Florida Grand Opera and Opera Piccola of San Antonio Wager Recital Over Heat vs. Spurs

The fever of the NBA Finals is spreading wildly and spurring friendly competition, even among opera companies. The recent tie between the Miami Heat and the San Antonio Spurs inspired Miami's Florida Grand Opera and Opera Piccola of San Antonio to make a wager.

The losing company will send an emerging artist to the winning city to perform a recital, which will be free and open to the public. The CEOs of both opera companies added one more stipulation to the bet: the loosing CEO would send the winner a care package featuring foods and tokens showcasing the city's food and culture.

Sports and opera fans are encouraged to follow the action on Twitter and Instagram using the hashtag #NBAoperaFinals to discuss everything from the game to suggested repertoire for the recital.

"I'm looking forward to this," said Susan Danis, General Director and CEO at Florida Grand Opera. "I've always wanted to try genuine Tex-Mex." Mark A. Richter, General and Artistic Director of Opera Piccola of San Antonio said, "Texans are always up for a good bet."

ABOUT FLORIDA GRAND OPERA

Florida Grand Opera (FGO), the oldest performing arts organization in Florida, celebrates its 73rd year of continuously producing grand opera during the 2013-2014 season. The main stage operas of the season include: Marvin David Levy's Mourning Becomes Electra, Nov. 7 - 19, 2013; Verdi's Nabucco, Jan. 5 - Feb. 8, 2014; Puccini's Tosca, Mar. 29 - Apr. 12, 2014; and Massenet's Thaïs, May 3 - 17, 2014.

Founded in 1941 as Greater Miami Opera and later merging with The Opera Guild Inc. in 1994, FGO presents a mixture of standard repertoire and contemporary works as well as commissions new productions - all featuring projected translations in English and Spanish. FGO, recognized for funding by the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs, the Florida Arts Council, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Funding is also provided, in part, by the Broward County Board of County Commissioners as recommended by the Broward Cultural Council and the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau, the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs, Cultural Affairs Council, the Mayor and the Miami-Dade County Board of County Commissioners and the Miami-Dade County Tourist Development Council. Program support is provided by the City of Miami Beach, Cultural Affairs Program, Cultural Arts Council. Florida Grand Opera is a Resident Company of the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County and a member company of OPERA America. American Airlines is the Official Airline, Intercontinental Miami is the Official Hotel and Steinway & Sons is the Official Piano of Florida Grand Opera.

ABOUT OPERA PICCOLA AT SAN ANTONIO

Opera Piccola of San Antonio was founded in 2012 by Mark A. Richter, with the passionate intent of building a nationally recognized, professional chamber opera for San Antonio. The word "piccola" means small in Italian, lending to the mission of the company of producing exciting, high quality productions in intimate settings. Intimate opera provides the patron with a very intense and entertaining experience. We use professional opera singers from around the world and the highest caliber of local musicians for season productions.

The company has already proven itself by producing innovative and highly acclaimed operas including, Mozart's Cosi fan tutte, Mollicone's Face on the Barroom Floor, Menotti's The Telephoneand Donizetti's Don Pasquale. Each of our operas are sung in English and cost only a fraction of what people would expect to pay for an opera, making them both accessible and affordable.

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