Opera Orlando Reveals New Development Manager, Glorivy Arroyo

Coming off Opera Orlando’s most successful year to date, the Company is pleased to announce the hiring of a new staff position this month. The Opera welcomes Glorivy Arroyo as its new development manager. Ms. Arroyo will work under senior development director Russell P. Allen and will focus on grant writing, donor cultivation, special events, and the Company’s annual giving campaign. 

“After an extensive search, we are overjoyed to add Glorivy to our growing organization,” says Opera Orlando general director Gabriel Preisser. “Her experience in fundraising, coupled with her expertise as an opera singer and arts administrator is paramount to the success of the Company moving forward. Furthermore, the timing of this hire could not be better as Opera Orlando has big goals to hit in the next two to three years of its strategic plan, including growing our endowment fund and commencing a capital campaign for the Opera’s future homebase for offices, rehearsals, costume storage, etc.”

To date, the Company has secured more than $2.5 million in pledges, bequests, and donations for the Opera Orlando Endowment Fund, which was established as a separate 501(c)(3) with its own board just over a year ago thanks to a generous $1 million gift by Helen Hall Leon. Ms. Arroyo’s work will contribute directly to Opera Orlando’s goal of raising $10M in direct gifts, pledges, and bequests to the endowment fund by the Opera’s tenth anniversary season (2025-26), while also focusing on the Company’s annual giving campaign. Her expertise in fundraising, plus her belief in and commitment to growing the art form as an important cultural touchstone, will help the organization achieve its fundraising goals and continue to establish itself as an essential part of Central Florida’s artistic landscape.

“I am so inspired by how Orlando has embraced the Opera as an essential part of the city’s fabric,” says Ms. Arroyo. “I’m so happy to be coming home to a city I love and assisting Opera Orlando in cementing its footprint in the area and bringing well-deserved attention to the incredible work the Company is doing here.”

In addition to her fundraising efforts, Ms. Arroyo looks forward to strengthening the Company’s already robust commitment to diversity onstage and in arts administration. “As our audience grows, it will be more important than ever to feature artists and leaders who bring a fresh perspective to the art form,” says Ms. Arroyo. “I’m proud of the work I’ve done with other opera companies to bring artists and arts leaders from many walks of life together to celebrate our shared humanity through music, and look forward to bringing that experience to my work with Opera Orlando.”

A Central Florida native and accomplished mezzo-soprano, Ms. Arroyo has more than 20 years of experience as a leader in arts administration, language and music education, and as a performing artist on opera stages around the world. She returns to her hometown of Orlando after leading all philanthropic and engagement efforts at Odyssey Opera of Boston, where she remains as an arts consultant on special projects, including the award-winning five-year Black opera initiative, As Told By: History, Race and Justice on the Opera Stage.

Ms. Arroyo holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Stetson University, a Master of Music from New England Conservatory of Music, and a Certificate in Professional Fundraising from Boston University. She is a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals and is a CFRE (Certified Fundraising Executive) candidate. At Odyssey Opera, she successfully secured major gifts from the National Endowment for the Arts and other large foundations including a six figure gift from the Mellon Foundation. 

Opera Orlando has successfully grown from a modest $250,000 budget in 2016 to more than $2 million in annual revenues for the past two seasons. Since moving into Steinmetz Hall in 2022, the Opera has successfully doubled its audience and has surpassed half a million dollars in annual ticket revenue for the first time in the Company’s history.  It is due to this success that Opera Orlando is able to expand its staff with this new position while also expanding its programming. The Company is currently prepping for its most ambitious season to date, the 2023-24 All for Art season with three fully produced operas with orchestra at Steinmetz Hall, two On the Town productions, a touring outreach production, and multiple other events around Central Florida.  Ms. Arroyo’s work will be essential to maintaining the Company’s fiscal sustainability, and its impressive track record of staying in the black and increasing cash reserves year over year.

Stay up to date with Opera Orlando’s upcoming season and planning online at www.OperaOrlando.org. Season ticket subscriptions for Opera Orlando on the MainStage are on sale now. Subscriptions are sold through the Dr. Phillips Center’s Bill & Mary Darden Box Office (445 S. Magnolia Avenue, Orlando), online at www.drphillipcscenter.org, or by calling (407) 839-0119, ext. 0. 

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