30 Sep Before We Turn the Page…
Before we kick off our new season of Rusalka: A Mermaid’s Tale, we at Opera for the Young would like to share last season’s impact with you. We proudly present the 2025-2026 Annual Report on our 56th season featuring The Elixir of Love!
A season in Lonesome Gulch
This season Opera for the Young took our original adaptation of Donizetti’s The Elixir of Love to the Old West. In Lonesome Gulch, Miss Addy, Jimmy Reno, Sgt. Bill Corey and the cure-all peddler Dr. Dulcamara taught students that honesty and staying true to yourself matter more than any magic potion – especially one that turns out to be root beer! All season long our touring casts brought live opera to schools, senior communities, and stages across the Midwest.
The season by the numbers
2,000+ students joined our cast onstage as the opera chorus, and over half of our student audience learned the songs in advance
48,300 audience members
$7 expense per person
129 performances & programs
111 venues (including 15 first-time venues new to our program): 91 elementaries, 12 senior communities, 4 high schools, and 4 performing arts centers
In Their Own Words
“OFTY exposes our students in an interactive and engaging way [to] a genre of music that isn’t often accessible to children and especially children in a very rural setting like the community our school is located in… and it was fun!”
Beth Steffl, Music Teacher
St. Raphael (Springfield, MN)
“Best opera company in the whole world!”
3rd grade student
“You and your actors are so kind and so fun to be around during the opera!!!!! (I mean it!!!)”
4th grade student
Thank You!
Every performance was made possible by our donors: individuals, families, businesses, foundations, and government agencies who believe every child deserves live opera. Together, you brought The Elixir of Love to 48,300 people.
Read our Annual Report in its entirety here.