The summer of 1996 saw the creation of an important Seattle Opera affiliate: the BRAVO! Club, for opera fans under 40. Seattle Opera’s tireless education director, Perry Lorenzo, asked the President of San Francisco Opera’s BRAVO! Club—who happened to be none other than Linle Jenkins, daughter of Speight Jenkins—to address a hand-picked group of young Seattle-area opera fans. By the time Linle’s presentation was over, those in the room had formed the first Board of Seattle’s own BRAVO! Club.

It rapidly became the largest “young people at the opera” group in the country. Membership has varied from around 515 to a pre-recession high of 689; as of 2014, more than 3,500 households have participated. In 2012/13, ticket revenue from BRAVO! Club subscribers exceeded $230,000.

BRAVO! Club’s 2013 president, attorney Marti McCaleb, thought she hated opera because of some less than stellar previous experiences. However, the new-to-Seattle McCaleb was urged by a friend in Seattle Opera’s Young Artists Program to try it again, and McCaleb soon joined the BRAVO! Club. She describes BRAVO! as “a comfortable and close group of people in their 20s and 30s. I’ve met a lot of nice people who have become good friends. About 65 percent of the members are single, but it’s not a dating service; it’s a group with similar interests.”