Past Guild Events

Albuquerque Guild Events and Activities

The Albuquerque Opera Guild has had a wonderful 2023-24 year so far. Our Membership Drive resulted in 102 members, including eight new members and seven new Board members. We welcomed them all at our annual Membership Meeting/Party in September 2023 at the Sheraton Hotel, with entertainment by Amy Owens and four of the Young Voices of the Santa Fe Opera.

Our annual Holiday Party was graciously hosted by Dr. Barry and Mrs. Roberta Ramo on December 2, 2023, where our four new student Board members ~ Nadine Adisho, Tzvi Harel Bat Asherah, Bailey Barnes, and Maria Bollinger sang for us. It was a delightful afternoon with much holiday camaraderie.

We began the new year with our annual Valentine’s Day Luncheon, held at the Tanoan Country Club on February 14th. This has become an AOG tradition, and this was our seventh time to celebrate our friends and loved ones with a delicious lunch, music by Professor Jamie Flora and four of his voice students at UNM, accompanied by Dr. Kristin Ditlow on the piano, and a silent auction.

Italian Night, held this year on April 9th in the Sheraton’s Grand Wurlitzer Ballroom, was one of our best ever, featuring the Young Voices of the Santa Fe Opera coached by Professor Flora and accompanied by our favorite pianist, Paul Roth. We awarded the James Hesse Scholarship of $1,000 to Haley Tarrant, a senior at Cleveland High School. She plans to continue her education at Eastern New Mexico University, majoring in Vocal Performance and Music Education.


This year’s celebration was also a special tribute to Estelle Rosenblum, a founder and former President of the Albuquerque Guild. Estelle served many years in many leadership positions, including President of Guilds, Inc., and was a great advocate and supporter of opera. Her family donated many of her beautiful art, vintage jewelry and clothing to our silent auction, which helped us achieve our budgeted income, as this is our only fundraising event each year. [YouTube video of Italian Night 2024]

And the year’s not over yet!

We continue to offer events for our members as we head into the Opera’s summer season. On May 23rd, we will honor our major donors with a soiree at the lovely home of Dr. Ron Bronitsky and Jim Porcher. “Mozart by Moonlight” will feature Soprano Olga Flora and Tenor Jamie Flora singing arias under a full moon!

On June 28th, we will once again provide a bus to and from Santa Fe for Opening Night’s La Traviata and enjoy dinner and a talk by Mark Tiarks at Dapples Pavilion.

And we are eagerly awaiting Youth Nights at the Opera ~ we have three buses to take local area students to see final dress rehearsals of La Traviata on June 24th, and Elixir of Love on July 23rd. Any member with a student between the age of 6 and 22 is invited to attend.