Aria! Planned Giving Spotlight: Bruce Chemel
Aria! Planned Giving Spotlight: Bruce Chemel
Bruce Chemel first started attending opera in Dallas in the early 1980s, but only when it didn’t conflict with a Dallas Cowboys game. His first performance at the Santa Fe Opera was Salome in 1995. “It was short!” Bruce shared cheerily.
Chemel continued to visit Santa Fe from Dallas, and attended the opera with longtime board member Jimmy Seitz. He purchased a home in Santa Fe in 2000, and joined a friend to donate the amount required to secure a parking pass. Chemel joined the board some years later after a cruise with fellow opera lovers from Athens to Istanbul.
When you go into seeing what makes an opera you realize what a complicated art form it is and how it takes a lot of work by a lot of dedicated professionals. And the artists who perform, it’s not the highest paying job. You have to learn multiple languages. They deserve to be recognized not only on an annual basis but in a way that perpetuates the art form.
Chemel said planned giving was on his mind early in his board service. “I knew I couldn’t donate what some could every year, but I could certainly leave a legacy gift. People have different ways of giving.”
“All of my money is earned. I didn’t grow up wealthy. I thought long and hard about what to do with my funds. My family, my friends are well taken care of.”
“The Santa Fe Opera has a stellar history of financial integrity, and we know that ticket sales only cover a portion of the cost of performing an opera. When we’re no longer around to buy tickets, our contributions, through the endowment or other funds, can help pay salaries.”
Chemel’s most memorable performance was Maometto II in 2012. He fell in love with soprano Leah Crocetto and was pleased that Anthony Tommasini with the New York Times did too, writing that “a star is born” in Crocetto.
Chemel is also especially fond of two singers he heard for the first time in Santa Fe in 2014. Soprano Brenda Rae was asked to sing the female lead in Don Pasquale a week before opening night.
That same summer, Chemel was swept away when he heard soprano Erin Morley sing in Le Rossignol, a double bill that summer with Mozart’s The Impresario. Morley sings the lead role of Tytania in this season’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
“When you go into seeing what makes an opera you realize what a complicated art form it is and how it takes a lot of work by a lot of dedicated professionals. And the artists who perform, it’s not the highest paying job. You have to learn multiple languages. They deserve to be recognized not only on an annual basis but in a way that perpetuates the art form.”
Bruce is the Secretary of the Santa Fe Opera Board, and the Chair of the Development Committee and Aria! Society. His many contributions to the Santa Fe Opera include establishing the Leonard Schwartz Concertmaster Chair with his family in 2019.