Lyric Society Impresarios
SEASON 79 I 87
S. MICHAEL ROGERS and
OLGA ROBBIN-ROGERS
Olga acquired an early knowledge and love of opera and
became the muse for her husband, Sydney Michael Rogers
(Mike). She was born in Innsbruck, Austria, and lived there until
1955 when she married a captain in the U.S. Army occupation
forces and they moved to his home in Miami. She absorbed
opera in Austria but it was not until after the untimely death of her
husband and her remarriage to Leon Robbin that she became
immersed in and devoted to the worlds of classical music and
opera. Leon had been a collector of original music manuscripts
of 18th, 19th, and 20th century composers (a collection he
bequeathed to his alma mater, Georgetown University), and thus
Leon and Olga became friendly and socialized with composers,
became enthusiastic supporters of the Greater Miami Opera
Association and its successor, Florida Grand Opera.
Mike was born in New York City and grew up in Scarsdale, New
of the University of Michigan and Harvard Law School. He served
leader). Mike later conducted a law practice and a commercial
mortgage brokerage business in New York, was the operations
supervisor for the owners of the Empire State Building, and founded
and co-owned the Fillmore East Theater and later Medic-Air Corp of
America, maker of back supports and comfort aid.
He spent increasing portions of each year in Key Biscayne where he
and long-time resident Olga met and soon married. Olga has, with
persistence and patience, provided a musical education for Mike
opera that had previously eluded him.
MR. and MRS. ROGER STURGEON
Enthusiasts and supporters of many diverse interests and
causes, Isobel and Roger Sturgeon have made opera
appreciation a high priority. While living in California, they were
active with the San Francisco Opera and Opera San Jose. Shortly
after they moved to Fort Lauderdale, the Sturgeons became
involved with Florida Grand Opera, and for years they have very
generously supported FGO’s annual campaign. Mrs. Sturgeon
has served on FGO’s Board of Directors, and she has also been
an active member of the Opera Society of Fort Lauderdale.
Mr. Sturgeon, who holds both a BSEE and an MSEE-CS from the
University of California at Berkeley, is a computer scientist and
president of FF Transforms, a software company headquartered
in Fort Lauderdale. Mrs. Sturgeon, a retired attorney, holds a BA
degree from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst and a law
degree from Santa Clara University.
Before retiring from the international racing circuit in 2010, Mr. and
Mrs. Sturgeon were avid sailors. In December 2007, Mr. Sturgeon
received the prestigious Tattersall’s Cup as the overall winner of
the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race of 628 nautical miles, becoming
only the third American to do so. Along with Mrs. Sturgeon, he
also won the SOLAS Big Boat Challenge and the Sydney Rating
Series regattas, two warm-up events for the long distance race,
Bay Race to Jamaica and broke the record racing in the venerable
Fort Lauderdale to Charleston, SC race. The Sturgeons also
participated in the Skandia Cowes Week and the Royal Ocean
Club’s Rolex Fastnet Race in England, the Maxi Worlds in Sardinia,
and the Rolex Middlesea Race in Malta. They have won honors
Overall and Best Racing Yacht at Antigua Race Week. Their old
TP52, Rosebud, was the only racing yacht in history to win both
from Los Angeles to Honolulu (2005).
In addition to Florida Grand Opera, the Sturgeons have been
supporters of Women for Women, an international organization
Without Borders, an international organization providing medical
treatment in disaster areas.