Beginning his 37th season with Houston Grand Opera as Director of Patron Services, Rudy is the person behind the scenes handling all aspects of HGO’s donors and their needs and desires. Of all the duties surrounding Patron Services, none pleases him more than standing at the valet stand greeting HGO’s patrons at every performance!
His resourcefulness, gentle spirit, and even personality have been the key to a very successful tenure at HGO. Upon joining HGO in 1979, he began his career under the then-General Director, David Gockley. He did stints in several departments before landing the job of Patron Services. Rudy oversees more than 300 HGO patrons and manages all ticketing services and special requests for them, both locally and across the US and Europe.
At Houston Grand Opera, Rudy has chaired all the major fund-raisers for HGO, including the Concert of Arias in 2007, the Opening Night Gala in 2008, the Opera Ball in 2011, and, for the 2015 Opera Ball, will serve as co-chair of the Auction. In 2003, Rudy received the Harris and Carroll Masterson Award, and in 2005, was honored with the Bravo! Rudy Gala.
A native of San Antonio, he is devoted to his family, who still live there. Rudy serves on the Chinquapin Advisory Board, and his pet project focuses on meeting the needs of students at Our Lady of Guadalupe School in Houston.
If Rudy is NOT at the valet stand greeting donors, you might find him at his other passion: a college football game OR a Texans game!
* Publisher’s Note: Sadly, our dear friend Rudy Avelar passed away in May 2016. Rudy was a bright light in our city, and we were lucky to share his brilliance. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends. He is dearly missed.