The central Ohio opera community lost one of its most prominent figures yesterday when Irma M. Cooper died of heart failure at the age of 89.

Cooper held many positions during her long career, including teacher at the Ohio State School of Music, founder of the American Institute of Musical Studies in Austria and co-founder of Opera Columbus.

According to Heidi Gordon, spokeswoman for Opera Columbus, Cooper co-founded the opera company in 1981. She founded its vocal competition in 1983, renamed the Irma M. Cooper Vocal Competition this year.

“Irma has been a tremendous ambassador for Opera Columbus since its founding – that will be our greatest loss,” managing director Philip M. Dobard said. “She took it literally around the world.”

Cooper did go around the world when she founded the American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria, in the 1960s. AIMS is an intense program that trains American singers.

Her association with AIMS was how Don Gibson, director of the OSU School of Music, got to know Cooper.

“She was absolutely driven to help young singers become great performers,” Gibson said. “She was remarkably outgoing and would take command with great style.”

According to Gibson, Cooper would nurture young students. She was also known to put her own money into a scholarship fund.

“The recipient of the scholarship would be expected to take the money to help raise more money for other people,” Gibson said. “She trained students to be entrepreneurial and independent.”

Gibson said Cooper also had a position at OSU for several years where she made a major impact.

“Before she came to Ohio State, she was a professional singer. So when she came here, she began a new career after finishing an old one,” he said.

Despite her many accomplishments, those who knew her speak more of her personality and the impact she made on their personal lives.

“I’m very glad to have met her,” Dobard said. “Irma possessed a magnetic personality, and people were naturally drawn to her. She radiated good will, but she also radiated a love of opera.”

Gibson, who had been a personal friend of Cooper, agrees.

“She had a very powerful and extroverted personality. She was a larger-than-life person,” Gibson said.

Cooper will be buried in her hometown in Iowa.