PRIDE NIGHT

Friday, July 8, 2022 | 10:00 p.m.
Music Hall | Corbett Tower

Honoring Doug Ignatius and Bruce Preston
Chair: Brian L. Tiffany

You’re invited to an evening of advocacy for visibility and equality: our 14th Pride Night, celebrating Greater Cincinnati’s LGBTQIA+ community and supporters.   

Join us for a performance of the perfectly preposterous comedy The Pirates of Penzance. Then stay for a glamorous party featuring cocktails, music, light bites by A Catered Affair, and dazzling décor by Cincinnati event designer extraordinaire Joe Rigotti. 

When: Friday, July 8, 2022 | 10:00 p.m.
Where: Music Hall

Schedule of Events:
6:30 P.M. Pre-Performance Private Sponsor Reception; Taft Suite, Music Hall
7:30 P.M. The Pirates of Penzance; Springer Auditorium, Music Hall
10:00 P.M. Pride Night Celebration; Corbett Tower, Music Hall

Honoring Doug Ignatius and Bruce Preston

Bruce Preston has been a fixture in the gay community since his early days in Cincinnati. His extensive community involvement includes Pride TV host, Alternating Currents Radio Show host, organizer of early Pride festivals and parades, a singing member and board member of the Cincinnati Men’s Chorus and Artswave Pride committee member.

Doug Ignatius is a current Cincinnati Opera Board member, Vice-President of Fund Development for the Cincinnati Men’s Chorus, and former board member of the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company. Bruce and Doug are humbled to be honored by such an inclusive and prestigious arts organization that has been at the forefront of highlighting and supporting LGBTQ+ people and our stories.

Doug’s love of opera began when he was studying abroad in Versailles, France, and Bruce’s love of opera began when he met Doug. They have been Cincinnati Opera subscribers for over 20 years, and have attended every Pride Night celebration.

To make a donation in honor of Doug and Bruce, please click below.

Pride Sponsor Levels

$1,000 ($750 tax-deductible)

  • 2 tickets to the July 8th performance of The Pirates of Penzance

  • Admission to pre-performance Private Sponsor Reception in the Taft Suite

  • 2 tickets to Pride Night Celebration

  • 4 drink tickets (distributed at the event)

  • Recognition on-screen at Pride Night Celebration


$500 ($350 tax-deductible)

  • 2 tickets to the July 8th performance of The Pirates of Penzance

  • Admission to pre-performance Private Sponsor Reception in the Taft Suite

  • 2 tickets to Pride Night Celebration

  • 2 drink tickets (distributed at the event)

  • Recognition on screen at Pride Night Celebration

Hosts & Attendees

Host: $75 per person ($45 tax-deductible)

  • 20% off tickets to the July 8 performance of The Pirates of Penzance (promo code provided in donation receipt email)

  • 1 ticket to Pride Night Celebration

  • Recognition on-screen at Pride Night Celebration

  • 1 drink ticket (distributed at event)


Attendee: $30 per person

  • 1 ticket to Pride Night Celebration

Premier Sponsors

PRIDE PANELS

As part of our Pride Month celebrations, Cincinnati Opera will also be hosting two online panel discussions with artists in June. Each panel will be hosted and moderated by the Harry T. Wilks Artistic Director, Evans Mirageas. We invite you to tune in virtually, as we livestream these discussions from our Facebook page and YouTube channel.

We hope you will join us for these discussions highlighting queer voices in our community.

PANEL 1: Where is the queer joy?

June 17, 2022 | 6:00-7:00 p.m.

While queerness and opera have always had a connection, the stories that have been shared on stage have not always placed queer people in the best of ways and have focused on the tragedies of queer individuals. This panel will discuss the creation of opera works that place the joy of queerness as the story, and how valuable that can be moving forward.

Panelists include:

Panel 2: Gender, Non-Conforming, and Identity in Opera

June 24, 2022| 6:00-7:00 p.m.

As a society, we are learning more about the gender spectrum and the ever-expansive ways to express oneself in between the binary. This panel will center a conversation on opera and gender non-conformity and alternate gender identities that have happened in the opera history and can continue to be represented on stage.

Panelists include:

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