“Without the support of the Karen Kelley Artist Grant, I wouldn’t be here experiencing this really wonderful program. The opportunity to come here and learn, be a student, and grow as an artist has been really wonderful.” – Adrian Melendrez.
CLA Board Member and award-winning real estate expert Karen Kelley is a passionate, long-time supporter of opera, voice, and CLA artists. In addition to her extensive real estate career, Karen is an accomplished lyric soprano, having performed in the US and abroad after completing her studies at the Manhattan School of Music and the Mannes College of Music. Her direct musical experience provides first-hand knowledge of the CLA mission, and she has been instrumental in furthering the success of our programs.
Karen often connects CLA to performance spaces for our NYC soirées and concerts, arranging impressive locations for the CLA artists to perform. Thanks to the Karen Kelley Compass Team, our 2024 Evening of Italian Love Songs was hosted at the West 67th Street Artist’s Colony, a historic NYC enclave developed between 1901 and 1929, originally designed specifically to provide live-work spaces for artists. Karen’s team at Compass, alongside fellow CLA supporter Amy Hausknecht, also co-sponsored CLA at Waterline Square in 2023, held on the 18th floor of one of NYC's most stunning residences along the Hudson River. In 2022, the Karen Kelley Compass Team co-hosted CLA at the Castle, a majestic evening of opera selections at a pre-war, French Renaissance-style castle on the Upper West Side.
Each year, Karen’s CLA Named Program Grant supports an emerging artist to attend one of the Classic Lyric Arts programs. In 2025, she sponsored baritone Adrian Melendrez in attending CLA Berkshires.
A graduate from the University of Southern California, Adrian has performed with companies throughout Southern California, such as Pacific Opera Project, Opera Buffs, Opera Santa Barbara, and Lyric Opera of Orange County. He has also been a young artist with the Berlin Opera Academy and the Miami Music Festival, where he sang the roles of Schicchi in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi and Figaro in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro, respectively. Adrian shared with us how his Named Program Grant impacted his experience in the Berkshires:
“Without the support of the Karen Kelley Artist Grant, I wouldn’t be here experiencing this really wonderful program. The opportunity to come here and learn, be a student, and grow as an artist has been really wonderful.” – Adrian Melendrez.
The CLA team is incredibly grateful to Karen for her years of support of CLA and of emerging operatic artists.
In 2025, Classic Lyric Arts awarded $184,000 in Named Program Grants, which directly supported emerging artists across the four CLA programs. Sponsoring an artist via Named Program Grant is a direct way to make a meaningful impact on an artist’s career. Simply visit the Sponsor an Artist page on the CLA website to fill out a short form and choose whether you would like to fund a full or partial sponsorship.
CLA artists are deeply grateful for the support of our inspiring community of donors, and we cannot wait to see what this year brings for our singers and pianists.