Florida Opera Festival Announces Its 20th Anniversary Season, Which Includes MADAMA BUTTERFLY, RIGOLETTO and More

Celebrating the 20th season of grand opera at its grandest, the 2014-2015 Florida Opera Festival presented byOpera Tampa is certain to exhilarate every opera buff and fascinate any curious opera novice. Composers Puccini and Verdi,among others, will be showcased in the magnificent festival that will also feature the Opera Tampa New Voices in Concert and a major opera soloist to be announced at a later date.

"The Florida Opera Festival continues to be an unqualified success," said Straz Center President Judy Lisi. "The 2014-2015 season will be as entertaining, compelling and stimulating as any season we've ever presented. It's a season that our impassioned and sophisticated opera-going audiences here in the Tampa Bay area are sure to embrace."

In his third season as artistic director and conductor, Daniel Lipton will again bring his vast experience on international stages, charismatic personality and love of music to the Florida Opera Festival. Lipton's fresh ideas and individual sound have made him a Tampa Bay favorite.

"Next season we'll present two of the greatest and most popular operas ever written," Lipton said. "Rigoletto is Verdi's twisted tale of lust, desire, love and deceit while Puccini's Madama Butterfly is extravagant, colorful and unabashedly emotional - and together they make for a stunning season of accessible, yet grand, opera."

Lipton continued "... and while we are still busy planning lots of surprises - including a concert by a major opera star - I couldn't be more thrilled with this extraordinary series that will also include a concert featuring the Opera Tampa New Voices."

The 2014-2015 Florida Opera Festival includes:

Giuseppe Verdi's

Rigoletto

Friday, Feb. 13, 2015, at 8 p.m.

Sunday, Feb. 15, 2015, at 2 p.m.

Morsani Hall

Verdi's famous tale entangles court jester Rigoletto with the lives of a sex-addled Duke, a hit man, a cuckolded husband and Rigoletto's most cherished belonging - his naïve and beautiful daughter - into a deadly game of getting even.

Rigoletto will be sung in Italian with English translations projected above the stage. Maestro Lipton will lead an international cast along with the Opera Tampa Orchestra and Chorus.

Giacomo Puccini's

Madama Butterfly

Friday, March 13, 2015, at 8 p.m.

Sunday, March 15, 2015, at 2 p.m.

Morsani Hall

Madama Butterfly transports audiences to turn-of-the-century Japan where American naval officer, Lt. Pinkerton, sets the wheels of tragedy in motion when he marries a beautiful and naive young Japanese girl.

Madama Butterfly will be sung in Italian with English translations projected above the stage. Maestro Lipton will lead an international cast - including Yunah Lee as Cio Cio San - along with the Opera Tampa Orchestra and Chorus.

The 2014-2015 Florida Opera Festival also includes a major opera soloist and:

Opera Tampa New Voices in Concert

Sunday, Jan. 11, 2015, at 2 p.m.

Ferguson Hall

The Opera Tampa New Voices are four talented vocal artists on the precipice of launching careers as opera singers who will inspire audiences with their superb voices in this concert of opera favorites. In addition to the concert, these "see-them-before-they're-famous" young artists, culled from the national and international ranks of emerging opera singers, will participate in master classes, serve as community ambassadors and perform comprimario roles in the mainstage productions.

2014-2015 Florida Opera Festival season ticket holders will have the opportunity to add:

The Phantom of the Opera

Dec. 17, 2014 - Jan. 4, 2015

Cameron Mackintosh's spectacular new production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's phenomenal musical success, The Phantom of the Opera, will come to Tampa as part of a brand new North American Tour. Hailed by critics as "bigger and better than ever before," this production boasts exciting new special effects, scenic and lighting designs, staging and choreography.

The Phantom of the Opera is not part of the season ticket pricing.

Those interested in acquiring season tickets or group tickets should call the Straz Center Ticket Office at 813.229.STAR (7827) or outside the Tampa Bay area at 800.955.1045 or visit www.operatampa.org for specific on-sale information. Renewing season ticket holders, Opera Tampa League members and Straz Center Annual Members receive priority seating for season tickets and seating upgrade requests. Priority increases according to giving level. Individual opera tickets will go on sale at a later date.

For more information about the Florida Opera Festival presented by Opera Tampa and its upcoming events, please visit www.operatampa.org.