Don’t Call Opera Elitist
January 24, 2002 | Read Time: 1 minute
To the Editor:
I applaud Ted Halstead’s and Michael Lind’s new thinking (“Alter the Tax Code to Avert Elder-Care Crisis,” My View, December 13) — but I caution them not to make too many generalizations, especially about opera as elitist.
Not so in their own backyard in Washington, D.C., where the Summer Opera Theatre Company has, as part of its mission for 24 years, provided affordable ticket prices. You can attend our fully staged productions for $35, and that’s not in the upper tiers. You’ll be introduced to new voices, too, whose careers were launched or broadened by participating in Summer Opera Theatre Company.
Elitist? Ask our general manager (a 24-year volunteer). The arts already get the smaller slice of the philanthropic pie. Donors who champion the arts shouldn’t have their contribution diminished by greater tax benefits to an “elite” group of institutions serving the needy.
Tom Helinski
Board Member
Summer Opera Theatre Company
Washington
