GRoW @ Annenberg
LA Opera is delighted to thank GRoW @ Annenberg for their underwriting support of Highway 1, USA and The Dwarf. A steadfast partner of LA Opera over many years, GRoW @ Annenberg has provided foundational support to the company, underwriting numerous productions, championing its education programming, and joining the Angels initiative. LA Opera also extends its deep appreciation to board member Régina Weingarten and her husband Gregory Annenberg Weingarten for their personal commitment to exceptional artistry, cultural enrichment and providing access to the arts and arts education.
A philanthropic initiative led by Gregory Annenberg Weingarten, vice president and director of the Annenberg Foundation, GRoW @ Annenberg is world renowned for its extraordinary support of organizations that address social and cultural issues and meet urgent community needs. At LA Opera, GRoW @ Annenberg’s support has brought many productions to the stage, including Salome (2017); Orpheus and Eurydice, Hansel and Gretel and Rigoletto (2018); The Clemency of Titus (2019); La Cenerentola (2021); and St. Matthew Passion (2022). The company was honored to recognize GRoW @ Annenberg (“GRoW”) as its 2022/23 Season Underwriter in gratitude for their underwriting support of four productions in that season: Lucia di Lammermoor, The Marriage of Figaro, Pelléas et Mélisande and Otello. GRoW also generously supported the company’s production of Don Giovanni, which launched the current season.
Through the years, GRoW @ Annenberg has supported the company’s educational programming and special funding initiatives as a member of the Angels and the Campaign for LA Opera. Thanks to GRoW’s generosity, LA Opera has been recognized for its artistic excellence and its arts education programming, helping to make Los Angeles one of the world’s premier cultural centers. GRoW @ Annenberg has also engaged students in the arts through a sponsored poster art contest focused on LA Opera productions, inspiring hundreds of young people to discover opera.
In 2015, Gregory and Régina moved their family to Los Angeles from Paris, where they made significant contributions to the arts, as well as other prominent organizations. In recognition of their dedication to the arts, they both received the prestigious distinction of Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur, France’s Legion of Honor Award. LA Opera salutes Régina and Gregory Weingarten’s generosity and is honored to be a recipient of GRoW @ Annenberg’s foundational support of the arts.
Marilyn Ziering
It is through the extraordinary generosity of one of LA Opera’s longtime, loyal supporters, Marilyn Ziering, that the company has been able to stage some of its most significant artistic initiatives. LA Opera is honored to acknowledge Mrs. Ziering and the Ziering Family Foundation for their ongoing leadership support of the Recovered Voices project and for making this important double bill of Highway 1, USA and The Dwarf possible.
James Conlon, LA Opera’s Richard Seaver Music Director, conceived of Recovered Voices as an in-depth survey of operas by composers silenced by the Nazi regime. It was Mrs. Ziering’s transformative philanthropy and extraordinary leadership efforts that enabled the dream of Recovered Voices to become reality. Working together, Mrs. Ziering and Mr. Conlon assembled an impressive roster of national arts philanthropists who provided the critical support needed to mount these productions. Speaking about the project, Mrs. Ziering said, “It is deeply moving to me to know that so many people care so much about Recovered Voices and understand that our efforts are meant to educate and inform not just the current audience but also those who will listen to broadcasts and watch recordings far into the future.”
Mrs. Ziering subsequently provided the leadership support for every Recovered Voices production mounted by LA Opera, including semi-staged performances of Alexander Zemlinsky’s A Florentine Tragedy (2007) and fully-staged productions of Viktor Ullmann’s The Broken Jug (U.S. premiere) and Alexander Zemlinsky’s The Dwarf (2008), Walter Braunfels’ The Birds (2009), and Franz Schreker’s The Stigmatized (U.S. premiere, 2010).
Beyond the Recovered Voices project, Mrs. Ziering’s generosity extends to nearly every element of LA Opera. She has graciously shared her leadership on the board, serving as a vice chairman since 2009, and is a member of the 20th, 25th, and 30th Anniversary Angels. In addition, she has provided critical underwriting support for LA Opera productions including La Bohème and Don Giovanni in 2012, Nabucco in 2017 and Aida in 2022.
Mrs. Ziering is retired after three decades as Senior Vice President of Diagnostic Products Corporation, a company she founded with her late husband, Sigi Ziering. Among many philanthropic initiatives, she and Mr. Ziering were founders of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, and she is chair emeritus of the American Jewish University, where she created The Sigi Ziering Institute, which supports the exploration of the ethical and religious implications of the Holocaust.
She supports the Ziering-Conlon Initiative for Recovered Voices at the Colburn School. She is the President of the Ziering Family Foundation and was honored in Israel by Chaim Sheba Medical Center for her support of the Sigi and Marilyn Ziering National Center for Newborn Screening, a program that tests every baby born in Israel for treatable genetic diseases, regardless of race or religion. She also served on the board of the American Friends of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and on the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association.
The company is grateful for Mrs. Ziering’s extraordinary generosity and her philanthropic spirit, which has been an inspiration to the entire LA Opera family.
Thurmond Smithgall and The Lanie & Ethel Foundation
LA Opera is honored to thank Thurmond Smithgall and The Lanie & Ethel Foundation for their special underwriting of the Recovered Voices project, which supports this historic LA Opera premiere of Highway 1, USA and revival of the company’s acclaimed production of The Dwarf.
Mr. Smithgall is an arts consultant who has been an artist representative and producer of opera in concert in Alice Tully Hall. The Lanie & Ethel Foundation, an organization founded and chaired by Mr. Smithgall, is dedicated to promoting the careers of young performing artists, educational outreach, and the performance of neglected musical compositions. Mr. Smithgall has been a champion of the Recovered Voices initiative at LA Opera since the program’s inception, providing major support for the first two seasons of the project and underwriting the company’s 2010 production of Franz Schreker’s The Stigmatized. He also underwrote a critically acclaimed recording of this Schreker masterpiece. Additionally, he and The Lanie & Ethel Foundation were members of LA Opera’s Friends of the Ring Leadership Council, providing generous support for the company’s first Ring cycle in 2010. He served on LA Opera’s board of directors for over ten years, from 2010 to 2023, and was an active member of the development committee.
A native of Atlanta, Mr. Smithgall was trained as a professional oboist. He attended Oberlin College and the Aspen School of Music, and graduated from the New England Conservatory. He has performed under such noted conductors as William Steinberg, Gunther Schuller, Walter Susskind and John Nelson, among others. His wide philanthropic reach includes having served as secretary of the George London Foundation for Singers, a member of the board of overseers of New England Conservatory, and a member of the Kuratorium of the Bayreuth Festival. He served as a trustee of the Hudson Review and the American Symphony Orchestra, both in New York City; the Goethe Zentrum in Atlanta, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and the Atlanta Botanical Garden; and currently serves on the board of the Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival in Blue Hill, Maine. He has written music criticism and numerous articles on music for United Press International.
LA Opera extends its deep gratitude to Mr. Smithgall and The Lanie & Ethel Foundation for their longtime generosity and their support of the Recovered Voices initiative.
National Endowment for the Arts
Across the nation, Americans are participating in the arts, exercising their imaginations, and developing their creative capacities, thanks in part to generous grants from the National Endowment for the Arts. For 24 years, the Arts Endowment has been integral to LA Opera’s growth—helping to build the company in its early years, supporting the commissioning and development of new productions, aiding in the creation of educational programs, and helping opera companies reach new and underserved audiences. LA Opera is honored to have the National Endowment for the Arts’ support for the company's new production of Highway 1, USA, as well as 19 additional past productions, including the 2020 world premiere of Eurydice and recent productions of El Gato Montés, Orpheus and Eurydice, The Tales of Hoffmann, anatomy theater, The Ghosts of Versailles, and Otello, among others.
The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent federal agency that is committed to making the arts a part of the lives of all people across the nation. Several of LA Opera’s signature community initiatives were originally developed with the Arts Endowment’s support, including the Community Opera at the Cathedral, programs for the military and veterans, and educational initiatives for thousands of teachers and students. LA Opera is proud to be recognized by the National Endowment for the Arts. Through this important public support, the company brings the magic of this art form to thousands of people each year, making significant contributions to the economic vitality of Los Angeles, and enhancing the civic and cultural life in our community.
The Piera Barbaglia Shaheen
Next Generation Artist Award
Piera Barbaglia Shaheen had a passion for opera and cared deeply about the welfare of young people beginning their careers. Her generosity of spirit is honored in a fund created by a special gift from Linda and David Shaheen. The Piera Barbaglia Shaheen Next Generation Artist Award supports rising artists at LA Opera, for whom an opportunity to work at a prominent company can be a major career breakthrough. This season, the Shaheens have chosen to honor director Kaneza Schaal as the recipient of the Piera Barbaglia Shaheen Next Generation Artist Award. Her direction of Highway 1, USA is made possible thanks to their generosity. The program previously supported the standout performances of Sean Panikkar as Gandhi in Satyagraha, Lisette Oropesa as Eurydice in Orpheus and Eurydice, J’Nai Bridges as Nefertiti in Akhnaten, Issachah Savage in Tannhäuser and Rihab Chaieb as Cherubino in The Marriage of Figaro.
Named for Mr. Shaheen’s mother, the program promotes the ideals of this successful woman who was a strong proponent of education, built and ran a multinational business and was the center of a home infused with classical music and opera. Piera was born in America to Italian immigrants. Due to widespread discrimination against foreigners, her mother moved the family back to Italy when Piera was only two years old. Instilled with her mother’s strong work ethic and commitment to education, she earned her degree in economics from a top university in northern Italy. As World War II raged around her, she joined the resistance efforts of the American underground to battle the fascists. After the war, she returned to America, furthering her education, marrying, raising a family, building her business, and becoming a generous contributor to her community.
She deeply believed in the power of education as a principal force for change, says David Shaheen, and through her generosity she provided college scholarships for over 2,000 children of her employees. She passed these ideals onto her son and daughter-in-law, who created The David & Linda Shaheen Foundation, supporting LA Opera’s education programming, scholarships for inner-city youth, as well as numerous arts, education and reproductive health programs. The legacy of Piera is also honored through the recent naming by Linda and David of the Alliance Piera Barbaglia Shaheen Health Services Academy. This public high school in South Los Angeles provides students with a college preparatory environment in which to develop academic and technical skills along with leadership qualities that allow for a successful transition into college careers and adulthood.
The company extends its gratitude to Linda and David Shaheen for honoring such a remarkable woman and supporting the next generation of artists at LA Opera.
