TAMARA BLISS ...this legacy...will continue for generations.

My mother, a high school music teacher, was a lifelong opera lover.  Even in her eighties she was giving lectures on opera, sponsored by the Brandeis Women’s Club, at the Pompano Beach FL library.  She also chartered buses to take residents from her condo development to the Miami Opera.

A few months before my mother died at the age of 94 in July, 2001, my brother and I decided to use some of our inheritance to support a program in her honor.  Because of mother’s love of opera and interest in music education, we quickly decided to focus on funding opera education for children. 

Through my accountant Carol Simon, I learned about the Boston Academy of Music (now called Opera Boston). Carol and I met with the two senior staff members in the company, who expressed strong interest in opera education.  I felt that there was a good fit between the organization and our goals for honoring our mother. 

Over three years we provided the seed money to develop opera education programs for children from inner city schools. Funding for new projects is very hard to get but I felt that once the company had developed some new programs, it would be easier.

With the help of an educational consultant, I worked on the initial planning with Carole Charnow, the director of the company.  A couple of years later, my piano teacher chose to volunteer with a program we did one summer with the Charlestown Boys and Girls Club.  She has a rare combination of musical talents, curriculum development experience, and good management skills, and was eventually hired as the program’s coordinator.

Our first program was The Opera Shop, an interactive workshop that aims to make opera accessible to fourth, fifth, and sixth graders.  In 2005 Young Audiences asked Opera Boston to join their prestigious artist roster; the company now presents an interactive production of Menotti’s opera The Telephone to student groups across the state.  Opera Boston and NPR’s “From the Top” partnered in a residency at the bi-lingual Hurley Elementary School in Boston which culminated in a student scripted and performed “radio show” on May 31, 2007.

I am very pleased that my strategy of providing seed money to start the company’s opera education program has been even more successful that I imagined.  Through the initial funding my brother and I provided, the company created imaginative new programs and gained the experience and credibility which made the program visible to major funders and important arts organizations such as Young Audiences.  The Board of Trustees has now accepted fund raising for the opera education program as an integral part of the company’s mission.

I am a member of the company's Board of Overseers and the world of opera education has become an important focus of my life. I continue to be involved in fund raising for the education program and provide some ongoing consultation.  I am now working on getting the next generation involved and my nephew has expressed a strong interest. I am hopeful that this legacy of opera education will continue for generations.

Advice

1.  If you want to honor the memory of a person that is important to you, focus on creating something that is relevant and important to that person and to yourself.  I combined my mother’s love of opera with my interest in enhancing cultural and educational opportunities for low-income inner city children. 

2.  If you want to start something new, you do not need to create an entire new organization.  Instead look for an organization that is relevant to your goal and help them shape a program that reflects your areas of interest.

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