PLATINUM2023

Palm Beach Opera, Inc.

aka PBO   |   West Palm Beach, FL   |  http://www.pbopera.org

Mission

Palm Beach Opera (PBO) is dedicated to producing live opera at an international standard of excellence, to enriching the life of the communities it serves with a diverse offering of educational programs, and to training the next generation of opera stars.

Ruling year info

1965

General & Artistic Director

Mr. David Walker

Main address

1800 S. Australian Avenue Suite 301

West Palm Beach, FL 33409 USA

Show more contact info

EIN

59-1060864

NTEE code info

Opera (A6A)

Arts Education/Schools (A25)

IRS filing requirement

This organization is required to file an IRS Form 990 or 990-EZ.

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Communication

Blog

Programs and results

What we aim to solve

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Palm Beach Opera is committed to bringing opera to as many people as possible through its mainstage productions at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts, training the next generation of opera stars, as well as its free education and community engagement programs. In the three counties we serve, a need exists to show people the transformational and healing power that opera can have for the mind and soul regardless of one's gender, race, background, or socioeconomic status. Making opera accessible to all, regardless of one’s background, is part of The National Opera America Center’s nationwide conversation, #operaforall. As we continue to make plans for the company, it is at the forefront to incorporate civic practice into these plans to break down barriers that prevent new and diverse audiences from experiencing our art form.

Our programs

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?

Mainstage Productions

Palm Beach Opera performs fully-staged live productions of major operas.

Population(s) Served
Adults
Families

The Benenson Young Artist Program at Palm Beach Opera is a stepping stone to a successful career as an opera singer for post-graduate and emerging singers. During their five-month residency in Palm Beach they develop and polish essential stagecraft and performance skills, aided by musical and career guidance from Palm Beach Opera's experienced artistic staff. In addition to performing in Palm Beach Opera productions, the Benenson Young Artists will also appear in principal roles for the opera, HANSEL AND GRETEL, as well as other exciting concert performances throughout the season.

Population(s) Served
Adults

The Bailey Apprentice Artist Program of Palm Beach Opera is an opportunity for recent conservatory graduates to gain valuable experiences at the professional level. The Bailey Apprentice Artists are Palm Beach Opera's community ambassadors, performing throughout the region in education and outreach concerts, as well as adding strength and consistency to all of our mainstage production choruses. Bailey Apprentice Artists will further their artistic development through regular coaching with the Palm Beach Opera music staff and guest faculty.

Population(s) Served
Adults
Children and youth

A seven-month high school apprentice program where 12 students learn from industry professionals through voice lessons, master class sessions, and workshops to prepare for a career in music.

Population(s) Served
Adolescents

Children's Performance is a special 60-minute abridged opera sung in English with full orchestra, lavish scenery, and Palm Beach Opera’s Benenson Young Artists and Bailey Apprentice Artists. It features the best musical highlights of the opera as well as narration of the story and translations projected above the stage. Prior to the performance, children are able to experience several education stations including an instrument petting zoo. During the show, set changes take place with an open curtain, giving children an exclusive glimpse into how the magic happens on the opera stage. After the performance, children are able to meet the artists for photos and autographs in the lobby. Children's Performance is sensory friendly, with braille program books, a touch tour prior to the performance for those who are visually impaired, and a sensory friendly break space for children and their caregivers on the autism spectrum.

Population(s) Served
Children and youth
Families

Bailey Apprentice Artists visit area schools and special care facilities to present interactive programs, tying together their individual paths to opera with questions from the students.

Population(s) Served
Children and youth

In partnership with area organizations to bring opera into their community, the Benenson Young Artists and Bailey Apprentice Artists present an array of opera's famed arias, duets, and ensembles in concert.

Population(s) Served
Adults
Families

Opera Rehearsal 101 is open to middle & high school group students to come and attend the final dress rehearsal of Palm Beach Opera's Mainstage Production. Admission is free. Students get an exclusive sneak peek inside the final working dress rehearsal of our mainstage operas!

Population(s) Served
Children and youth

ANIMA brings opera to those who would otherwise be unable to experience the art form in the theater. Bailey Apprentice Artists sing opera arias and duets at various locations including homeless shelters, hospitals, Alzheimer's facilities, and more.

Population(s) Served
Seniors
Economically disadvantaged people

A sing-along story telling experience for younger audiences, which brings children into the pages of opera's famous tales, learning and singing memorable tunes. Performed primarily at local per-schools, libraries and community centers.

Population(s) Served
Infants and toddlers
Parents

Where we work

Affiliations & memberships

Opera America 2022

Videos

Our results

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.

Total number of performances

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Population(s) Served

Adults

Related Program

Mainstage Productions

Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Holding steady

Context Notes

We present three mainstage productions, each season. Each production offers three performances.

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

Increasing

Total number of free seats filled for performances

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Population(s) Served

Adults, Young adults, Artists and performers

Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Holding steady

Total free seats filled for open rehearsals

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Population(s) Served

Children and youth, Caregivers, Economically disadvantaged people

Related Program

Opera Rehearsal 101

Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Holding steady

Context Notes

From 2020-2022 we saw a decrease in participation due to Covid. We anticipate increased participation in 2023.

Total number of free performances given

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Population(s) Served

Children and youth, Adults, Economically disadvantaged people

Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Increasing

Context Notes

We anticipate reach pre-Covid numbers in 2023.

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

Increasing

Number of Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) developed

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Population(s) Served

Children and youth, Adults

Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Increasing

Context Notes

While we create lesson plans for teachers and provide programming for a variety of children, we do not create individualized programs for individual students.

Total number of students participating in private lessons

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Population(s) Served

Adolescents

Related Program

Palm Beach Opera Studio

Type of Metric

Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues

Direction of Success

Holding steady

Context Notes

We define success as remaining steady for our current number, 12. Until our vocal staff expands, more than 12 students in our program does not allow for individualized attention.

Goals & Strategy

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.

Charting impact

Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.

Palm Beach Opera (PBO) recognizes the importance of Civic Practice for the opera industry in order to reach new and diverse audiences. Through civic practice, we have the ability to gain a deeper and clearer understanding of who is in our community, understand the unique ways opera can be a resource to traditional and non-traditional partners, and put systems in place that will change the way we internally and externally structure our programs to create long-standing, meaningful impact and relationships.

These conversations help us begin the process of delving into the community and learning as much as we can about its makeup in areas including demographics, culture and diversity. This learning process is critical as it is important to understand who we serve, what our community needs are, and how we can better assist these needs. We hope to achieve a better understanding of civic needs in our community and how Palm Beach Opera can better serve its constituents.

In addition to already existing community partners (like the local school districts, hospitals, homeless shelters, etc.) partnerships will also be formed with organizations that have usually been “non-traditional” partners for our art form. Civic practice can expand how we view partnerships, who we partner with, and how we maximize these partnerships to be a cultural asset in our community, serving a variety of its needs.

An initiative led by our company leaders and decision makers, civic practice is an active discussion internally. PBO invested resources for an additional staff member whose work structure also focuses on community engagement. The education and community engagement manager is responsible for working with company leadership on developing a plan to carry out civic practice.

As we work to develop these plans, we want to intensify our civic practice by more clearly defining what that practice means to us and to the three counties we serve (Palm Beach County, Martin County, and Broward County). Our next steps in defining this involve forming a civic practice group comprised of community partners eager to learn more about the communities we serve.

Palm Beach Opera has an education and community engagement department dedicated to the growth and expansion of civic practice in its community. During the 2018-2019 season, the department will continue to partner with individuals/organizations dedicated to civic practice who will conduct studies of community needs, identify partners and grow existing ones, and bring additional training to all parties involved to better implement civic practice initiatives. Current partners in the areas below include:

Demographic: the demographics of our community give insight to our population as a whole and the particular groups within it. Ex: Puerto Rican Chamber of Commerce of Palm Beach County, Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Palm Beach County, Ebony Chorale of the Palm Beaches, etc.
Socio-economic: provides an overview of the fiscal health of the community and gives insight to areas that are in financial need or crisis. Ex: Economic Council of Palm Beach County.
Education: further research the needs of the youth in our community, specifically during a time when arts education funding is alarmingly low. Ex: School District of Palm Beach County
Social Equality: These partners shed light on the hardships people in our community are facing such as unemployment, homelessness, lack of resources, quality of life. Ex: Homeless Coalition of Palm Beach County.
Health/Medical: allows us to find areas of need in healing, therapy, mental health, addiction and more. Ex: VA Medical Center, serves a large veteran population.

Palm Beach Opera appointed an internal staff lead to focus on Civic Practice, the Education and Community Engagement Manager. This new focus, coupled with the expansion of the Bailey Apprentice Artist Program, impacted Palm Beach Opera's 2018-2019 season:

* Education & Community Engagement opportunities increased by 24% in the last year.
* 8 new community collaborations and partners including: VISIT Florida, Discover The Palm Beaches, Cultural Council of Palm Beach County, and the Downtown Development Authority, Homeless Coalition of PB County, and Lighthouse for the Blind.
* Over 20,000 adults and children experienced free education and community engagement programs.
* Nearly 800 free/sponsored tickets administered to our Children's Performance, The Revenge of the Bat.

How we listen

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.

done We demonstrated a willingness to learn more by reviewing resources about feedback practice.
done We shared information about our current feedback practices.

  • How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?

    To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals

  • Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?

    We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback, We ask the people who gave us feedback how well they think we responded

  • What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?

    It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback, The people we serve tell us they find data collection burdensome

Financials

Palm Beach Opera, Inc.
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Operations

The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.

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Connect with nonprofit leaders

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lock

Connect with nonprofit leaders

Subscribe

Build 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.

Palm Beach Opera, Inc.

Board of directors
as of 10/23/2023
SOURCE: Self-reported by organization
Board chair

Mr. David Genser

Jeffrey H. Alderton

Sanford M. Baklor

Gladys Benenson*

Dr. Robert Biscup

David Brodsky

William G. Brown

Sanford Fisher

Annette Y. Friedland

Ann Fromer

David Genser

Paul A. Goldner

Charles Gottesman

Peter A. Hoffman

Ronnie Isenberg

Florence Kaufman

Judith Kaufman

Ingrid Kosowsky

Nathan Leventhal

Dr. Peter McCombs

John J. Pohanka

*

Ari Rifkin

Marc Solomon

Ed Streim

*

Dennis Williams

Marc E. Wise

* in memoriam

Donna Kesselman Raggio

Dr. John Strasswimmer

Todd Lazenby

Board leadership practices

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.

  • 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 ? Yes
  • 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? Yes

Organizational demographics

SOURCE: Self-reported; last updated 9/21/2023
info Candid has made improvements to the race and ethnicity options.

Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.

Leadership

The organization's leader identifies as:

Race & ethnicity
White/Caucasian/European
Gender identity
Male, Not transgender
Sexual orientation
Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, or other sexual orientations in the LGBTQIA+ community
Disability status
Person without a disability

Race & ethnicity

Gender identity

Transgender Identity

Sexual orientation

Disability

Equity strategies

Last updated: 10/23/2023

GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more

Data
  • We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
  • We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
  • We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
  • We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
  • We disaggregate data by demographics, including race, in every policy and program measured.
  • We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
Policies and processes
  • We use a vetting process to identify vendors and partners that share our commitment to race equity.
  • We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
  • We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
  • We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
  • We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
  • We measure and then disaggregate job satisfaction and retention data by race, function, level, and/or team.
  • We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.