Lyric Opera Guild

Welcome to the Guild!
Love opera but your friends and neighbors don’t understand? You’re new to opera, and you want to be more comfortable with this fresh adventure you’re on? Hey! You’ve come to the perfect place. The Guild is a social and support group for men and women of all ages who attend the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, and enjoy the camaraderie of others who share their interests. Throughout the year we party, get up close and personal with the artists and help them get acquainted in town, take trips together, share opera stories, learn LOTS….and generally support the Lyric Opera of Kansas City. We even have a “sub-set” of the Guild: The Bohemians, just for young professionals under the age of 40. Join now and meet us in the Guild Room at performances, and learn more about our great group, meet us in the Guild Room at performance, or join now.

In addition to the private Guild Room where you are welcomed before each performance and during intermission for wine and snacks, the Guild offers many events through the year, most of them free. Two of the most popular: cast rehearsal suppers, and cast luncheon, provide members with opportunities to mingle with the casts of each opera. We have our outreach programs, providing in-depth information about each opera, evening and afternoon get-togethers. And, of course, we have many opportunities to help the Company, both financially, through our trips and boutique, and also through donating our time and talents to the staff many times throughout the year.

Guild Membership Levels:
$40 Individual & $60 Family
Access to the Guild Room where Guild members and their guests can meet and enjoy refreshments prior to the performances and during intermissions at Lyric Opera performances.

Receive the quarterly Lyrical Notes newsletter with behind-the-scenes information about the Company and upcoming productions

Invitations to cast rehearsal suppers

Discounted tickets for family and friends

$100 Sponsor
Above benefits and receive CD previews of the season’s operas twice a year (summer and spring). The CDs offer lectures and musical excerpts by Guild opera fans.

$150 Donor
Above benefits and an invitation to special events

$250+ Patron
Above benefits and an invitation to the Patron’s Party

If you would like to join the Guild please download and return a membership application or contact Virginia Long for more information.

Guild Fundraising:
The Guild sponsors frequent trips to other cities and countries so opera fans may sample the best of opera and musical performances elsewhere. For more information on Guild trips please go to the bottom of this page for complete trip details.

The Guild sponsors the Guild Boutique at all Lyric Opera performances. The boutique offers a wide variety of opera themed gifts and is staffed by members of the Lyric Opera Guild.

If you would like to join the Guild please download a membership application or contact Virginia Long for more information.

Guild Outreach Programs:
The Guild-sponsored free Opera Previews are presented by the Lyric Opera Guild beginning one hour before curtain in the theatre auditorium. The previews are entertaining, informational presentations about the history and context of the opera, composer, etc.

The Guild sponsors At Ease With Opera, an award-winning program featuring speakers who appear at local venues in four series of presentations a year, two in the spring and two in the fall. The programs sometimes revolve around a particular upcoming production, but more often deal with a general topic in the field of opera. For information about upcoming programs, visit our events calendar page.

The Guild sponsors Lyrical Notes, a quarterly newsletter which also serves as Company newsletter.

The Guild sponsors a hospitality program for visiting artists.

The Guild sponsors an opera video lending library containing dozens of titles, available for free to Guild members ($10 returnable deposit).

The Guild sponsors a program to keep Guild members updated on advocacy efforts on both the state and national levels. The Lyric Opera Guild is a member of, and has several of its members serving on the board of directors of, an international opera volunteers association called Opera Volunteers International. For information about this organization and the services it provides to opera volunteers everywhere, please click here.

The Guild created a book of Lyric Opera and Lyric Opera Guild history, published in 1995 under the title We Got More Than We Gave: A History of the Kansas City Lyric Opera Guild. This 76-page softbound book includes many anecdotes and photographs from the early years of the company. The cost is $10.00; to order, send a check to Guild treasurer, Larry Sullivan, 132 W. 61st Terrace, Kansas City, MO 64113.

Guild Members Don Dagenais and Morton Creditor wrote Fifty Years of the Lyric Opera: A Great First Act to commemorate the Company's 50th Anniversary Season. Request a copy by contacting us.

The Guild sponsors a Speakers Bureau, available for group programs throughout the year. Entertaining programs with musical excerpts are tailored to the individual organization, and can address individual operas the Lyric Opera is performing, an overview of opera or overview of the Company, or the upcoming season. Contact us for information about booking a Speakers Bureau presentation.

If you would like to join the Guild please download a membership form or contact Virginia Long for more information.

Guild Trips

A Preview of the Lyric Opera Guild's 2009-2010 Trips!
Domingo, DiDonato, Fleming, Flórez, and more!
Check out our series of upcoming opera trips, and if your mouth is beginning to water, then join the company! Click on the link below to read all the basics about a year full of trips from coast to coast. Two trips to New York are on the schedule, with registration details to the first trip already released (see below). Los Angeles and San Francisco are also on the agenda, with the possibility of a late summer trip to Santa Fe. Spots on these trips will fill fast, so check back often to see if registration information has been released. For information about the 2009-2010 trips contact Don Dagenais at (816) 444-7407.
2009-2010 Lyric Opera Guild Trips Preview

New York City - April 20-24, 2010
Jonas Kauffman, Renée Fleming, Deborah Voigt
Join the Lyric Opera Guild April 20 – 24, 2010 for a trip to New York City. This trip will include The Metropolitan Opera productions of Tosca with Karita Mattila, Jonas Kauffman and Bryn Terfel; Franco Zeffirelli’s production of La Traviata; Handel’s Armida staring Renée Fleming, Laurence Brownlee, Bruce Ford and Barry Banks; and Wagner’s The Flying Dutchman starring Deborah Voigt.
Information about April 2010 trip to New York City

San Francisco - June 10-14, 2010
Stefano Secco, Deborah Voigt, Nina Stemme, Eva-Maria Westbrook
Join the Lyric Opera Guild in San Francisco June 10-14, 2010. The trip includes a San Francisco Symphony performance, and three San Francisco Opera performances: Gounod’s Faust with Stefano Secco, Patricia Racette and John Relyea; Puccini’s La fanciulla del West starring Deborah Voigt and Salvatore Licitra; and Wagner’s Die Walküre with Nina Stemme, Eva-Maria Westbrook and Mark Delavan. This trip also includes a tour of the nearby Sonoma wine country with visits to several outstanding wineries and a group lunch.
Information about June 2010 trip to San Francisco

If you would like to receive Guild trips mailings, contact us and tell us to add you to the trips list!

Please Note:
Cancellation Policy
You may receive a refund for any monies not expended less $200.00 cancellation charge. If items have been purchased or deposits made based on your reservation, refunds will be made only for the items that can be resold and only for the amount of resale. We strongly recommend trip cancellation insurance to protect your investment in this trip. Please call your travel agent for details.
Deviation Policy
All deviations from this brochure must be made in writing at the time of the reservation and are subject to availability and the tour leader's approval. The tour leader must acknowledge all deviations in writing for the requested deviations to be confirmed.