Victor DeRenzi is Guest Narrator at Baltimore Concert Opera

Artistic Director of Sarasota Opera, Victor DeRenzi, is making a guest appearance this weekend in Baltimore, Maryland. On Saturday, the Baltimore Concert Opera is presenting "The Verdi Baritone"as part of its special programming on one composer and one voice type. Since the Maestro is a renowned Verdi scholar, he was asked to narrate the concert. The baritone is also a Sarasota favorite - Jonathan Carle - who has sung principal roles here in Rigoletto, La rondine, Halka, La bohème, and Pagliacci. For those of you Verdi aficionados who might be in Baltimore this weekend, "The Verdi Baritone" will be performed at 12:30 p.m. Saturday in MICA's Brown Center.

Bringing the Inside - Out!

The next time you're downtown, stop at our Box Office and take a look at our beautiful new window wraps, courtesy of the good folks at Sign Zoo. We've brought the inside out with some knock-out photos of the inside of our beautiful historic Opera House.
And while you're here, order your ticket subscription to the 2010-2011 season. The Box Office is in the Pavilion Building, which is adjacent to the Opera House at 61 N. Pineapple.

We've Cast Our Fall Opera - La Cenerentola

We've completed casting our Fall Opera production of Rossini’s La Cenerentola (La Chen-eh-ren-to-la) or Cinderella, which will run from October 29 – November 10. This comic masterpiece was last presented by Sarasota Opera in 1969 when it was staged at the Historic Asolo Theater. These are the opera’s first performances at the Sarasota Opera House.

Mezzo-soprano Heather Johnson sings the role of Angelina (Cinderella). A favorite at Sarasota Opera for her performances as Hansel in last season’s Hansel and Gretel and as Beppe in the 2009 production of Mascagni’s L’amico Fritz. In this role she leaves behind the trousers she wore portraying these male characters and dons a dress for her first female character with the company. Other recent performances were Mozart’s Coronation Mass at Carnegie Hall and the same composer’s Requiem at Kennedy Center. She has also sung in Gordon’s contemporary opera Acquanetta at the New York City Opera VOX series and Musto’s The Inspector at Wolf Trap. This summer she reprises the role of Hansel for PORT Opera in Maine. Future engagements include performances with Boston Lyric and the National Arts Center orchestra in Ottawa, Canada.

Hak Soo Kim, a tenor, makes his Sarasota Opera debut in the role of Prince Ramiro. He recently completed his second year residence as a Domingo-Thornton Young Artist at Los Angeles Opera. Other companies with which he has performed are Opera Colorado and Santa Fe Opera, as well as appearances with Chicago Symphony Orchestra, The Verdi Chorus (California), and the Monmouth Civic Chorus (New Jersey). Mr. Kim’s roles include creations by Rossini, Donizetti, and Verdi: Conte Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Don Narciso in Il turcio in Italia, Nemorino in L’elisir d’amore, Ernesto in Don Pasquale, Alfredo in La traviata, and Fenton in Falstaff.

Baritone Sean Anderson returns for the role of Dandini, the valet who disguises himself as his master, Prince Ramiro. Last season he received wide audience and critical acclaim for his portrayal of Papageno in Die Zauberflöte. Among the accolades he received were from the Sarasota Herald Tribune, “…Papageno, brilliantly hammed up by baritone Sean Anderson.” Mr. Anderson has previously performed at Sarasota Opera in Cosi fan tutte and Die Fledermaus.

Italian native Stefano de Peppo, bass-baritone, made his Sarasota Opera debut in the fall 2008 production of Il barbiere di Siviglia as the pompous Doctor Bartolo. In La Cenerentola, Stefano sings the role of Don Magnifico, the cash-starved stepfather of Angelina. His recent credits include Leporello in Don Giovanni at Finnish National Opera, the title role of Don Giovanni with Mozart Festival Opera, and the title role in Don Pasquale at both Opera North Carolina and Miami Lyric Opera. Among the countries in which Stefano has performed are Italy, Mexico, Spain, Colombia, Israel, Great Britain, Canada, and the Czech Republic.

Benjamin Gelfand, bass-baritone, makes his debut as a Sarasota Opera Principal Artist singing the role of wise tutor Alidoro. He has previously been an Apprentice Artist in 2006 and a Studio Artist in 2008, 2009, and 2010. A recipient of Sarasota Opera Guild's Leo M. Rogers Award and Bradenton Opera Guild's Helen Jepson Dellera Fellowship Award for a deserving Studio Artist, Ben last season performed the roles of Doctor Grenvil in La traviata and Talbot in Giovanna d'Arco. Since the conclusion of the 2010 season, he has performed in concert with the Evelyn Lear/Thomas Stewart Emerging Singers Program at the German Embassy in Washington, D.C. In addition, he won third place at the Gerda Lissner Foundation Competition in the Wagner division and performed at its winners concert at Carnegie Hall.

Director is Stephanie Sundine, who last season directed Cavalleria rusticana/Pagliacci and was stage director for the Apprentice Artists. In the past she has also directed Tosca, Rigoletto, and Madama Butterfly for Sarasota Opera.

Sarasota Opera Artistic Director Victor DeRenzi will conduct the Sarasota Orchestra. This is the third year the two organizations have collaborated on a fall Sarasota Opera production.
Tickets for La Cenerentola are now available as part of a five-opera subscription package. Single tickets will go on sale in August.

Calling All Apprentice Artist Hopefuls!

Sarasota Opera will hold the annual auditions for its Apprentice Artists Program this fall at the following locations:
∙ Chicago, September 11 – Nicholas Concert Hall at the Music Institute of Chicago
∙ Sarasota, September 13 – Felding Recital Hall at the Sarasota Opera House
∙ New York City, September 16-19, with callbacks on September 20 – venue to be determined.
The program seeks singers who are serious about having careers as soloists in opera and desire further development in their craft. Applicants must exhibit career potential. The deadline for submission of applications is August 15, 2010.
Singers will be able to apply through www.yaptracker.com, an online audition manager for young artists and emerging professionals. There is no membership fee to use this service.
Our program is recognized as one of the finest in the country. Apprentice Artists will arrive in Sarasota on January 4, with the contract running from January 5 through March 25, 2011. Departure from Sarasota will be March 26. Applicants must be available to participate the entire time. Apprentices will receive $400 per week, housing, and roundtrip airfare to/from Sarasota. Apprentices perform in the chorus for Puccini’s La bohème and Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Verdi’s I Lombardi, and Ward's The Crucible. In addition to participating in the mainstage chorus, Apprentice Artists perform in concerts and outreach programs and receive music, dramatic, and language coachings. They may also have the opportunity to sing comprimario and to cover secondary roles in the mainstage operas. The program culminates with an Apprentice Artist Concert onstage in the Opera House.
Greg Trupiano, Artistic Administrator of Sarasota Opera, is available to answer questions about the program. He can be contacted by e-mail at gtrupiano@sarasotaopera.org or by telephone at (941) 366-8450, ext. 420.

Sarasota Opera Board Member Performs

Sarasota Opera board member (and singer) Josh Benaim had a huge success singing the lead baritone role in a concert performance of Wolf-Ferrari's The Jewels of the Madonna Monday night at Lincoln Center.
The audience went crazy for him! And there was plenty of buzz about his performance during the intermissions. Next year, he will also be performing/covering the role of Marullo in 15 performances of Rigoletto at the Met. We are excited!

Sarasota Opera House Receives Florida Trust for Historic Preservation Award

Sarasota Opera has received The Florida Trust for Historic Preservation Award at the 32nd Annual Statewide Preservation Conference in Ft. Myers. The Opera was recognized for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Restoration/Rehabilitation for its $20-million renovation of the 1926 historic Opera House in 2008.

The application process was lengthy. Sarasota Opera was required to submit five letters of support from community members and groups, photos depicting the scope of the work that was done, as well as a two-page statement describing the motivation for the project, obstacles and challenges met, community involvement, project budget, and the site plan/description of the project.

In his letter, County Commissioner Joseph Barbetta called Sarasota Opera and its programs and facilities “cornerstones of the cultural life of the community,” while Don Smally, President of the Board of the Sarasota Alliance for Historic Preservation, referred to the project as “an outstanding renovation.”

Sarasota Opera Executive Director Susan T. Danis praised those who participated in the project. “It is an honor indeed for the Florida Trust for Historic Preservation to award our beloved opera house its 2010 award for Outstanding Achievement in Rehabilitation and Restoration,” she said. “This project was truly a labor of love for so many and it certainly would not have been accomplished without the generosity of our opera patrons and the commitment of the Opera Board of Trustees, its Building Committee and Staff and the incredible group of architects, contractors, engineers and artisans that were assembled to make the renovation a reality.”

Preservation architect Killis Almond, who led the project, traveled to Ft. Myers to join staff members attending the award ceremony. “Recognition by the Florida Trust for Historic Preservation is extremely gratifying,” he said. “To a preservationist like myself, I consider it the highest honor.”

The award was presented May 14 at ceremonies held at the Edison Park Elementary School in Ft. Myers and was followed by a reception at the Edison & Ford Winter Estates.

Your opera subscription could be free

All subscription orders placed by May 1 will be automatically entered in a free drawing. The winner will get up to two subscriptions for free! Call (941) 366-8450, ext. 1 or visit the box office to place your order now. Subscription information (including a downloadable order form) can be found on our website at www.sarasotaopera.org.