to the artists by hosting cast parties and appreciation events; they also receive VIP performance tickets, and backstage tours invitations.

Thank you to our Principal Artist Sponsors:

Jeanie Flowers - in support of Hannah De Priest & Thomas O’Neill

Dr. Ellen R. Gritz & Milton D. Rosenau, Jr. - in support of Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen

Connie Kwan-Wong and CKW LUXE Magazine - in support of Nola Richardson

Kathleen Moore & Steve Homer - in support of Cecilia Duarte in Handel’s Theodora

Artist Underwriter: $4,000 and up

Artist Underwriters provide vital multi-year funding for supporting artists and orchestra musicians. They receive invitations to appreciation events, cast parties, and backstage tours, plus VIP performance tickets. 

Thank you to our Artist Underwriters:

Gule & Tayab Andrabi - in honor of Connie Kwan-Wong

Sonja Bruzauskas & Houston Haymon - in support of Camille Ortiz

Robert Chanon - in support of Cecilia Duarte in Crossing Borders

Mr. Francis & Flora Choy - in support of Erica Schuller

James Cowan & William Taylor - in support of Enrico Lagasca

Maryke Cramerus, in support of Kathryn Montoya -
in honor of Pieter A. Cramerus

Wil McCorquodale & Mark Hitt - in support of Steven Brennfleck

Dr. William H. & Teresa C. Reading - in support of Amia Langer

Ed & Janet Rinehart - in support of Barrett Sills

Kevin Topek & Mindy Vanderford

Supporting Producer (Costume/Set/Lighting Underwriter): $2,500 and up 

Supporting Producers provide vital multi-year funding for productions staff, sets, costumes and lighting design. They receive invitations to appreciation events,  cast parties, and backstage tours, plus VIP performance tickets. 

Thank you to our Supporting Producers:

Christopher Bacon & Craig Miller

Anna Dean

Linda C. Murray - in memory of Robert J. Murray

Joan & Mike Weltzien

Sustaining Contributor: $1,000 and up

Sustaining Contributors provide vital multi-year funding for staff and production needs. They receive invitations to appreciation events.

Thank you to our Sustaining Contributors:

Diana Davis & Andrew Blocha

Debbie Feuer - in memory of Katherine Medley

Geraldine Gill

Leonard Goldstein & Helen Wils - in honor of Dr. Ellen R. Gritz & Milton D. Rosenau, Jr.

Ed & Janet Hess - in support of Emma Kent Wine

Praise for ALH’s Opera Circle

“Ars Lyrica’s vibrant and provocative performances of a historically informed repertoire speak to us as lovers of history and live music.  Under a passionate artistic and professional team, they exemplify tradition and excellence in all they do.”
- Ed and Marianne  Grusnis,
The  Antiquarium

“We support Ars Lyrica because we found a unique passion within the organization that brings beautiful and rarely appreciated music to amazing life. We are also fully engaged in ALH’s exciting artistic vision of bringing baroque opera to Houston.”
-Sara and Gabriel Loperena 

“Ars Lyrica’s decision to stage a new production of Handel’s Agrippina immediately fired my imagination. As a life-long fan of baroque music in general and Handel in particular, I was determined to make a contribution to the success of a project so dear to my heart. Ars Lyrica's musical interpretation, the orchestra and soloists are always of the finest, and with Tara Faircloth as stage director, the result will be memorable. I am thrilled to underwrite her services - all that remains is for every lover of baroque music in Houston to come and applaud the results.”
-Maurice Isaac

Praise for ALH’s operas

"...Theatrical works have become the calling card of Ars Lyrica... They seem to evoke inspired performances by the group.” -Houston Chronicle

“Faircloth imagines a Gatsby-era Game of Thrones, with glorious vocal fireworks in place of bloody swordplay.”
-Arts & Culture Texas

“The music, under Matthew Dirst’s capable direction, soared, and the singer/actors delivered riveting performances.”
-CKW Luxe

“Cohen’s voice boasted a warmth that few countertenors share; combined with the fluency and poise of his singing, his voice let Ottone’s arias exude forthrightness and nobility. The emotional climax came halfway through the story–when Ottone, though no fault of his own, suffers rejection by everyone around him. Cohen made Ottone’s response, “Voi che udite il mio lamento,” a musical portrait of desolation, from pianissimo phrases that were pale as death to surges of vibrant, plaintive sound.”
-Texas Classical Review

“Stage director Tara Faircloth emphasized comedy, as in Claudio’s preening demeanor on his first entrance; Pallante and Narciso’s fawning over Agrippina; and the fluttering of the servant Lesbo, played by Eduardo Tercero. But for Handel’s serious moments–as in Ottone’s big aria,–Faircloth quieted everything down, and the poignant results helped Handel’s extraordinary music tell its story.”
-Texas Classical Review

“Selowsky’s wealth of vocal colors brought Agrippina’s stratagems to life—whether the power-hungry woman was working her wiles on her admirers, relishing her successes or reacting to surprise twists of fate. Even her recitatives crackled.” -Texas Classical Review

 

For more information about sponsorship opportunities and benefits, please contact Kinga Ferguson, Executive Director, at 713-622-7443 or kferguson@arslyricahouston.org.

Praise for Ars Lyrica Operas

“Theatrical works have become the calling card of Ars Lyrica… they seem to evoke inspired performances by the group.” 
-Andrew Dansby, Houston Chronicle

“Ars Lyrica Houston’s production of Dido and Aeneas (May 21-22 at Zilkha Hall) was a captivating triumph. From the moment the flamboyant Sorceress Nicholas Garza pounded his staff thrice offstage as the instrumental ensemble finished tuning, the narrative pulse and dramatic intensity never waned.”
-Sherry Cheng, Arts and Culture Texas

“The music, under Matthew Dirst’s capable direction, soared, and the singer/actors delivered riveting performances.”
-Shannon McKirchy, CKW Luxe 

“Ars Lyrica Houston’s production of Dido and Aeneas (May 21-22 at Zilkha Hall) was a captivating triumph. From the moment the flamboyant Sorceress Nicholas Garza pounded his staff thrice offstage as the instrumental ensemble finished tuning, the narrative pulse and dramatic intensity never waned.”
-Steven Brown, Arts and Culture Texas

Watch: Impact of the Opera Circle

Opera Circle Co-Chair Gabriel Loperena on the importance of ALH’s opera productions to Houston’s arts community.

Countertenor John Holiday performs "Come nube" from Handel’s Agrippina.

Mezzo-Soprano Abigail Fischer performs Dido’s Lament in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas

Mezzo-soprano Cecilia Duarte performs "Volo pronto" from Handel’s Agrippina.