A thematic gallery — €50,000
The Norma gallery, the drawing room of avenue Georges-Mandel, the room of letters: eight galleries may carry a patron's name, on the entrance panel and in the Museum's publications.
Patronage
Become a patron of the Museum
On 16 September 2027, fifty years after her death, the Maria Callas Museum is to open in Paris. Nine galleries, nine names: those who will have made it possible.
The Maria Callas Foundation holds the world's most significant private collection devoted to the singer: two hundred hours of original recordings, five thousand photographs, one hundred and fifty letters in her hand, her stage costumes. The collection exists, it belongs to the Foundation, and it is inalienable: under French law an endowment fund can neither sell it nor return it to a private owner.
What it lacks is a home. That is what patronage is for — and for the work that must be done before the opening: saving tapes that are degrading, digitising negatives, acquiring what resurfaces at auction, passing the art on to young voices. Every commitment below funds an identified project, not a general budget.
Individuals
The Founders' Circle
There is no late equivalent of “early”. The Circle brings together those who commit before the opening; their names will remain in the Museum.
€10,000
Founder
€3,400 after French tax relief
Most committed
€25,000
Senior Founder
€8,500 after French tax relief
€50,000
Honorary Founder
€17,000 after French tax relief
A commitment may be spread over two financial years. The Foundation issues a patronage agreement and settlement is made by bank transfer: beyond a few thousand euros, card payment makes little sense. For a smaller commitment, the Society of the Friends of Maria Callas starts at €100 a year, and the Support page welcomes monthly giving.
Individuals and companies
Name a gallery of the Museum
The Museum follows the proven path of the “Maria by Callas” exhibition — thirty thousand visitors in three months at La Seine Musicale in 2017, then the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco: three acts, eight thematic galleries and a 360° immersive projection room, including one gallery recreating her apartment on avenue Georges-Mandel. The anniversary exhibition will be its fullest form, enriched by the archives saved between now and then.
The immersive room — €150,000
The 360° projection room, where the voice remains: the heart of the visit, and the most visible commitment a patron can make in this Museum.
Museography and fit-out are estimated between €500,000 and €700,000, excluding building works tied to the venue. Naming is granted for an agreed term, set out in a written agreement.
Subscription
The anniversary book
An album drawn from the five thousand original photographs in the collection — the wings, the private life, what no magazine ever printed. The subscription funds picture research and the digital restoration of the prints; the publisher carries production.
€1,000
A numbered copy, and your name among the subscribers.
€2,500
The above, and an exhibition print of an unpublished photograph from the collection.
€5,000
The above, and acknowledgement as a patron of the book.
€10,000
Named on the title page; simultaneous entry to the Founders' Circle.
Companies may become principal patron of the book from €25,000. Publisher, title and publication date will be announced here, and the subscription will open then. Be notified.
What your commitment funds
Nine projects, before the opening
€20,000
saving two unreleased recordings — a Norma from Paris, 1964, a Lucia from Dallas, 1959
€20,000
housing the collection to conservation standards, costumes under glass
€30,000
digitising the 5,000 original photographs and negatives
€20,000
digitising in 4K the 30 hours of film, including her personal Super 8
€50,000
the anniversary acquisition fund
€40,000
the anniversary book
€24,000
three Maria Callas Scholarships a year, for young bel canto voices
€60,000
the Foundation's share in the projected Maria Callas & Yves Saint Laurent exhibition
€550,000
the inaugural exhibition and the nine galleries of the Museum
Some €815,000 in all before 16 September 2027, excluding running costs and building works tied to the venue. These are working budgets, based on the published rates of specialist providers; they will be adjusted to quotations.
Passing it on
The Maria Callas Scholarships
At the Juilliard School, Maria Callas taught what she had learned alone: the discipline of the text and of the breath. The Foundation holds the original tapes of those master classes, largely unreleased.
Three scholarships of €8,000 will be awarded each 2 December, the anniversary of her birth, to young singers of the repertoire she revived, with a public master class at the Museum. A patron may give a scholarship their name by committing over three years.
The teaching partner — a conservatoire or an opera academy — and the composition of the jury will be announced before applications open, in spring 2027. The jury will bring together the Foundation's president, a répétiteur, a casting director, a singer and a board member.
First award: 2 December 2027.
After the opening
Towards the Maria Callas Foundation
An endowment fund builds; a foundation endures. The Foundation is preparing its evolution into a fondation reconnue d'utilité publique — a public-benefit foundation recognised by decree; a preparatory association already exists. That status places the collection under State supervision and opens lasting public support to the Museum.
French law requires an initial endowment of at least €1.5 million, which may be paid in instalments over ten years. Since 2014 the conversion takes place without dissolution: nothing is interrupted.
This programme is for long-term commitments: endowment gifts, legacies and life-insurance policies. Gifts and bequests to an endowment fund are exempt from transfer duties in France: everything transmitted serves the mission.
This is a conversation, not a form. Speak to us in confidence.
Companies
Corporate, in-kind and skills-based patronage
Financial patronage
Circles at €25,000 and €50,000, naming a gallery, principal patronage of the book. French corporate tax relief of 60% of the gift.
In-kind patronage
Scenography, audiovisual and digital production, insurance, transport and conservation of works, conservation materials: what is given is worth what it costs, and carries the same tax relief.
Skills-based patronage
Digitisation, sound restoration, museography, law, communication: your teams' time is a gift, valued at cost.
The framework
Tax relief and counterparts
Individuals — 66%
Income-tax relief of 66% of the gift, up to 20% of taxable income; the excess carries forward five years. Article 200 of the French tax code. The Foundation issues the tax receipt. Donors taxed outside France should ask us about their own regime.
Companies — 60%
Corporate tax relief of 60% of the gift, up to 0.5% of net turnover or €20,000, whichever is higher. Article 238 bis. Counterparts may reach 25% of the gift.
What a patron receives
A name, the title of founder, the dedication of a gallery: these are symbolic counterparts and do not affect the tax receipt. Invitations to the Foundation's evenings are offered separately, against a non-deductible contribution to costs — French law caps benefits in kind to an individual donor at 25% of the gift and at €73.
Taking the step
Two routes, according to the amount
Up to €5,000 — online
The Foundation's Donorbox page accepts any amount, once or monthly, in every currency, by card or PayPal. A receipt is issued for each gift.
Above that — by agreement
Write to us: the Foundation will send the patronage dossier, the agreement and its bank details. This is also the route for in-kind and skills-based patronage, and for legacies.
Patronage
Let us talk about your commitment
The Foundation's president answers patrons personally. Write to us: we will send the full museum dossier and arrange a meeting.