Hi, this is Vanessa, your ENLIGHTENMENT host.

I was impressed at this year’s Big Day of Giving results and seeing that the Sacramento Philharmonic & Opera (SP&O) topped the list of 855 nonprofits receiving donations, with a record $350, 149. Even more impressive — it got all that money from just 112 people, meaning an average of $3,100 per donor.

The big haul is due mostly to its executive director/CEO, Giuliano Kornberg. He started at SP&O in 2016 and quickly became its go-to fundraiser, increasing annual giving from $630,000 to $1.7 million. After becoming the boss in 2022, his magic touch has increased, Last year, SP&O announced it had performed for a record 400,000 people, sold more than 1,250 season subscriptions, and secured hundreds of thousands of dollars in COVID-relief funding. And Kornberg is only 32 years old.

But there might be some sour notes in the beautiful harmony. The audience for classical music nationwide has been aging and shrinking for decades, costs are rising and funding is dropping. If big cities like New York and San Francisco are having to cut back and close up, how will Kornberg manage it here in Sacramento?

Join us for a talk with the young CEO (who plays drums and percussion and got a masters degree in music technology from Stanford) as he tells us how he’s planning to spend the Big Day of Giving funds, what’s planned for SP&O’s 2025/2026 season, and how he plans to get his fellow Millennials and GenZers into seats (maybe film scores performed live? or a video game concert?)

Sign up to attend by registering at our Eventbrite link here.

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Ruhstaller’s BSMT has a variety of beers, as well as wine, kombucha, sodas and sparkling water. Please feel free to BYO food and nonalcoholic beverages.