Ballet
Principal Dancer, American Ballet Theater; NY
Cost: $75,000
Term: One year
Quid pro quo: Patrons can ask to be seated next to their dancers at the annual gala, “but there’s no arm twisting,” says an A.B.T. spokesperson.
Example: Principal star Ethan Stiefel is sponsored by board member Anka Palitz.
Theater
Playwright, Cherry Lane Theatre; New York
Cost: $5,000
Term: Run of sponsored play
Quid pro quo: Opening- and closing-night tickets plus an unspecified number of “tickets for your friends” are available throughout the run.
Example: Three groups teamed up to sponsor Bhutan, by Daisy Foote, daughter of Horton Foote.
Opera
Opera singer, the Patrick G. Ryan and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center, Lyric Opera of Chicago
Cost: $25,000
Term: One year
Quid pro quo: Singers are encouraged to break bread with their benefactors in the opera’s private dining room.
Example: Soprano Kathleen Kim and philanthropists Nancy Lauter McDougal and Alfred McDougal.
Symphony
Conductor, Tacoma Symphony Orchestra; Tacoma, Washington
Cost: $75,000
Term: One year
Quid pro quo: Nothing formal. Sponsors can make requests through the orchestra; they’ll see what they can do.
Musicians
Fellow, Tanglewood Music Center; Lenox, Massachusetts
Cost: $15,000
Term: One summer
Quid pro quo: Fellows—young musicians studying at Tanglewood—are asked to attend a luncheon with their sponsors.
Back to: Strings Attached
