Tales from the Vienna Woods
Young Patronesses of the Opera (YPO)
Saturday, November 3
Coral Gables Country Club
997 North Greenway Drive, Coral Gables
305-804-9705 (Valerie Grace Ricordi)
The Young Patronesses of the Opera (YPO) will celebrate the music of Johann Strauss II and the rich cultural traditions of Austria at its annual gala, Tales from the Vienna Woods, to be held Saturday, November 3 at the Coral Gables Country Club. Now in its 57th year, the annual YPO Gala is considered among the city’s oldest and most prestigious black-tie affairs, attracting some 300 music lovers dedicated to the cultural vitality of Miami.
Gala proceeds will benefit YPO’s many programs dedicated to music and opera education and the Florida Grand Opera. YPO President Kristin Podack and Chairs Susan Feldman, Gail Pinon and Valerie Grace Ricordi will be joined by benefators Nancy and Jon Batchelor, Bunny Bastian, Pamela W. Cole, Swanee DiMare, Judy George, Dr. Sanford and Beatrice Ziff.
For ticket information, contact Valerie Grace Ricordi at 305-804-9705 or by email to ricordi@hotmail.com.
About Young Patronesses of the Opera
In the mid-1950’s, Dr. Arturo di Filippi, the man who brought opera to Miami, asked a group of women to form an opera support group. Thus was born the Young Patronesses of the Opera (YPO), a social volunteer organization comprised of over 100 women whose primary goal is to promote opera education. YPO has been raising funds for over 50 years to support its mission to cultivate, promote, foster, sponsor, educate and develop the understanding, taste and love of opera in the community and to support the Florida Grand Opera. This non-profit organization also relies on donations and grants to help fulfill their mission and to sustain a number of programs they offer such as the In-School Opera for the elementary school level, Teacher and Girl Scout Workshops, the Junior Opera Guild, Opera Funtimes and Voice Competitions of national renown.
During the 1994 opera season, the Greater Miami Opera and the Opera Guild, Inc. of Fort Lauderdale formed the Florida Grand Opera, Inc., making the FGO the tenth largest opera company in the United States. The formation of FGO ensures the production of grand opera of exceptional artistic quality in two performing arts centers in South Florida. As a long-time supporter of the FGO, YPO was awarded the Roberta Balfe leadership Golden Patron Award in 1993 for having made a lifetime contribution to FGO of over $1,000,000. Today, that contribution has more-than doubled. Because of its many achievements, YPO continues to be one of the most active and successful volunteer groups in the arts community.
For more information about YPO and our programs, please visit our website at www.ypo-miami.org.
