Lucia dì Lammermoor

February 24, 2024

Description

Deceit leads to murder and madness, in Donizetti's masterpiece, based on Sir Walter Scott's The Bride of Lammermoor.  To save his family's fortunes, Enrico Ashton has promised his sister Lucia's hand to a Scottish nobleman, instead of Edgardo, the man she loves, and a member of a rival family.  The ensuing drama is excitingly captured in Donizetti's beautifully romantic music, with many well-known operatic highlights including Lucia's famous mad scene.

Isabelle Besancon, cello

April 17, 2023

Description

Romantic Youth 

Sonatas for Cello & Piano

Her Beauty

April 19, 2023

Description

HER JOURNEY

Chamber music by women composers through the centuries

Le Beau / Strohl / Boulanger

Natalie Helm, cello

Wednesday April 19 @ Noon

David Cohen Hall at the Symphony Center

Spring Classical Concert Series

April 05, 2023 - April 26, 2023

Description

2023 SPRING CLASSICAL CONCERT SERIES

(pianist)

SONGBIRD

SAINT-SAENS      MAHLER         CHARPENTIER    DONIZETTI          PUCCINI             PREVIN                 LISZT          VERDI             FLOYD              DVORAK              PUCCINI            LEONCAVALLO  

Hanna Brammer, soprano

Elizabeth Novella, soprano

APRIL 5 at 4:30pm

VIRTUOSI

BACH     DVORAK     GRANADOS VIEUXTEMPS SARASATE

ZHAN-HAO/GANG BLOCH IGUADESMAN   

George Maxman, violin

Sara Maxman, violin

APRIL 12 at 4:30pm

POTPOURRI

ARBOS   VILLANI-CÔRTES    MASSENET MASCAGNI

SARASOTA PIANO TRIO

Milene Moreira, violin

Nadine Trudel, cello

Jessé Martins, piano

APRIL 19 at 4:30pm

TALENTO

BACH  MOZART MENDELSSOHN ENESCO VERHEY IBERT

Winners of the 2023 Edward and Ida Wilkof Young Artists Concerto Competition

Elijah Luzginov, violin

Cole Laudenslager, flute

APRIL 26 at 4:30pm

Universal Language

April 20, 2023

Description

Chamber music for Flute, Basson, and Piano

Betsy Hudson Traba, flute

Fernando Traba, bassoon

Sarasota Bay Club  - Monday 4/20 @ 8 pm

Temple Sinai Winter Music Program - Sunday 4/23 @ 3:30pm

St. Boniface Church in Siesta Key - Sunday 4/30 @ 6pm

Jennifer Rowley's Aria Bootcamp

August 07, 2023

Description

Aria Bootcamp is a young artist training program designed for young operatic artists of all ages. Our inaugural season in 2022 focused on the thorough preparation of two operatic arias from musical coaching, to technical work, to body work, and acting. This season, Aria Bootcamp will focus on the entire audition package of 5 pieces (arias and songs), for the fall 2023 audition season! We will help prepare singers selections musically and vocally, with coaching in language, musical style, acting, and vocal technique; as well as, strategize the upcoming audition season with mock auditions. We will close the program by recording two high definition videos for pre-screening submission. All levels are welcome – from graduate school auditionees, to young artist program applicants, to emerging professional artists preparing for management and main stage auditions - there is no age limit! Our exceptional faculty will have you leaving fully prepared to take on audition season!

Aria Bootcamp will run from August 7 through 18, 2023 at the Sarasota Opera House, in Sarasota, FL.

The Little Sweep

November 04, 2023

Description

Sarasota Youth Opera will present a revival of our acclaimed production of Britten's charming opera—The Little Sweep.  A group of children, with the help of a kind nursery maid, work to free a young chimney sweep apprentice from his cruel master.  Last seen in 2018, this enchanting work, which was written to introduce young people to opera, will be sure to delight children and adults alike.

The Music of Giacomo Puccini

November 10, 2023

Description

The operas of Giacomo Puccini are some of the most popular in the repertoire.  Soloists from Sarasota Opera, partnering with the Sarasota Orchestra, conducted by Victor DeRenzi will present favorite selections from these great works in concert.  

Aria Bootcamp

August 05, 2022

Description

The program will consist of nine days of working on arias for the coming season and at the end of the session, participants will record those arias for the first auditions of the season. Every participant will have lessons with Ms. Rowley, coaching with faculty, acting classes, social media and branding seminars, body alignment and breathing work, masterclasses, an audition day for managers and regional opera houses, and hi-definition audition videos.

This season, the renowned faculty will include Jesse Martins of Sarasota Opera, Ksenia Leletkina of Palm Beach Opera, Teresa Ancaya of St. Pete’s Opera, Daniel Welch, Scott Skiba of Hawaii Performing Arts Festival and Cleveland Opera Theater Baldwin Wallace Conservatory, The Musical Athlete, Hannah Bullock and Drew Bullock of Simply Sing Studio, and LM Ritch of New Amsterdam.

First Voices

October 10, 2022

Description

ensemble new srq

(pianist)

OCTOBER 10 at 7:30pm

FIRST VOICES

Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ TateTalowa’ Hiloha (Thunder Song) (1994) for solo timpani

Inti Figgis-VizuetaImago (2021) for string quartet

Elizabeth OgonekLightenings (2016) for violin, piano, clarinet, percussion

Michael BegayCloak of Autumn (2018) for string quartetGabriela

OrtizPico-Bite-Beat (2018) for percussion, string quartet and electronics

First Congregational Church - 1031 S Euclid Ave, Sarasota

The Secret World of Og

November 05, 2022

Description

Sarasota Youth Opera will perform the operatic adaptation of the well-known children’s book by Canadian icon Pierre Berton.  Discover the classic story of a group of siblings who venture into the dark subterranean world of the Ogs to rescue their baby brother and cat.  This story has been a favorite with Canadian children since its publication in the 1960s.

ENSRQ + SCD

December 01, 2022

Description

ensemble new srq + Sarasota contemporary dance

(pianist)

DECEMBER 1, 2 and 3 at 7pm & DECEMBER 4 at 3pm

ENsrq + scd

Iannis XenakisRebonds B (1989) for solo percussion

Mario CarroAbout Escher (2015) for violin and marimba

Reena EsmailDarshan- Bihag (2021) for solo violin

Bright ShengHot Pepper (2010) for violin and marimba

Lou HarrisonVaried Trio (1987) piano, violin, percussion

ASOLO THEATER - 5401 Bay Shore Rd, Sarasota

FALL CLASSICAL CONCERT SERIES

November 22, 2022

Description

NOVEMBER 22 at 6pm

AMERICANA

Ewazen - Stephenson - Clarke - Bolcom

Aaron Romm, trumpet

Sun-Young Shin, violin

NOVEMBER 29 at 6pm

HER JOURNEY

Le Beau / Strohl / Boulanger

Chamber music by women composers

Natalie Helm, cello

DECEMBER 6 at 6pm

LOS TRABAS

Donizetti / Hüe / Tansman / Piazzolla

Betsy Hudson Traba, flute

Fernando Traba, bassoon

Presented by W.H.J.J. Venice Library - 300 Nokomis Ave. S. Venice, FL

Brundibar

November 15, 2019

Description

A brother and sister, Little Joe and Annette, need to buy milk for their sick mother but have no money. They see the organ-grinder, Brundibár, playing his hurdy-gurdy on the street corner and collecting money from the townspeople. The children decide that they too will sing and collect money, but they are laughed at and chased away by Brundibár.

As night approaches, a group of animals encourage the children to stand up to the organ-grinder. The next morning, with the help of the neighborhood children, they sing a charming lullaby which earns them money from the townspeople. Brundibár tires to steal their money, but after a brief chase he is caught and the children sing a song of victory. 

Raise Up Your Voice

by Martha Collins (stage director) and Jesse Martins (Youth Opera Music Director)

When we first learned about Brundibár, we were profoundly moved by the history surrounding the work - that of it having been performed by children in the Terezín camp-ghetto. As we delved more into the lives and writings of these children, most of whom were murdered under the Nazi regime, we became deeply inspired and humbled by these young people who strove to stay artistically alive under such prohibitive conditions. It became important to us that the companion piece we created to go with Brundibár should not use words and stories created by us, but rather the actual words of young people. The search led us to the diaries and letters of children throughout the world written while they were living through the challenges of intolerance in its many forms.

In 1948, Winston Churchill said "Those who fail to learn from history are condemned to repeat it". It is important that we remember the stories of these children. We found wisdom in the words of these inspiring young people who were questioning the world that adults had created; these children who were able to see the world through a lens of what life could be when not limited by politics, hatred or indoctrination.