By Bill Green
It all started with children’s records. Then came a love of movies, which then led to the discovery of opera movies. Specifically, opera movies from Italy. Among his favorites? The 1947 adaptation of Pagliacci, that gorgeously wrought tragedy by Leoncavallo about love, betrayal and bloody, lusty revenge in 19th century Italy, starring bombshell Gina Lollobrigida as Nedda.
It would be difficult, nigh impossible, to fall for a movie like that without a similar experience with the medium that inspired it. And so, naturally, one might say inevitably, his passion for opera films led to a passion for, yes, opera.
By the time he turned 20, Larry Verdugo had amassed a vinyl collection of over 50 opera recordings. As with Pagliacci’s Canio after he bumps off his wife Nedda and her boyfriend, there was no going back.
Larry sustained and nurtured that passion as he and his Master’s in Social Work spent decades at Kaiser Permanente counseling patients and their families who were adjusting to the challenges of living with cancer, while also monitoring foster homes to ensure the safety of children in Los Angeles County’s faster care system.
Upon retirement, while he sought out ways to spend his newfound free time productively, volunteering in the opera world seemed the most logical and attractive. A friend suggested Larry get his feet wet attending the monthly dinner talks at Julienne, a French-style cafe in the Pasadena suburb of San Marino. It was there where volunteers from a local nonprofit called the Opera League of Los Angeles delivered talks about opera, usually deep-diving on whichever opera was currently being staged or about to be staged at LA Opera.
Larry struck up many a friendship with League members at Julienne and learned more about the nonprofit and its many and myriad volunteer opportunities. Among other things, he learned that the League, founded in 1981, not only predated LA Opera, but worked with the Music Center to create our resident opera company in 1986. Soon, he found himself volunteering at LA Opera’s educational and community outreach events, such as the student matinees and the Saturday Morning series. He also enrolled in LAO’s rigorous two-month opera speaker course so he could become a certified Community Educator, just like those speakers at Julienne.
Larry and two fellow Opera League volunteers get ready to chaperone college students at an OperaWise event.
It speaks volumes about Larry’s volunteering in subsequent years that this year, on Saturday, May 17, at the Opera League's annual Peter Hemmings Award Gala Dinner, our flagship fundraising event, we are presenting Larry Verdugo with the Hemmings Award for significant contributions to opera through volunteering.
Diane Gray and Todd Calvin, the co-chairs of this year’s Hemmings Gala, and who both also happen to be past Opera League presidents, concur that nominating Larry as the 2025 Hemmings Award for Excellence in Volunteering was a no-brainer. Diane (Opera League president from 2011-13) recalls first meeting Larry when they both volunteered on the League’s Education team. Larry offered to help Diane recruit League members to volunteer at LA Opera’s student matinees. Upon becoming League president in 2011, Diane tapped Larry to join the League’s leadership team, officially known as the executive committee, as the leader of the Education team, where he could do what he does so well: recruit and manage the small army of passionate Education volunteers. To this day, while he no longer sits on the executive committee, Larry’s role is no less critical in coordinating Education volunteers.
“Because there is such a large need for volunteers for the League’s programs, Larry is often members' first contact with the League,” explains Todd (Opera League president from 2021-23). “He has been instrumental in managing and scouting for volunteers for LA Opera's education programs, and was my first point of contact with the League when I volunteered to chaperone college students at an OperaWise event.”
“Larry has served well as a great League chair for our Education and Community Engagement programs for many years,” says Diane. “He is a good communicator, is great at coordinating his volunteer teams at events. He has been an active LA Opera Community Educator, and hosted a long series of opera talks at Burbank Library. He possesses great communication skills. He has an impact on young students, and they love and enjoy his opera talks.”
Diane adds, “Larry gets up very early on Saturday mornings to run those family events. That’s a lot. I wouldn’t do it.”
The League’s Education volunteers lend their passionate hands in myriad ways and at a variety of programs: elementary student matinees, family events on Saturday mornings, hosting high school students at dress rehearsals and many other events produced by LA Opera Connects, the team at LA Opera that oversees community engagement and education programs. As the Opera League’s Education volunteer coordinator, Larry works in lock-step with the LAO Connects team. At the start of the season, the LAO Connects folks give Larry a copy of their event schedule, complete with the number of volunteers needed for each event and what their tasks would entail. Larry forwards the schedule to the Education volunteers and invites them to sign up for whichever event(s) fit their schedule, tracking all signups online.
"I have had the good fortune of being connected with Larry Verdugo almost from my first moments at LA Opera,” says Andréa Fuentes, vice president of LAO Connects. “He always brings such warmth and compassion and knowledge to our communities of students and newcomers, and he has been truly a collaborative and empathetic partner to our evolving programs and needs. His leadership has provided so much guidance and foresight, and he has ensured the ongoing success of our relationships with students and teachers when they visit us. We owe him so much.”
Larry and a fellow Opera League volunteer are all smiles anticipating the parents and their little ones discovering the magic of opera together at another edition of Saturday Mornings at the Opera
League member Mary Johnston recently teamed up with Larry in managing the Education team. As she settled into the role, she quickly realized the sheer amount of work necessary to provide volunteer support for Connects, which is made easier thanks to the system Larry devised.
“Larry is the liaison with the Connects staff,” Mary says. “He created and now manages the system through which volunteers sign up for events, keeps track of volunteer requirements and meets with new volunteers as needed. For each separate event, he sends emails to all his volunteers before and after the event. He personally attends virtually all the Connects events during the season.”
Having been an all-star Education leader for the Opera League for so many years now, coordinating and leading volunteers at countless events, Larry has a hard time picking a single favorite experience. “There are a couple of student matinees that come to mind,” Larry muses.
During one student matinee, Larry found himself escorting a group of boys to the restrooms on the lower level of the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion before the performance start time. While waiting for the students, Larry noticed one youngster standing motionless and bewildered in the middle of the restroom. “What is this place?” the student asked Larry. “It’s like…a dream….”
“The boy’s teacher later explained to me that their school’s restrooms were dilapidated and not well maintained at all,” Larry says. “Coated with graffiti.”
Another memorable student matinee experience happened during a performance of Candide presented to approximately two thousand students. As the music rose during the opera’s final number, “Make Your Garden Grow,” the kids jumped to their feet and began cheering well before the song ended; the ovation lasting several minutes. “I felt like I had just witnessed probably the best ovation those performers would ever hear in any opera house,” Larry smiles.