The purpose of the Guild is to support the Met Live HD performances from New York and to promote interest in Opera for the Lakeside Communities.
A view of the ocean from above with text that reads " chapin."

A Word From the President

Dear Members and Opera Fans,

As I write this the Guild and Lakeside Little Theater / LLT are well into the second half of the Met Opera HD Season 23 / 24. We are pleased and grateful for the cooperation and support from LLT to make these nine Met Operas a reality. With the investment by LLT in the new digital laser projector and automatic projection screen, the image quality is just great.

And thanks to volunteers from both LLT and the Guild, we have been able to present each Opera without paid staff, from the Technical Projection booth to House Managers and ticket booth and scanners, we have made these shows quite efficient for LLT.

Meanwhile, we at the Guild are faced with a challenging future with LLT. There are some officers and members of LLT who have suggested they would not support a return of the Met program in the coming October 24 / 25 season. While we respect their opinion, we do hope as this current season evolves with improving attendance and fewer headaches for LLT, that the new President and Board will approve the ongoing return of the Met Live series to LLT.

Yes, there is the annual LLT general meeting on Wen., March 20 at 10 am.. One feature of this meeting is the nomination of officers to the Board of Directors. The elected officers will determine the future of The Met Live HD program at LLT. We encourage all interested persons to join LLT as a member at a cost of only $100 mn, qualifying you to attend and VOTE at this meeting. We hope to ask each candidate whether he/she will support the return of the Met Live series.

While the Guild is committed to providing volunteer and publicity support to LLT, we also hope to build our financial base to sustain our own operating expenses. We are an all-volunteer group that receives no compensation. As we grow, we hope to expand our community outreach to support Guild education and social meetings, free tickets to Opera students, and Opera education sessions for our Lakeside youth.

I would also invite you to offer your time as a Guild Officer or volunteer. In order for us to continue to support the Met Live programs we do need volunteers to assist in various services, all requiring actually little time.

This website is our first step to providing timely and interesting information to our members and the general public. Donor contributions funded the product cost of this site. And I am pleased to have provided the content as a first start toward a more robust information hub.

I am most grateful to our Guild Board, Guild members, and LLT volunteers and donors for making this new start a reality. Muchas gracias a todos!

Howard J. Willis

President, Amigos de Chapala Opera, A.C.