Guild Opera Company School Programs

Guild Opera Company School Programs presents opera performances and children’s opera performances in schools that combine music, theater, dance, and visual arts. The program includes arts education programs with history as part of the arts education, school shows, workshops, and professional development on opera. Students experience music instruction, vocal music and language arts activities, demonstrations of vocal techniques, and second-language exposure and practice.

• Ages: 5–11 years old
• Schedule: Contemporary operas are presented in shorter forty-five minute sessions taken directly to schools
• Price: $ 2,700 in Total Prize Money

Since 1949, Guild Opera Company has introduced more than four million children to opera and is the second oldest opera company in California after the San Francisco Opera. Beginning in 2000, the company changed from full-scale, two-hour productions at outside venues to bringing shorter, forty-five minute contemporary operas directly to schools. The mission of Guild Opera Company is to introduce opera to audiences by producing and presenting age-appropriate and culturally significant operas performed by professional artists in school and community settings.

The leadership team includes Fran Benedict (Chair), Dr. Robert Chauls (President), Gabriel Reoyo Pazos (Artistic Director), Kimberly Poli (School Programs Director), Kathleen Belwish (Vice President), Claudia Sobol (Treasurer), Jeanne Mitchell (Director of Development), and Eloise Porter (School Liaison). Staff credentials include K–12 arts coordination, extensive music education and supervision experience, and professional performance and teaching backgrounds in piano, voice, and choir direction.

Guild Opera Company has been one of the launching companies for artists such as Marilyn Horne, Heinz Blankenburg, and Mary Costa, the voice of Walt Disney's Sleeping Beauty. The company performs children’s bilingual show Estrella, based on zarzuela music, in schools in the Los Angeles area. Guild Opera Company was awarded a two-year grant from the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture’s Organizational Grant Program and serves all five of the Los Angeles County Supervisory Districts with opera programs for children and community outreach performances. Gabriel R. Pazos is the recipient of the 2007 El Angel Award from the Bilingual Foundation of the Arts, and Fran Benedict was inducted into the California Music Educator’s Hall of Fame and honored as Outstanding Music Educator by the CMEA Southern Section.

Testimonials describe the school programs as culturally relevant and literacy driven, with workshops and professional development on opera that align content to a reading series. Other testimonials state that many participating students receive public support and would not otherwise get this type of cultural enrichment, and that the program offers vocal music and language arts experiences with dynamics, opera vocabulary, second-language exposure and practice, and active participation. One testimonial specifically thanks Guild Opera Company and its donors for a presentation of “Little Red Riding Hood,” noting the smiles, joy, and positive impact on students’ educational experiences.

Last updated June 27, 2026.