ALAMO CITY OPERA
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Alamo City Opera is working hard to achieve a financial goal to set aside for times when ticket sales do not reach their anticipated projections. Artistically, the company is endeavoring to produce opera that is focused on the Latin American audiences of San Antonio.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
2017-2018 Alamo City Opera Season
We wish to create opportunity. The purpose of each program is for audiences to experience the full breadth of the operatic repertoire in intimate performances that aspire to achieve world class standards. Experienced artists are able to take risks in a nurturing environment, through professional debuts, major role debuts, and in repertoire that they may not otherwise have the chance to explore. Directors and designers can create original productions rather than adapt to existing ones. Young artists grow as they develop their own unique artistic voices. Students and educators can learn through opera while discovering the joys of performing arts. The season serves the entire community of San Antonio, able to explore how the arts reflect and affect our lives today. In our vision, everyone will have the opportunity to make opera a part of their lives.
The 2017-2018 Season includes 3 weekends of professional opera at various venues across the city.
November 4, 2017 Opera in the Park #3
February 3 & 4, 2018 A Little Night Music by Sondheim
June 9 & 10, 2018 Maria de Buenos Aires, by Astor Piazzolla
Program success will measured by ticket sales, critical review, director's assessments seasonal survey's taken from the audience, the opera's contributors and evaluation committee which makes its recommendations to the opera's Board of Directors.
Where we work
Affiliations & memberships
OPERA America 2015
OPERA America 2016
OPERA America 2017
OPERA America 2018
External reviews
Photos
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Total number of paid admissions
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Total number of free admissions
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Total number of off-site performances held
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Total number of free performances given
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Total free seats filled for open rehearsals
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Total number of open rehearsals
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Number of favorable critic reviews/awards of art produced given by media or peers
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Context - describing the issue we work on
Direction of Success
Increasing
Total number of paid seats filled for performances
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Average dollar price for performance tickets
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Input - describing resources we use
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Total number of performances
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Hours arts space has been rented
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Input - describing resources we use
Direction of Success
Increasing
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Alamo City Opera productions are fully mounted, thereby giving the artists (singers, musicians, designers and support staff) the chance to expand their potential by experiencing an actual performance. Ticket prices for our fully-produced operas have been about half the cost of other professional opera companies in Texas.
For people who have not had the good fortune to experience well performed opera in the proper environment, it seems to be a rarefied art form. Many consider it elitist, citing foreign language performances and expensive tickets as barriers. Strange then, that as a performing art, it is the most widely accepted throughout the world, and across all social, economic, and cultural barriers. In reality, opera is the one art form best able to embrace, and be embraced by, all people.
It has always been the goal of Alamo City Opera to provide high quality opera to a wide audience for a ticket price that allows attendance by all people. It has also been our goal to provide, here in San Antonio, a paying venue for the region's many talented young opera professionals, as well as providing the opportunity for them to work with nationally known artists. We have focused our attention on the standard repertoire since it provides young singers with the roles they will need to enter the professional marketplace and since. It also provides the audience the chance to hear excellent singers in favorite operas. Our venue, The Empire Theatre, is relatively small, barely 800 seats. This provides an incredibly intimate setting for our presentations, a truly moving experience when audience and performers connect, an event rare in the larger halls in which most operas are performed. The stage has technical limits, not so severe as to hamper a full production, but definite enough that we will never be able to put more emphasis on production values than on the true heart of opera, the voices and the music.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Strategies used is fulfilling our goals are many methods of evaluation and comment from the opera's audiences, talent, directors, contributors and critics. Goals are assessed and sometimes changed depending on the direction of the company. Alamo City Opera will soon be conducting its first Long Term Planning Report.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
ACO has many capabilities of successfully fulfilling its goals in the programming and execution, but needs to increase its administrative support system. Each program has the technical, directorial and musical talent to achieve each goal, but the staff of a few is at times overworked and certainly underpaid. This issue must be resolved soon to provide a balance between the artistic and administrative arms of the opera.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
The organization has succeeded in every goal set since its inception. Budgets have grown steadily throughout the last 6 years, and our audiences have increased at a rate of 15% each year. The company's demographic reflects the progress of the organizations stride to produce a diversified opera experience with a 38% Hispanic demographic and an average age of 42. ACO has furthermore exceeded expectations by producing what it promised to produce but also provide for outreach and educational free concerts like Opera in the Park 2015, 2016 and 2017.
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
ALAMO CITY OPERA
Board of directorsas of 07/08/2019
Carol Karotkin
Alamo City Opera
Term: 2012 - 2018
Michael Gaffney
PixelWorks
Joyce Coleman
Edith McAllister
Leticia Van De Putte
Self_ Employed
Clifford Bueche
Self-Employed
Brent Watkins
Owner Jazz Texas
Veronika Kuest
Kuest Corporation
Alicia Raizen
Educational, Inc.
Trish Staley
Documation
John Phillip Santos
Professor UTSA
Stephanie Oosterveen
Educator SAISD
Kurt May
Attorney
Bianca Centofanti
Manager Luciano Rest.
Lauren Malitz
Owner Dentist
Wayne Woodard
VP Valero
Carol Karotkin
Retired
Nora Cruz
Manager
Veronika Kuest
Owner Kuest Corp.
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? No -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? No