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Welcome to the web site of the Guild of Glimmerglass Festival, a volunteer organization whose purpose is to support the renowned Glimmerglass Festival in Cooperstown, New York.
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May 5, 2020
Dear Glimmerglass family,
On behalf of the Board of Trustees and staff of The Glimmerglass Festival, thank you for your ongoing support. We hope that you and your family are healthy and safe and extend our deepest sympathies to so many who have suffered as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
It was our hope to be together this summer, to provide song and story for those longing for normalcy and respite. It is now clear that it will not be possible for Glimmerglass to perform our planned 2020 season.
Through our disappointment, we are choosing hope — a hope that 2021 will bring health and prosperity. In the meantime, we will be heeding the call of the governor of our great State of New York. He has encouraged all businesses to “re-imagine” and “build back better.” That is what we intend to do. We will spend this summer creating unique and interesting content to keep our audiences engaged and entertained, as well as focusing on our education programs and working toward a stronger Glimmerglass for 2021 and beyond.
Although refunds of 2020 tickets are available, I hope ticket buyers who are able will consider donating the value of their tickets. The Festival Board of Trustees, joined by myself and my wife, Faith Gay, have made a commitment to match the value of all tickets donated up to $500,000, making your donation twice as valuable and helping to ensure the company’s future during this exceptional time.
Over the last decade, we at Glimmerglass have been thinking hard about the role of a nonprofit arts organization in a community. We have expanded our offerings and thought about how we can inspire conversations about the world we live in. And as we look toward a future when we can come together in person again, we know those conversations about art and life will take on increased resonance. To put it briefly, we are just getting started.
Gratefully yours,
Francesca Zambello
Artistic & General Director
The Glimmerglass Festival
May 13, 2020
With its May 5th announcement, the Glimmerglass Festival has cancelled the onstage performances of its 2020 season. It did so guided by the advice of healthcare professionals and, most importantly, its concern for the health and safety of the members of the Glimmerglass community—its artists, staff, patrons and audiences. The Guild Board has likewise concluded that it must cancel or reschedule many of its planned events—Talking Opera programs, the Annual Gala and the numerous hospitality offerings, including our popular Eat and Greet dinner.
As the Festival’s Artistic and General Director Francesca Zambello has counseled, rather than dwelling on these disappointments, it is time to focus on hope—hope for the survival and future vitality of our beloved Glimmerglass Festival, for the joy and all the incalculable benefits it brings to the wider community. Just as the Festival Company is planning many educational opportunities and online programs for the summer, please know that the resourceful and imaginative Guild Board is busily engaged in developing new events for our members that will be safe, educational, and entertaining. These also include new fundraising ideas--especially crucial at this time—that will be great fun and that, it is hoped, with the participation of all, will be wildly successful.
Please continue to visit our site for the latest offerings from the Guild.
Your support and participation in the Guild of Glimmerglass Festival has never been more important and is especially appreciated at this unsettled time.
Mary Margaret Kuhn, President
Use our online form to join the Guild, renew your membership, or make a donation.