Co-Producer Society Double Co-Producer
SEASON 79 I 23
Mr. and Mrs. Laurans A. Mendelson
Don Giovanni and Rigoletto
The Mendelsons moved to Miami in 1969
and have been actively involved in music
and the community since their arrival. They have
generously provided support to the opera’s Co-
Producer Society (previously known as Crown
sponsors of a Florida Grand Opera Studio Artist.
Arlene Mendelson currently serves as a member
of the Board of Directors of Florida Grand Opera.
She is also a member of the boards of directors
of the Adrienne Arsht Center Foundation and
the Institute of Contemporary Art. In addition,
Mrs. Mendelson is a past president of Young
Patronesses of the Opera. She is a life member
of Brandeis University National Women’s
Committee and the University of Miami Project
Newborn. She served as a member of the Dade
Mendelson also served as a member of the
University of Miami Miller School of Medicine’s
Board of Overseers and is a member of Funding
Arts Network. Mrs. Mendelson received the 2004 Temple Israel Joseph R. Narot Award for Community Service in the Arts.
She was an honoree of the Florida Grand Opera Ball in 2000, a recipient of the Opera Society Diva Award in 1997, and
honored in 1992 by the American Cancer Society as one of the 10 Best Dressed Women of Miami. In 1986, Mrs. Mendelson
was recognized as an Outstanding Woman of the Year by the Miami Ballet Society.
emeritus of the board of trustees of Columbia University in New York and is former chairman of the board of trustees
of Mount Sinai Medical Center, Miami Beach. He is a member of the board of governors of the Aerospace Industries
the Governor of Florida’s Defense Reinvestment Task Force, and former chairman of the Hollywood Business Council in
the City of Hollywood, Florida. Mr. Mendelson received the Greater Hollywood Chamber of Commerce 1998 Private Sector
Community Service Award and was a recipient of the 1999 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award. He has also been
a distinguished guest lecturer in the Executive Forum of the MBA program at Florida Atlantic University College of Business.
Arlene and Larry Mendelson’s love of opera is the result of their backgrounds as members of musical families. Mrs.
Mendelson’s musician grandmother, Lillian Brown, an accomplished pianist, and her late mother, Muriel Hattenbach,
passed their love of music along to her. She studied voice at the University of Miami under Mary Henderson Buckley. Mr.
Mendelson’s father, Samuel Mendelson, shared his love of opera with his family. Mr. and Mrs. Mendelson are also generous
supporters of FGO’s galas and the Broward Opera Society’s Diva Luncheons. Their commitment has inspired their sons,
Victor and Eric, both of whom attend Florida Grand Opera performances with their wives, Lisa and Kim, and their love of
the opera lives on in their six grandchildren. Victor is a Past President of Florida Grand Opera’s Board of Directors. Arlene
served as an Honorary Vice Chairperson of Florida Grand Opera for many years.