The Harry and Grace Steele Foundation of...

The Harry and Grace Steele Foundation of Newport Beach has awarded a $500,000 grant to the Orange County Performing Arts Center to support performances June 5 and 8 of Puccini’s “Girl of the Golden West,” a Los Angeles Opera Co. production with Placido Domingo and Dame Gwyneth Jones. This is the third major gift in four years from the Steele Foundation supporting opera at the Center. In 1987 and 1989 the foundation gave grants totaling $960,000 to underwrite engagements by the New York City Opera. “Ticket prices can never cover the production costs of (opera), even when every seat is sold,” said Center President Thomas R. Kendrick. “That’s why the Steele Foundation grant is so critical; it keeps ticket prices accessible to the community.”