PROTESTERS+CRASH+CORBETT'S+OPERA+HONOR

== = PROTESTERS CRASH CORBETT'S = = OPERA HONOR = media type="youtube" key="20rjukRQM8M" height="480" width="640" align="center"

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Read the story in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette

=Hundreds of protesters swarmed sidewalks near Pittsburgh Opera's Strip District headquarters to protest an event honoring Gov. Tom Corbett with a lifetime achievement award on Saturday, 5/12/12. Protesters objected to the award because they said the governor's lean education funding has forced many schools to cut arts education.= =

= =Protesters gathered in the parking lot of Iron Workers Local Union #3 on Liberty Avenue and then marched along Penn Avenue to Pittsburgh Opera's Headquarters at Liberty and 25th Street. Speakers from local schools, teachers unions and civic group One Pittsburgh, which organized the event, galvanized the crowd as patrons entered the Maecenas XXVII gala, the Opera's annual end-of-season benefit.=



Steve's Opera Rally Speech



= A Call to Action = = So here’s what you can do: = > = “It’s outrageous that the Pittsburgh Opera is honoring Gov. Corbett for his contributions to arts education, when he has cut $1 BILLION from Pennsylvania’s public schools. Districts across the state have slashed arts education under his watch. Right here in Pittsburgh, our students are losing art, music, library, and foreign language instruction. How are they going to be future artists and opera lovers? We need equitable and sustainable state funding for public education, not phony awards for Governors who devastate our children’s future.” =
 * 1) = Post on the Opera’s Facebook page. Feel free to copy and past this message or write your own: =
 * 1) = Send a message to your networks using Facebook, Twitter, and email and ask people to forward the message along. =
 * 2) =Send a message to the Opera’s key decision makers:=


 * =Christopher Hahn, General Director: chahn@pittsburghopera.org=
 * =Antony Walker, Music Director: awalker@pittsburghopera.org=
 * =Michele Fabrizi, Chair of the Board: mfabrizi@marcusa.com=
 * =Marilyn Michalka Egan, Director of Education: megan@pittsburghopera.org=
 * 1) =Call the Opera: 412-281-0912 x261=
 * 2) = Write a letter to the editor. (Click here for guidelines and contact info for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and the Tribune Review, and see our media guide for other regional newspapers.) =
 * 3) = Send a message to any other members you know of the Pittsburgh Opera Board of Directors. These are the folks who are responsible for the decision to honor Gov. Corbett for his “contributions” to education. =
 * 4) = Petition the opera to rescind the award: click [|here]. =

= Pittsburgh Opera's Chair of the Board Michele Fabrizi just got a lucrative state contract for MARC USA - the company for which she is CEO. Is this why Pittsburgh Opera is honoring the grossly unqualified Corbett for education? = =Why Pittsburgh Opera May Be Honoring Corbett=

=Read the story in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette:= =[|Voices rise against Pittsburgh Opera's award for Gov. Corbett]=

=Humphrey resigns post over honor to Corbett= =Let Them Eat Opera - Pennsylvania Governor Corbett Gets Honored for Supporting the Arts While Slashing the Arts= =Sour note - The opera makes an ill-timed bow to the governor= =Protesters denounce Gov. Corbett's Pittsburgh Opera lifetime achievement award= =Steve's Opera Rally Speech= =[|KDKA News Covergae of the Opera Protest]= =Protesters pan opera's black-tie affair to honor Corbett=

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