Twin Cities Opera Guild has excelled at introducing students to opera and quality music since 1952. We are dedicated to cultivating music education and outreach, both in the schools and for the general public. As an all-volunteer non-profit organization, we rely on our members and friends to help us fund our grants for music education.
Message from TCOG President, Colleen Nelson
TCOG thanks all who attended our May 20 Spring Benefit on a torrentially rainy day that didn’t dampen our spirits as we raised funds for our Opera Outreach grant program and enjoyed a room-filling performance by Kara Morgan and Tracey Engleman accompanied by Scott Lykins.
Upcoming Events: Up next is our annual Party in Pink on July 15, which, for the first time, is venued at the North Oaks Golf Club. After that, we invite all to attend our very first Cocktail Collaboration with MN Opera which will be held at the Luminary Arts Center on September 12. We will feature MN Opera’s Resident Artists for the 2025-2026 season. It will be a fun, casual event in the Luminary’s elegantly rustic space. We are very excited to be working with MN Opera on it. Registration for the Party in Pink is available under the “Events” link on this page and registration for the Cocktail Collaboration will be available later this summer.
New Membership Category: As always, we invite everyone to become members of TCOG. With the goal of being more accessible to younger people, we now offer a $25 membership category for people who are under age 40. It is available through the “Join/Renew” link on this page. Please check us out.
A national pioneer in opera education for children
How we make it happen
Our grants fund:
- Delightful musical productions in-school, staged and performed by students -- in both the cast and orchestra
- Interactive in-school student programs conducted by professional singers and musicians
- After-school music programs for children, including student choirs
- Special student matinees at operas produced by the Minnesota Opera
- Summer music programs for children
Coming events
Party in Pink |
Tuesday Jul 15, 2025 |
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Cocktail Collaboration with MN Opera's Resident Artists |
Friday Sep 12, 2025 |
Mark your calendar | |
Candlelight Dinner |
Saturday Oct 18, 2025 |
Mark your calendar |
Impact
(over the past 5 years)
In the past five years our organization:
- Served a total of 96,890 children
- Served children from ages three through college
- Granted funds to an average of 25 organizations and schools each year
- Gave grants totaling $384,970
Grants that enrich our youth
School children are the principal beneficiaries of our funds. During the last past five years, we have funded programs bringing music education to more than 96,890 children, both in the seven-county metropolitan area and throughout the state of Minnesota, western Wisconsin and eastern North Dakota.
Twice each year (Fall and Winter), we review applications for new education grants.