Meet the Guild Helping to Keep Local Opera Alive 

Whatever preconceptions you have about the art form that is opera, the St. Petersburg Opera Guild may just change them. 

“You can wear a t-shirt to the opera, and stop in on your lunch break,” says guild volunteer and opera enthusiast Kitty Grubb. “There are subtitles, you don’t need to know Italian. It’s for everyone, and that’s what people don’t understand.” 

The St. Pete Opera Guild is a 501c3 that supports St. Pete Opera, but it is its own entity – don’t confuse SPO with the guild. While St. Pete Opera, founded in 2007, is a company that puts on shows, the guild, founded in 1964, is a community infrastructure that supports and promotes all opera, especially young people who are coming into the art form. 

You may not think of high schoolers as the main players in the St. Pete opera world, but surprisingly, there is a colorful community of elementary school, high school, and undergraduate youth that actively studies and performs opera. 

“What are you gonna do with your one crazy life?” Grubb asks. For these kids, it’s opera. 

Surprising History

It’s 1964 in St. Petersburg and there’s a new charity in town: The Service Guild of the St. Petersburg Civic Opera Guild, Inc. While the name may have been formidable, the direction wasn’t crystal clear for the group, which was formed to support opera – any opera – in the community. 

Then, in 1970, the guild established a defining tradition: operatic vocal competition for high school and college students, with scholarship monies awarded to the participants. Because music and performing arts students aren’t typically up to their ears in finance opportunities, word traveled fast. 

“I’ll still meet people at events that mention, ‘Hey! I won one of your competitions in the ‘90s,” says guild member and current SPO Artistic Administrator Michael Roberts. 

In 2015, the group changed its name to the St. Petersburg Opera Guild, largely inspired by St. Pete Opera. Throughout the 2010s the guild’s mission has remained largely the same, and the vocal competitions and opera luncheons have stuck around over the last 60 years. 

However, to help keep local opera alive in the community, the guild added several new programs, traditions, and even digitized to keep up. Word of mouth became a navigable website; flyers have become pdfs. 

“Like it or not, times are changing,” says Roberts, “and we have to change too.”

For the Kids 

For some Pinellas County third graders, the day the guild comes to their music class to teach them about opera may just be another day. For others, it’s one they might never forget. 

Each year, the guild goes to schools to introduce kids to the art form and teach some of the music. Third-grade classes are then invited to an SPO showing of Pinocchio. (Like many famous operas, Pinocchio can be a tad dark. The act is lightened up a bit for young audiences.) Seeing and learning about opera at a young age can have a big impact. 

“The kids are so entranced,” says Roberts. “[They ask] ‘How can they sing that loud without a microphone?’” 

Perhaps the most renowned guild event is the High School and College and Adult Vocal Competitions. Each year, high school, college, and postgraduate singers, adorned in their best formal wear, perform in front of a panel of judges. The best leave with their money awards. All leave with more connections, and the possibility of making an impression that will get them hired on a production eventually. 

“Cash prizes, that’s what it’s all about,” Roberts said. “But really, we want to support these young artists.” 

Phantom of the Funds 

To be able to pay the young opera artists, one must first make money. 

“Pretty much all the money we make from our fundraising efforts goes back into paying our artists,” said Sharron Robbins, longtime guild volunteer and vice president of membership. “Our focus and goal is to promote opera to the youngsters, but we of course have to have enough money to pay for our competitions.” 

Throughout the year, the guild makes money through their Opera Luncheons. Artists sing, supporters mingle, and everyone gets lunch. Not an entire production, but a taste. Some hired artists are local talent who have been involved in the art form since high school and have even competed in the guild’s vocal competitions.

The guild’s chief money-maker, however, is Silver Bells, an operatic event and benefit responsible for much of the yearly budget. It happens each December, and while the event is popular, there’s still room to grow.  

“A lot of people don’t realize how much talent we have in the area,” Grubb said. “I mean look, we have this 60-year-old guild, and no one even knows about it.” 

Opera is Not Elite

The easiest way to see if opera is for you? Go to a show. “If you can just get someone in front of a live opera, it’s another ball game entirely,” Roberts said. “It’s the movie versus seeing it live on Broadway. People are really singing and dancing up there.” 

SPO presents shows year-round, and you can also find performances regularly at the Straz, Ruth Eckerd Hall, the Mahaffey and other local venues.

If you want to volunteer, or become a member of guild, the opportunities are always open. Volunteers help paint and create sets, spread the word, and just generally support the art. They are the uncredited players behind the growth of opera in St. Pete. 

Says Grubb, “This organization has been glorious, without getting a lot of glory.”

Learn more, find an event, or check out volunteering at stpeteoperaguild.org