REAL Exclusive Magazine

Sarasota Youth Opera Receives Publix Super Markets Charities Grant.

As part of its ongoing support of programs for youth, Publix Super Markets Charities has once again awarded the Sarasota Youth Opera program a grant in the amount of $7,500. The award will help sustain Sarasota Opera’s commitment to community outreach and education projects, such as Youth Opera Choruses, Summer Workshops, and the Invitation to Opera program that engage young people’s creativity through exposure to opera.  
 
Publix Super Markets Charities has supported Youth Opera programs for the past eight years, most recently by providing funds to help produce the May 2010 Youth Opera performances of Judith Weir’s The Black Spider. Grant money also enabled Sarasota Opera to provide tickets to school children to attend The Black Spider, most of whom would never otherwise have had the opportunity to see a live opera performance.

High school senior and 10-year Youth Opera member Amanda Capps sums up her experience saying, “There are so many things I have been able to do as a member of Youth Opera. I’ve sung amazing music, learned from talented teachers, visited a foreign country, appeared in professional operas, appeared in a world premiere as well as a U.S. premiere, made some of the best friends in my life, and had the amazing opportunity to share the music I love so much with my community. Studying opera hasn’t just taught me how to read music and how to sing – it’s taught me perseverance, discipline, patience, confidence, and how to juggle a busy schedule.”

Photo: Executive Director Susan Danis (left) receives the check from Shannon Patten, Manager of Media and Community Relations with Publix Super Markets Charities, Inc.