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Northern Ohio Opera League

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Name Changes

Opera Circle has changed its name to “The Cleveland Opera”.

The Cleveland area now has numerous opera groups with similar names so try not to confuse them:

The Cleveland Opera was originally Opera Circle.

Cleveland Opera Theater was originally Opera Per Tutti.

ContempOpera Cleveland was started by the founder of Opera Per Tutti.

Baldwin Wallace Opera Theater (A college teaching institution in Berea, Oh)

CIM Opera Theater (Cleveland Institute of Music) (A CWRU college teaching institution in Cleveland, Oh).

Cleveland Opera League ended and (NOOL) Northern Ohio Opera League started.

Nightingale Opera Theater operates out of Hudson or Kent State with Kent State professors and students.

GGLO is a startup company using mostly CIM graduates but is merging late in 2017 with Cleveland Opera Theater and will no longer exist.

Western Reserve Opera is in Youngstown

Resonanz Opera, a training and production company out of Mentor.

EMAIL US


NoOhioOperaLeague@aol.com

Donors/Sponsors/People of Recognition

Mary Hamlin was NOOL’s President for 7 years before her passing in 2017. She also led the local chapter of Daughters of the British Empire, was a Board Member of the Cleveland Cultural Gardens Federation and the personal British Garden caretaker for decades. She was a proper, gentle lady who helped NOOL in its early years with steadfast devotion to Opera. Such dedicated board members should always be remembered. She is pictured below with her husband Clive during NOOL’s Dancing With the Dinosaurs Benefit at the Cleveland History Museum.

Clive Hamlin & wife NOOL President Mary Hamlin.

John Ingold and Phyllis Donnelly Ingold. This couple have been worker bees in numerous organizations for decades including the Cleveland Opera League and Charter members of NOOL. In many instances they maintained address lists, created fliers and invitations as well as reserving venues, ordering meals and almost everything else needed to create benefits. John was more of the administrator, set up and tear down worker for Phyllis while Phyllis was the creative half of the partnership. No one ever donated so many silent auction items as John and Phyllis. Fussy how everything gets done their personal friendships helped fill many a venue.

John Ingold and NOOL Membership Chairlady Phyllis Donnely-Ingold.

Greg and Marcia Snavely Polyak. This couple were on the Cleveland Opera Board and Charter members of NOOL. Marcia is locally famous for her piano playing just about every benefit gig and party. Most often she donates her professional playing abilities helping each organization make a profit. She is known to have music put in front of her moments before playing it for the professional. This sight reading ability allows her to play just about any style of music making her a very busy pianist for so many groups they can’t all be listed. But being a professional musician continually since age six was only half of her story as she was also a Chemist for 40 years.

Greg is a worker bee having been the following: V.P., Secretary, NOOL Webmaster/creator as well as NOOL’s Facebook web page master, 2nd V.P., event Chair, Master of Ceremonies, usually hired the entertainment, helped with event set up and tear down and more. Together they always Donated Silent Auction items as well as buying many of other silent auction items at every single benefit. Greg is also on numerous other nonprofit boards doing similar work on each board be it an Orchestra, Arts, Ethnic, International Grant group or Wine Tasting Society. With 10 kids, 20 Grandkids with 2 more arriving in 2019 they are the Energizer Bunnies of Cleveland’s nonprofits.

Greg Polyak and Marcia Polyak

Important Donors/Sponsors: There are a number of ways to donate to NOOL. There is Cash, Silent Auction Items, Membership dues at different levels, Hosting a benefit in one’s home, and providing Prize money or by Paying stipends to entertainers. The list will never be perfect. It contains names of people who have donated over many years to those who have donated for shorter periods of time but in larger ways. So please excuse any failures, exclusions or other wrongs but feel free to contact me for additions or corrections. Additions to the list will continue making it a living expanding praise of thanks. To be continued.