Festive Concert kicks off a week celebrating Artistic Director Victor DeRenzi’s 40-year anniversary
Sarasota, FL – On Sunday, March 20 at 7:30 pm, the historic Sarasota Opera House will be filled with singers of all ages and experience, along with a full orchestra, to present “Voices of Sarasota Opera.” This festive concert will feature Principal Artists, Studio and Apprentice Artists, the Sarasota Youth Opera, and the Sarasota Opera Orchestra, performing beloved arias, ensembles, and orchestral passages, conducted by Jesse Martins. Other operatic excerpts will include selections from Bizet’s Carmen, Rossini’s La Cenerentola, Puccini’s Turandot, and many more. The concert will also include the American premiere of ballet music for Verdi’s Nabucco, and a sing-along of the grand chorus “Va pensiero” from Nabucco, conducted by Maestro DeRenzi. Sarasota Youth Opera alumni of all ages are invited to participate in the singing of “Va pensiero,” and can register for this and other alumni activities at https://form.jotform.com/213504774806155. Tickets to “Voices of Sarasota Opera” are $10 for adults, and $5 for students, available at SarasotaOpera.org, or the Box Office at 941-328-1300.
This special musical event kicks off a week that includes the closing performance of the 2022 Winter Opera Festival with Verdi’s Attila, on Tuesday, March 22 at 1:30 pm. On Saturday, March 26, the company pays tribute to Maestro DeRenzi’s 40th season with a Grand Reception, Jubilee Concert, and Gala under a spacious and elegant tent covering Pineapple Avenue.
Sarasota Opera’s 2022 Winter Opera Festival is currently underway with Puccini’s Tosca, through March 19, Donizetti’s The Daughter of the Regiment, through March 18, Bizet’s The Pearl Fishers opening March 5, and Verdi’s Attila, opening March 12. For more information about the winter festival, the concerts, gala, and other events, visit SarasotaOpera.org, or call the Box Office at 941-328-1300. Sarasota Opera is located at 61 N. Pineapple Avenue, Sarasota, FL 34236.
ABOUT SARASOTA OPERA
This is Sarasota Opera’s 63rd Season of bringing world-class opera to Florida’s Gulf Coast. The company was launched in 1960 in the historic 320-seat Asolo Theater on the grounds of Sarasota’s Ringling Museum of Art. In 1984 the company moved into the former A.B. Edwards Theater—now the Sarasota Opera House. Since then, the company has gained an international reputation as one of the leading regional opera companies in the U.S. through initiatives such as the Masterworks Revival Series and the Verdi Cycle. The company’s Sarasota Youth Opera is the most comprehensive Youth Program in the U.S. The Sarasota Opera House, which underwent a $20 million renovation and rehabilitation in 2007, has been called “one of America’s finest venues for opera” by Musical America. Since 1983, the company has been under the artistic leadership of Victor DeRenzi and administrative leadership of General Director Richard Russell since 2012.
Sarasota Opera is sponsored in part by the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Arts and Culture and the Florida Council on Arts and Culture and the National Endowment for the Arts. Programs are paid for in part by Sarasota County Tourist Development Tax revenues.