UCSC OPERA

Donors

23% of 100 Donor goal

$8,515

Donated

This campaign ended on July 15, 2026, but you can still make a gift to University of California-Santa Cruz by clicking here!

About

Support budding undergraduate performers as they explore the world of opera!

Photo: (left to right) Xander Patnoe (Don Curzio), Alex Cook (Figaro), Andrew Palacios (Don Basilio), Conor Warshawsky (Count Almaviva), Miranda Minton (Barbarina), Charles Vail (Antonio), Michael Alofa-Aders (Bartolo), Talia Nabarro (Susanna), and Chloe Blue (Marcellina) in Le nozze di Figaro, 2025. Photo Credit: Steve DiBartolomeo

The UCSC Opera program is a specialized, undergraduate-focused series of opera courses that provide unique opportunities for promising young singers to learn and perform opera roles on a variety of different scales. The yearlong program includes a quarter of scenes from operas and musicals; a chamber-length opera performance for audiences of all ages; and a fully staged production with orchestra, professionally designed sets, costumes, wigs, makeup, and lighting. This year’s projects include scenes from tellings of the Orpheus Myth, a condensed version of Mozart’s The Magic Flute, and Offenbach’s Orpheus in the Underworld.

Photo: Talia Nabarro (Susanna) in Le nozze di Figaro, 2025. Photo Credit: Steve DiBartolomeo

Why we need support

All of our productions are donor funded.

Your donation goes to cover the cost of costumes and props, lighting and sets, wigs and makeup. Donations cover the cost of hiring professional designers, making the performances come to life for those onstage and in the audience! Your support today also offsets ticket prices for the spring opera and ensures that we can keep the winter chamber opera FREE, making opera accessible to all audiences.