When you mention The Dallas Opera to your friends or neighbors, everyone has a story. Whether they came to a student matinee on a school field trip, admired the Hart Institute’s women conductors as they showed off their skills, or goggled over the sets of TDO’s recent nearly sold-out Carmen production, it’s clear Dallas’ opera company is a staple of the North Texas community.
Renowned for its blockbuster productions and deep community engagement, The Dallas Opera is undertaking a historic fundraising challenge. The O’Donnell Foundation has pledged to match up to $25 million in new or increased gifts and pledges made by Dec. 31, 2025. Contributions designated for the endowment will be matched dollar for dollar, while those supporting operations will receive a 50% match.
“In a time when not every opera or performing arts company is as fortunate, this is a transformational gift and a unique time for The Dallas Opera’s legacy,” The Dallas Opera board chair Quincy Roberts says.
“There has never been a better time to give to The Dallas Opera and secure its future,” adds The Dallas Opera’s Kern Wildenthal General Director and CEO Ian Derrer. “The beauty of this is that we are raising money for general operations and the endowment itself.”
So far, well over half of the goal has been reached, thanks to a $7 million lead gift from The Eugene McDermott Foundation, along with other significant donations and pledges.
“This challenge is significantly important in helping us mitigate increasing annual costs that we are not able to make up at the box office,” Derrer says.
When fully matched, the challenge will add $40 million to the opera endowment (which will more than double the current endowment), and $10 million will help operational costs while the endowment matures.
“The O’Donnell Foundation has been a steadfast and generous partner of The Dallas Opera for many years,” Derrer says. “We are grateful to the O’Donnell Foundation, the Eugene McDermott Foundation and The Dallas Opera family for their unwavering belief in our mission and for investing in our ability to deliver world-class opera to future generations.”
The funding is critical to opera’s main-stage productions, such as last month’s historic Carmen featuring an international cast of stars, plus its multiple community outreach efforts and programs to develop rising singers and female conductors.
Since its inception in 1957, The Dallas Opera has presented top-flight talent and commissioned critically acclaimed contemporary operas, such as Moby-Dick and Everest. In doing so, it has attracted new viewers of all ages, including families and students of all ages — many of whom have never previously experienced this enduring art form.
The company’s efforts to make opera more accessible to the population include inviting local students to view the final dress rehearsal before each production opening, free of charge. It also shares digital rebroadcasts of previous productions for free on YouTube from May through November.
Those performances are watched by people all over the world.
In addition, TDO annually presents two family-friendly operas for only $5 a ticket, such as perennial favorite, The Three Little Pigs, and this season’s The Little Prince Family Opera. The opera company also produces student matinee operas on weekdays, drawing young students from 10 counties. The Dallas Opera also stages pop-up performances of family operas on its OperaTruck. Supplied by board chair Roberts’ namesake trucking firm, the 18-wheeler is used as an outdoor stage for performances at libraries, parks, senior centers and other facilities across North Texas.
Touring artists perform in after-school programs at elementary schools throughout Dallas-Fort Worth, reaching 27 schools before the fiscal year ended last June. Before each of these performances, The Dallas Opera’s “Opera in a Suitcase” program teaches the basics of opera and audience etiquette.
Elementary students may also attend Opera Boot Camp — free half-day summer workshops that showcase how an opera is produced and feature a performance. This past summer, Opera Boot Camps educated 330 attendees.
Some of these programs were created with special funding from The O’Donnell Foundation, which supported a successful four-year campaign to help The Dallas Opera rebuild audiences and annual fundraising after the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We grew an entirely new young professionals group called Crescendo out of that,” Derrer points out. The group, which has grown to more than 200 members, enjoys behind-the-scenes access, discounted tickets, and invitations to pre-opera parties and other events.
The Dallas Opera has also made great strides in artist development via the innovative Linda and Mitch Hart Institute for Women Conductors, a 10-year-old program working to close the gender gap on opera podiums. The Institute, which won a 2025 International Opera Award for Equal Opportunities on Nov. 13, has augmented those efforts this season by launching a new fellowship that gives practical experience to one assistant conductor.
On top of that, The Dallas Opera’s annual Vocal Competition has supported rising opera stars since 1988. Many of its winners have sung on the world’s most prestigious stages — and have returned to sing in mainstage roles at The Dallas Opera.
The O’Donnell challenge grant ensures The Dallas Opera can continue to employ hundreds of local artists, singers, and musicians each season, and remain a vital pillar of Dallas’ exceptional arts community.
As Roberts notes, “No matter the amount, there has never been a better time to support The Dallas Opera.”
To give to the matching campaign, visit dallasopera.org/support and click on “Support the Dallas Opera Today.”