Well, the LA Opera is working hard to expand its audience and programing.

Local leaders help by becoming ambassadors, sharing their love of opera with the community.

I met some ambassadors at the Music Center in downtown LA.

Leticia Buckley is the CEO of LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes.

-My very first theater live performing experience was here at the Music Center in 1980: Little Johnny Jones with David Cassidy, so, I've been very fortunate to have been exposed to the arts from the very beginning.

My parents were dancing in the in that, you know, dancing cumbia, moving the coffee tables, doing their thing in our living room, but I didn't become exposed to the opera until probably about 25 years ago, and I've been a subscriber ever since.

-Has anything surprised you?

What did you learn by doing this?

-Why I'm involved with the program, because I'm hopeful that this is the beginning of a shift in a system that really needs some shifting, so, it's really important that we remind folks that they don't have to ask permission to come here.

They need to come in here and take ownership of it because it belongs to them.

-Gloria Govan is CEO of Inclusive Wellness.

She says this outreach is important for both the community and the opera.

and honestly, without additional and continued support, it, it will close.

The door can close.

I really think that one experience, one performance will make you a lifetime member, and that alone, I think, would, you know, freely allow for things like this to be a lifetime opportunity for generations to come.

-Next time, we'll talk to a podcast host about getting youth involved in opera for PBS SoCal.

I'm Bonnie Boswell.

-This presentation is made possible by Liberty Hill.