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Opera America Inc at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Public charity

Opera America Inc

Opera america, inc.

$605k
Granted FY2022
21
Grants FY2022
11
States reached
$45k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2022.

Arts & Culture$7.7M
02FY2022 · 21 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 21 grants below total $374,600, the rows itemized in this filing. The $605,469 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $230,869 is giving the schedule does not break out (grants under the $5,000 itemization floor, grants to individuals, grants on other schedules). Every figure below describes the itemized rows only.

By grant size · FY2022

  • Under $10k8 grants · $64k
  • $10k–50k13 grants · $311k
$12,500
Median grant
11
States reached
$31M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
PENSACOLA OPERA$45,000
OPERA BIRMINGHAM$34,000
BETH MORRISON PROJECTS$27,500
LYRIC OPERA OF CHICAGO$27,500
VIRGINIA OPERA$27,500
AMERICAN LYRIC THEATER$27,500
OPERA THEATRE SAINT LOUIS$27,500
HOUSTON GRAND OPERA$27,500
BETH MORRISON PROJECT$17,000
MASSOPERA$15,000
LONG BEACH OPERA$12,500
OPERA SAN JOSE$12,000
HOUSTON GRAND OPERA$10,000
AMERICAN OPERA PROJECT$9,500
OPERA ON TAP$9,000
02The need
03

Does the money reach high-need areas?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.

show:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY17–22) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 76% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%Arizona Opera: $150k → 11%ODYSSEY OPERA: $35k → 8%Opera Omaha: $109k → 12%Minnesota Opera: $150k → 11%Opera Philadelphia: $75k → 22%OPERA PARALLELE: $40k → 10%San Diego Opera: $150k → 11%Glimmerglass Festival: $150k → 13%Beth Morrison Projects: $41k → 20%Austin Opera: $127k → 10%Dallas Opera: $200k → 14%Houston Grand Opera: $200k → 16%Santa Fe Opera: $200k → 12%Tulsa Opera: $39k → 15%PENSACOLA OPERA: $45k → 16%MICHIGAN OPERA THEATRE: $100k → 21%OPERA THEATRE OF ST LOUIS: $150k → 11%Florentine Opera: $91k → 17%PORTLAND OPERA: $75k → 12%NASHVILLE OPERA: $36k → 14%Central City Opera: $122k → 12%OPERA COLUMBUS: $38k → 15%CINCINNATI OPERA: $75k → 16%Seattle Opera: $200k → 9%WOLF TRAP OPERA: $74k → 6%NEW ORLEANS OPERA: $84k → 23%Arizona Opera: $150k → 11%OPERA OMAHA: $75k → 12%Pittsburgh Opera: $150k → 11%Opera Philadelphia: $75k → 22%San Diego Opera: $150k → 11%GLIMMERGLASS FESTIVAL: $75k → 13%Austin Opera: $123k → 10%Dallas Opera: $100k → 14%MICHIGAN OPERA THEATRE: $100k → 21%PORTLAND OPERA: $75k → 12%Seattle Opera: $100k → 9%OPERA OMAHA: $75k → 12%OPERA PHILADELPHIA: $50k → 22%SAN DIEGO OPERA: $75k → 11%LOS ANGELES OPERA: $200k → 14%GLIMMERGLASS FESTIVAL: $75k → 13%Michigan Opera Theatre: $75k → 21%SAN DIEGO OPERA: $75k → 11%MICHIGAN OPERA THEATRE: $40k → 21%San Francisco Opera: $200k → 10%San Francisco Opera: $200k → 10%AMERICAN OPERA PROJECTS: $65k → 20%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount
How this is measured
Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty line in the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP.

Which US states its grants reach

AK
ME
WA
ND
MN
IL
WI
MI
NY
MA
OR
IA
OH
PA
NJ
CA
CO
NE
MO
VA
MD
AZ
NM
TN
NC
SC
DC
OK
LA
AL
GA
TX
FL
How this is measured
US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are delivered. Need from public data (U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA), shown as context about the area, never attributed to the funder’s giving.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

86%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$6.6M · 41 repeat orgs$1.1M to everyone else

41 repeat relationships: 12 still active in FY2022, 29 since wound down; 5 grantees were first funded in FY2022 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

41
38

Total granted

$6.6M
$993k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+11%
+38%

Still filing today

98%
92%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2022, 82% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $68k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22
RenewedFirst-time
How this is measured
First-time means a grantee’s first year in the filing window; renewed means funded in an earlier year too. The renewed share climbs naturally as a portfolio matures, so the signal is a year that bucks it (a wave of new grantees). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as new. Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.

Backed again, and grew

  • TS
    THE SANTA FE OPERA
    4× · 2017–2024 · $430k · revenue +84%
  • GO
    GLIMMERGLASS OPERA THEATRE INC
    4× · 2017–2021 · $330k · revenue +26%
  • HG
    Houston Grand Opera Association Inc
    7× · 2017–2025 · $321k · revenue +28%

Funded once

  • CC
    CENTRAL CITY OPERA HOUSE ASSOCIATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $122k · revenue +80%
  • FLORENTINE OPERA COMPANY INCgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $91k · revenue +38%
  • NO
    NEW ORLEANS OPERA ASSOCIATION
    2× · 2018–2023 · $84k · revenue -9%
How this is measured

Repeat means funded in two or more distinct years. Growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Its field

Closest unfunded matches

The nonprofits that most resemble its grantees but are not funded by it, scored along the direction from the rest of the field toward the portfolio. A resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
Foundation for Modern Opera
—
2
Chamber Opera of Chicago
—
3
Maryland Lyric Opera
Arts & Culture
4
Operativo Houston

Providing paid opportunities for Houston based singers.

Arts & Culture
5
Hopera

Hopera's mission is to produce live musical performances in unique Houston Area spaces that focus on and empower Houston Area artists. Our Pint-Sized Performance concert series empowers local musicians to create original programs that are…

Arts & Culture
6
Pocket Opera Inc

Pocket Opera shares the beauty, artistry, and scope of the operatic repertoire sung in English, through performance, outreach, and education.

Arts & Culture
7
Opera Nova

Produce Opera for Children and to introduce the arts to young adults

Philanthropy
8
One Ounce Opera Production Company

One Ounce Opera Production Company (aka One Ounce Opera) invites audiences to immerse themselves in dynamic storytelling. We explore contemporary topics through the lenses of diverse trailblazers, forging new paths in the art form for all…

Arts & Culture
9
Washington Concert Opera

Washington concert opera presents less often performed operatic masterpieces in concert format that feature experienced and emerging artists, often in their role or local debuts.

Arts & Culture
10
Hudson Lyric Opera

The Hudson Lyric Opera is an organization dedicated to providing culturalopportunities for talented singers and musicians in the Hudson Valleyregion that have been classically or formally trained who, otherwise, wouldnot be able to devote…

Arts & Culture
11
Utopia Opera Limited

Utopia Opera is a NYC-based non-profit opera company that endeavors to produce three to four staged productions a year in Manhattan involving singers, orchestra, and crew members. These works encompass all genres, languages, and styles of…

Arts & Culture
12
Opera At Florham Inc

To provide all sectors of the community with affordable, accessible operatic and related musical performances

Arts & Culture
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Opera Omaha Inc; the most unlike its peers is Bard College. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
04the grantee network

97 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2026.

Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.

How this is measured

Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2026, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover.

Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
24
Early backer (in before they grew)
92/97
Grantees still filing
57/97
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

San Diego Opera Association: $450,000 · Arts & CultureSan Diego Opera AssociationTHE SANTA FE OPERA: $430,000 · Arts & CultureTHE SANTA FE OPERASAN FRANCISCO OPERA ASSOCIATION: $430,000 · Arts & CultureSAN FRANCISCO OPERA ASSOCIATIONGLIMMERGLASS OPERA THEATRE INC: $330,000 · Arts & CultureDETROIT OPERA: $325,000 · Arts & CultureSEATTLE OPERA: $324,000 · Arts & CultureHouston Grand Opera Association Inc: $320,500 · Arts & CultureOPERA OMAHA INC: $319,000 · Arts & CultureThe Dallas Opera: $300,000 · Arts & CultureARIZONA OPERA COMPANY: $300,000 · Arts & CultureThe Minnesota Opera: $263,000 · Arts & Culture+64 more: $3,711,366 · Arts & Culture+64 moreAMERICAN LYRIC THEATER CENTER INC: $65,000 · OtherON SITE OPERA INC: $40,000 · OtherCENTER FOR CONTEMPORARY OPERA: $20,000 · OtherMETROWEST OPERA INC: $15,000 · OtherMILL CITY SUMMER OPERA: $12,500 · OtherOpera San Jose Endowment Foundation Inc: $12,000 · OtherURBANARIAS INC: $8,000 · OtherMUSIC-THEATRE GROUP INC: $7,000 · Other+1 more: $5,900 · Other
Arts & Culture$7,502,866Other$185,400

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetSan Diego Opera Association: $450,000 over 5y, 1.6% of budgetTHE SANTA FE OPERA: $430,000 over 4y, 0.9% of budgetSAN FRANCISCO OPERA ASSOCIATION: $430,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetGLIMMERGLASS OPERA THEATRE INC: $330,000 over 4y, 1.7% of budgetDETROIT OPERA: $325,000 over 4y, 1.6% of budgetSEATTLE OPERA: $324,000 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetHouston Grand Opera Association Inc: $320,500 over 7y, 0.8% of budgetOPERA OMAHA INC: $319,000 over 4y, 3.9% of budgetThe Dallas Opera: $300,000 over 2y, 1.1% of budgetARIZONA OPERA COMPANY: $300,000 over 3y, 1.9% of budgetThe Minnesota Opera: $263,000 over 4y, 1.9% of budgetAUSTIN LYRIC OPERA: $250,000 over 2y, 3.2% of budgetLOS ANGELES OPERA COMPANY: $243,300 over 5y, 0.4% of budgetOPERA PHILADELPHIA: $239,000 over 4y, 0.9% of budgetOpera Theatre of Saint Louis: $212,500 over 2y, 1.3% of budgetPITTSBURGH OPERA INC: $162,750 over 4y, 1.8% of budgetBETH MORRISON PROJECTS INC: $162,100 over 7y, 2.0% of budgetAMERICAN OPERA PROJECTS INC: $154,500 over 5y, 12% of budgetPORTLAND OPERA ASSOCIATION INC: $150,000 over 2y, 1.7% of budgetLAKE GEORGE OPERA FESTIVAL ASSOCIATION INC: $130,560 over 5y, 6.4% of budgetCENTRAL CITY OPERA HOUSE ASSOCIATION: $121,800 over 1y, 2.8% of budgetLyric Opera of Chicago: $106,500 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetCincinnati Opera Association Inc: $105,300 over 3y, 0.7% of budgetOPERA MEMPHIS INC: $94,466 over 4y, 3.2% of budgetFLORENTINE OPERA COMPANY INC: $91,000 over 1y, 3.0% of budgetOpera Parallle: $84,300 over 5y, 5.8% of budgetNEW ORLEANS OPERA ASSOCIATION: $83,720 over 2y, 2.5% of budgetANCHORAGE OPERA COMPANY: $80,300 over 3y, 13% of budgetWOLF TRAP FOUNDATION FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS: $74,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetNASHVILLE OPERA ASSOCIATION: $70,164 over 2y, 2.1% of budgetOPERA ON TAP: $65,000 over 5y, 12% of budgetAMERICAN LYRIC THEATER CENTER INC: $65,000 over 6y, 11% of budgetPENSACOLA OPERA INC: $60,000 over 2y, 3.2% of budgetTHE OPERA ASSOCIATION OF CENTRAL OHIO: $57,990 over 1y, 4.9% of budgetLONG BEACH OPERA: $46,586 over 4y, 1.1% of budgetIN SERIES INC: $42,200 over 3y, 3.2% of budgetOPERA BIRMINGHAM INC: $41,000 over 3y, 5.7% of budgetON SITE OPERA INC: $40,000 over 3y, 2.1% of budgetTULSA OPERA INC: $39,000 over 2y, 1.8% of budgetSPOLETO FESTIVAL USA INC: $38,000 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetNAUTILUS MUSIC THEATER: $37,000 over 2y, 13% of budgetOPERA CULTURA: $37,000 over 3y, 12% of budgetODYSSEY OPERA OF BOSTON INC: $35,000 over 1y, 11% of budgetMetropolitan Opera Association Inc: $34,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE ATLANTA OPERA INC: $30,400 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetKNOXVILLE OPERA COMPANY: $30,000 over 1y, 3.2% of budgetHome for Contemporary Theatre and Art Ltd dba HERE Art Center: $29,600 over 2y, 1.0% of budgetBOSTON LYRIC OPERA COMPANY: $28,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budget
Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding

A decade per grantee: revenue shaded, grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

Co-funders

Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

The Aaron Copland Fun…The Amphion Foundatio…New Music USA IncIbm International Fou…The Andrew W Mellon F…Wender FoundationSeniel & Dorothy Ostr…The Howard and Sarah …The Map Fund IncThe Howard Gilman Fou…Claytor Family Charit…Firestone Family Foun…
The Aaron Copland Fund for Music Inc Co Alter Kendrick & Baron LLPNY43.6× affinity19 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Aaron Copland Fund for Music Inc Co Alter Kendrick & Baron LLP · The Amphion Foundation Inc Co Alter Kendrick & Baron LLP · New Music USA Inc · Ibm International Foundation · The Andrew W Mellon Foundation · Wender Foundation · Seniel & Dorothy Ostrow Foundation · The Howard and Sarah D Solomon Foundation · The Map Fund Inc · The Howard Gilman Foundation Inc · Claytor Family Charitable Foundation · Firestone Family Foundation Inc

How this is measured
Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. Overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization Opera America Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Opera America Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 40%1%4%8%15%funder's share of their income ↑0%23%45%68%90%share of the org’s income from government →median 7%
  • White Snake Projects Inc: 8% of income from government
  • Guerilla Opera Inc: 7% of income from government
  • Boston Lyric Opera Company: 3% of income from government
  • Portland Opera Association Inc: 2% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
4get no government money at all
24report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–90%
typical government reliance, FY20–25
How this is measured
Government income is each org’s traced federal awards (USASpending grants and contracts) plus state payments (open checkbooks) as a share of its total revenue (IRS Form 990); the self-reported government-grant line (990 line 1e) is carried for cross-check: a grantee that reports government grants we could not trace to a source is left off the chart rather than shown as receiving none. An association, not a claim that a grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first, a floor rather than a census; state records exist for 9 states, so a grantee outside them shows no state figure (dimmed) rather than a false zero. Federal award amounts are obligations, which can span years, so a single-year share is indicative. 990 filings lag 12 to 24 months.

On method. Every financial figure here is read from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 84 grantees we resolved, each linked to its source. Grantee outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III), read as association with funding, never as caused by it. Low-confidence name matches are suppressed rather than guessed. How we build these →

How this is measured
Each figure carries one of six labels. Filed is what the funder reported on its return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears.

Generated from the IRS Form 990 e-file return for fiscal year 2022, released 2022. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Possibly out of date. A more recent filing (FY2025) is on record and reports $531k of grant expense, but none of it to a named recipient. On a Form 990 that can mean grants abroad, filed by region only (Schedule F), grants under $5,000, which are not itemized, or a schedule referenced as an attachment the e-file does not carry. The figures above are therefore from FY2022, the most recent year this funder named its grantees.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Opera America’s filings →

More from the funding graph

The unnamed billions
grants reported with no recipient in the public record
The regranting layer
51% of grant dollars land in the regranting layer
The DAF merry-go-round
$9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds
The endowment market
who holds foundation money, and what just moved
The camps
funders cluster by geography, not ideology
By state
where grant money is based, and what stays home