Piedmont Opera Secures More Than $168,500 in Grants So Far During 50th Anniversary Season

Foundation investments strengthen High Point programming, education and outreach, new works, community-based performances, and Piedmont Opera’s ongoing operations

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — As Piedmont Opera celebrates its 50th anniversary season, the company has secured $ $168,527 in grants so far, strengthening its investment in communities across the Piedmont Triad while expanding education, outreach and access to opera.

Leading the support is $75,000 from The Hayworth Foundation in connection with Piedmont Opera’s production of Rossini’s The Barber of Seville and the company’s growing commitment to High Point, North Carolina.

The Hayworth Foundation investment supports a range of activities designed to make the production an experience that extends well beyond the opera house. Programming includes Student Night at the Opera, introducing students to live opera; Storytime with Piedmont Opera, engaging children and young families through opera and storytelling; and HOPera, a community initiative designed to connect opera audiences with High Point’s local bars and restaurants, encouraging patrons to explore and spend time in the city before and after performances.

Piedmont Opera has received two generous grants in support of its upcoming November North Carolina premieres of Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer’s Another Sunrise and Before It All Goes Dark. The Tri-M Foundation, which supports the production and presentation of regional performing and media arts through grants and gifts, awarded $10,000 to the company. The Winston-Salem Foundation also awarded $20,000 to support education and outreach initiatives surrounding these important productions.

The two works offer audiences an opportunity to experience contemporary American opera while creating new possibilities for education, conversation and community engagement around their themes.

The Company has also received $2,700 from The Shallow Ford Foundation to bring opera to the Lewisville Community Center. The grant helped the company launch its new Opera Lite series in Lewisville and provided momentum for the program to expand into Yadkinville, Lexington and soon, High Point.

Opera Lite is designed to take opera beyond the traditional theater setting and bring accessible, engaging performances directly into communities throughout the region. By expanding to additional communities, the series represents Piedmont Opera’s growing commitment to meeting audiences where they live and creating new entry points into the art form.

“The support we are receiving this season demonstrates that funders recognize opera’s ability to contribute to a community in many different ways,” said Susan Brittain, grant consultant for Piedmont Opera. “What is especially exciting is seeing how an investment can become a catalyst. The Shallowford Foundation’s support helped us launch Opera Lite in Lewisville, and that idea is now reaching three new Triad markets. Whether we are introducing a student to live opera, welcoming young families through storytelling, or helping generate activity for local businesses, each partnership expands the ways Piedmont Opera can serve the region.”

Additional support for Piedmont Opera’s operations includes $31,327 in continued funding from the Arts Council of Winston-Salem & Forsyth County and $28,500 from the North Carolina Arts Council. These operating grants provide essential support for the artistic, educational and administrative work required to produce professional opera and serve audiences throughout the region.

Local business support is also part of the season’s growing funding picture. Allegra, a local printing company, is providing $1,000 in printing support, helping Piedmont Opera communicate its programs and performances to the community.

The grants follow Piedmont Opera’s decision last year to contract with Susan Brittain of Susan Brittain Consulting to strengthen and expand the company’s grant-seeking efforts. Since then, the organization has increased its focus on identifying funding opportunities that connect artistic programming with education, community engagement, accessibility and regional economic impact.

“For 50 years, Piedmont Opera has been about much more than what happens onstage,” said Joseph Mechavich, General Director of Piedmont Opera. “These investments allow us to put that belief into action. They help us reach students who may be seeing an opera for the first time, welcome families into the art form, bring important new works to North Carolina, and take opera directly into communities. Philanthropic investment can help one idea grow into something that serves an entire region. As we celebrate where Piedmont Opera has been, this support gives us tremendous momentum for where we are going next.”

Collectively, the grants announced to date total $ $168,527:

• Hayworth Foundation — $75,000

• The Winston-Salem Foundation — $20,000

• North Carolina Arts Council — $28,500

• Arts Council of Winston-Salem & Forsyth County — $31,327

• Tri-M Foundation — $10,000

• Shallowford Foundation — $2,700

• Allegra — $1,000

The total represents funding secured so far, with Piedmont Opera continuing to pursue additional philanthropic investment during its milestone 50th anniversary season.