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| Opera Office :
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| 806-372-SING
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| 806-372-7464
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| E-Mail :
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| amaopera_mila@amaonline.com
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Panhandle Tickets
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We dreamed of a professional opera company in Amarillo.
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We prayed for a world-class, state- of- the- art Performing Arts Center.
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We worked relentlessly for artistic quality
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We demanded impeccable fiduciary accountability.
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| Amarillo Opera
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| Home > Amarillo Opera > Director Spotlight
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 Mila Gibson is the Founder and General Director of Amarillo Opera. During her tenure as professor of Voice and Opera Workshop at Amarillo College, she produced and directed several operas, which combined AC student talent with local professionals, and in April 1988, she underwrote AO's inaugural production, Madame Butterfly. She directed the production, was chorus director, makeup artist, costumer, and leading lady. She recently returned to the stage in fall, 1999 as the leading lady once again in Madame Butterfly.
Gibson received her Bachelor and Master degrees from West Texas A&M University and then performed professionally in musical theatre, dinner theatre, concerts, and opera. She has won numerous awards as a music educator and has been active in church work and community service. Gibson has served as a guest speaker/panelist for the International Conference of Fine Arts Deans, Opera Guilds International, Opera America, Texas Federated Music Clubs state convention, Parent Teacher Association State convention, Texas Music Educators Association, and Texas Commission on the Arts. She also has had articles published in state and national publications. Gibson received certification in Non-Profit Management from Texas Tech University. She has extensive business experience and has been successful in fund raising and grant- writing. She completed over 40 hours of doctoral work at Arizona State University and completed post-graduate certification programs at several universities.
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She has served eight years on the Community Prayer Breakfast Committee. She served six years as a Board Director for Catholic Family Services, Inc., where she was on the Finance and Program Services Committees. She is currently Honorary Co-Chairman of the National Republican Business Advisory Board as invited by Trent Lott, Senate Majority Leader. She was a grants panelist for six years for Texas Commission on the Arts. She served eight years as a member of the Executive Committee and Board of Directors for the Panhandle Chapter of National Society of Fund Raising Executives and a national NSFRE Foundation Committee Members as well as six years a Board member of Texas Association of Non-Profit Organizations.
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Other organizations that have benefited from her Board leadership include Women’s Forum, American Association of University Women, Canyon Fine Arts Club, and Panhandle Chapter of National Association of Teachers of Singing. She has been an active volunteer with Los Barrios de Amarillo, League of United Latin American Citizens, National Association of the Advancement of Colored Peoples (NAACP), Amarillo United Citizens Forum, Art Force, and Coalition for the Homeless. She is an oblate in the Society of St. Benedict and a member of the West Texas A&M University Branding Iron Theatre Hall of Fame. Knighted "Dame Mila" by the prince of Spain, she also was honored by Pope John Paul II and initiated into the Order of the Holy Sepulcher. Pope John Paul II and the Bishop of the Dioceses of Amarillo, John Yanta, recognized her as the Jubilee Year Artist for 2000. She was selected Texas Woman to Watch in 1997 by the state Business and Professional Women after receiving the local honor from the Amarillo area BPW chapters. Amarillo Chamber of Commerce has awarded her many Golden Touch Citations and the top arts recognition, the Golden Nail Award, for her contributions to the arts. Women’s Forum recognized with the Distinguished Service Award in 1990 and Palo Duro High School presented her with its original Visionary Award. She received the Amigo Award from the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce in 1997 and has been cited twice by the NAACP for service to minorities and youth.
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Gibson was named to the Who's Who Among American Women 1999 and Who's Who in America for several years. She was recognized in International Who’s Who in Business. The Amarillo Globe-News named Gibson the Amarillo Woman of the Year 1997 and 35 chapters of Beta Sigma Phi honored her as Woman of the Year 1999. Cohabitation for the Homeless selected her as one of their original honorees for their first annual luncheon. And Amarillo College faculty selected Gibson as for AC’s Piper Professor Award in 1999.
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Currently, Ms. Gibson serves on the Board of Directors for The Rotary Club of Amarillo and has received three Paul Harris Fellowships from Rotary International.
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