OVI Webinar Series: Expert Insights, Live & On-Demand
Stay ahead with our new, free educational webinars, thoughtfully crafted to explore the current landscape of arts administration, nonprofit leadership, volunteer management and opera advocacy. Scroll down to register, and for more information on our webinar topics and panelists!
- Learn from Industry Leaders: Get top-tier insights from our expert speakers.
- Interactive Q&A Sessions: Get your specific questions answered in real-time.
- Flexible Learning: Access live sessions or watch recordings on your own
schedule.
Participants who attended all three 2025 events live received an OVI Certificate of Completion in Volunteer Advocacy—a distinguished acknowledgment from Opera Volunteers International, celebrating your commitment to strengthening and growing the opera volunteer community.
Connecting Communities, Growing Audiences:
How Opera Companies Build Lasting Community Connections
Tuesday, August 18, 2026 at 2:00 PM Eastern
Join Florentine Opera and Tulsa Opera as they share their go-to strategies for audience building and creating a lasting legacy in the community. While this session is specifically written with opera companies in mind, these versatile tactics can apply to any organization or guild that puts on performances and wants to build their audiences!
Florentine Opera will discuss innovative audience engagement strategies, including insights from its OPERA America A/B Testing Grant exploring new ways to strengthen relationships with first-time attendees.
Tulsa Opera will share how sustained community partnerships, education initiatives, and neighborhood engagement create lasting relationships that broaden opera’s reach and build audiences from the ground-up.
Together, our panelists will explore complementary approaches to one important question…
How do we build communities that become audiences?
Meet our Speakers
Renata Herrera, Florentine Opera
Renata is a bilingual (English/Spanish) nonprofit administrator and educator dedicated to community engagement and arts accessibility. As Education & Community Engagement Manager at the Florentine Opera, she oversees programming impacting 10,000 students and 30,000 adults annually. Her directed initiatives include the Opera in Schools tour, Play & Perform residencies, a high school recital series, pre-opera talks, and the Community Circle discount ticket program. She also champions accessible digital media through the Versed “edu-tainment” series and Opera Without Limits, an arts exploration web series for children with disabilities. In addition to her work at the Florentine, she serves as the Marketing Coordinator for the contemporary choral ensemble, Stare at the Sun, driving audience engagement. Renata holds a B.M. in Music Education and Vocal Performance with a Minor in Arts Administration from Northwestern University.
Dani Keil, Tulsa Opera
Dani Keil serves as the Director of Community Engagement at Tulsa Opera, overseeing a wide range of initiatives from Songs by Heart and the Tulsa Opera Volunteer Corps to community events with the Filstrup Resident Artist and many more. A native of Michigan and a passionate arts educator and stage director, Dani is dedicated to sharing the magic of the arts with everyone. Her favorite directing credits include Aïda in Concert (Tulsa Opera), The Hobbit, Amahl and the Night Visitors, Pinocchio (Tulsa Youth Opera), Stop, Bully!, Frida Kahlo and the Bravest Niña in el mundo, Sid the Serpent Who Wanted to Sing (Tulsa Opera Raise Your Voice Tour), Disgraced (Cape Fear Regional Theatre), Wit (Triad Stage), Hedda Gabler (UNCG), and Angels in America, Part I and II (Corn Stock Winter Playhouse). Dani is the founder and president of Redbud Theatre for Young Audiences, and outside of work enjoys playing golf, hiking, and reading.
Morgan Sass, Florentine Opera
Morgan Sass is the Director of Marketing at the Florentine Opera, where she focuses on turning curiosity into connection—and first-time buyers into loyal fans. As a former wedding planner, she knows a thing or two about crafting unforgettable experiences and obsessing over the details no one else notices (but everyone feels). Since joining the Florentine, she’s led the charge in developing a bold, witty, and welcoming brand voice—one that’s now instantly recognizable (and delightfully offbeat). She’s also worked to elevate Florentine’s overall
communication strategy, ensuring that every message across postcards, programs, and promotions feels personal, fun, and completely un-stuffy. Her work has helped increase retention among new buyers and contributed to a multi-year growth in subscription renewals.
She’s currently developing new ways to welcome solo attendees and first-timers into the fold. Her philosophy? The intrigue brings them in—but the experience brings them back.
Want to see recordings of our 2025 sessions, focused on Volunteer Management?
Click Here to Visit our OVI Knowledge Base