The Sarasota Opera in Florida is thriving. “Sarasota County – with a population of just less than 326,000 – is home to two professional orchestras, more than 10 theaters, 30 art galleries and a ballet company. None of them raises bigger budgets or draws on a larger local, national and international public than the $4.8 million Sarasota Opera. Ticket sales this year declined only 2 to 3 percent, for a loss of about $46,000, from last year’s record revenues of $2.04 million – not bad for any opera producer in a flat economy. The less obvious reason is that Sarasota Opera is giving its audiences – business-suited seniors as well as the jeans-and-Gucci-loafers younger crowd the company actively woos – the kind of opera they can’t hear or see anywhere else.”