Pacific Opera Project was founded in July of 2011 with the purpose of bringing accessible, affordable, and ENTERTAINING opera to audiences across Los Angeles. To hear an in-depth interview about the founding and mission of POP, click here.

Mission Statement: To provide quality opera that is innovative, affordable, and entertaining in order to build a broader audience.

​Vision Statement: In the future, opera will become a greater part of popular culture, as we develop a larger local community of opera lovers and launch the careers of opera makers.​

Board of Directors: Richard Ellingsen (Chairman), Bettyna Bluwal, Robert Bailey, Juliet Brown (Secretary), Kathy Crandall, Eric Hayne (Treasurer), Andreas Kraemer, William Kennedy (Vice-Chairman), Bruce Merritt, Phil Meyer, Matthew Miles, Josh Shaw, Naoko Suga, Robert Webb​

Advisory Committee: Rebecca Bowne, Alice Coulombe, W. Allan Edmiston, M.D. , Alan Freeman, Paul Gurian, Simon Holt, Hettie Lynne Hurtes, David Kasunic, Shigemi Matsumoto, Benjamin Mitchell, Brigitta Troy, Ian White-Thomson​

Equity, Inclusion and Diversity Diversity Statement:

We define diversity parameters as: Age, Income, Race, Ethnicity, Sexual Orientation, Gender, Disability Status. Geographic location applies to Audience only.

– POP is committed to having its Board reflect the vast range of diversity within POP’s community. POP will identify at least two candidates per year who identify with a constituency as yet underrepresented on the POP Board.

--POP will build a picture of our current and target audiences in order to maximize the impact of POP’s work on our entire community.

--POP will develop an action plan for getting baseline audience demographics in 2019, with annual assessments thereafter. POP will identify segments of the community that are “missing” from our audience, and then explore ways of reaching out to these segments with a formal plan in place in 2020, to be revised annually thereafter.

--POP will promote access for our audience members of limited means by maintaining affordable prices, and consider reduced-price ticket offers for targeted under-served audiences.

--POP is committed to live streaming our productions and promoting the live stream to diverse audiences and exploring associated educational outreach.

-- POP will actively consider productions in venues that are geographically convenient for communities with historically limited exposure to opera.

--As a long-term goal, POP will from time to time consider the benefits of developing affinity groups as a vehicle for enhancing audience diversity.

--POP understands the value and impact of having a culturally representative group of artists and staff on stage and off in order to be relevant and accessible to the entire POP community.

--POP will recruit skilled performers with a variety of backgrounds so that all audience members will have the opportunity to see themselves on stage.

--POP will actively engage and collaborate with its artists on mutually exciting initiatives to expand the community of opera lovers.

--It is the prerogative of the company to balance the artistic integrity of any individual show with its core values (including equity, inclusion and diversity), and therefore POP commits itself to both non-traditional and color blind casting when appropriate.

--POP will investigate and, as appropriate, pursue funding for student outreach productions, as well as student volunteer and intern opportunities, with the goal, subject to necessary funding, of having a program in place for the 2020-21 school year.

--Subject to necessary funding, especially for required personnel, POP will develop a five-year, self-sustaining plan in 2020 to engage schools and student bodies, especially those designated as Title 1, beginning with the 2020-21 school year.

--The POP Chair and Artistic Director will provide a report at each POP annual meeting regarding the challenges and achievements regarding diversity and inclusion during the preceding year, and the opportunities and goals for the upcoming year.