Community Outreach

At Ease with Opera
These free, in-depth talks provide an entertaining look at the creation and production of an opera. At Ease presentations are given by the Lyric Opera Guild at various locations in the community prior to each opera. You can receive notifications about upcoming presentation in the Lyrical Notes Newsletter (sent free of charge to Lyric Opera Subscribers) and on the Lyric Opera website calendar page.

Opera for Captive Audiences
The Lyric Opera outreach programs are committed to helping all adults be the best parents they can be. For this reason, our outreach includes special visits to minimum security correctional facilities for men and women in our area. Inmates and their children get to sing with Lyric Opera professionals in Beauty and the Beast. For information about this program contact Paula Winans, Director of Education.

Opera to Go!
The Lyric Opera Opera to Go! program, in collaboration with Country Club Bank, was created as an outreach program for retirement communities. Whether new to the opera or a long time supporter, we know that many individuals in retirement communities cannot attend an actual opera performance.

The desire to take opera into retirement communities led us to collaborate with the Lyric Opera Young Artist Program, which combines the graduate level academic training of the University of Missouri Kansas City's Conservatory of Music and the University of Kansas Opera Program in Lawrence, Kansas, with professional training in chorus or principal roles in Lyric Opera productions. These apprentice artists appear in every main stage production.

Apprentices perform and provide opportunities for senior audiences to hear and learn about less familiar works from the opera repertoire along with old favorites and, for newer audiences, to help debunk many of opera’s myths.

If you want to know more about Opera to Go! or are interested in scheduling a performance, please contact Daren Stimpert at 816-471-4933, ext. 114 or dstimpert@kcopera.org.

Opera Previews
Opera Previews are 25-minutes pre-show talks presented 1 hour prior to each performance in the theatre by the Lyric Opera Guild. Knowledgeable guest speakers give an introduction including information about the plot, history and composer of the piece.

Opera Guides
Know before you go! We provide free downloadable introductory guides to each opera so you’ll know that characters, story and background in advance. Downloadable guides are available at least two months in advance of each show and can be found online on the show pages in the Our Season section. You can also request a hard copy of the guide by contacting us or calling Patron Service at (816) 471-7344.

Student Rush
The Lyric Opera Student rush program offers limited numbers of student rush tickets available for Wednesday and Friday performances beginning one hour before the show with a valid student ID. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased at the ticket window in the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. Cash only.

Opera Goes to the Movies
In collaboration with the UMKC Continuing Education Department, this program is a unique opportunity for music lovers and opera buffs to explore the close relationship between two art forms that meld music, visual spectacle and the dramatic arts. The movie section is presented at the Tivoli Cinemas at Manor Square on Saturday and opera on Sunday at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts (opera ticket included). Join us for Sunday matinee performances of Turandot and Nixon in China this season. This is a non-credit course. To learn more about Opera Goes to the Movies, please contact Kathi Wittfeld in the Continuing Education Department, at 816-235-2736 or wittfeldk@umkc.edu.