PR Florentine Opera Recording of ELMER GANTRY Wins Two Grammy Awards

Among the awardees for the 54th annual Grammy Awards, which were announced Saturday evening in Los Angeles, was the Naxos Records recording of the Florentine Opera Company's 2010 Midwest Premiere of Elmer Gantry. The 2012 Grammy wins were Best Classical Contemporary Composition andBest Engineered Album, Classical.

The Florentine Opera Company performed Elmer Gantry (Cast: William Boggs, conductor; and performers Keith Phares, Patricia Risley, Vale Rideout, Frank Kelley, Heather Buck, Jamie Offenbach, Matthew Lau, Florentine Opera Chorus and the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra) at the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts, March 19 & 21, 2010. The opera had its world premiere with Nashville Opera in November of 2007 in the James K. Polk Theater in Nashville, Tennessee and was based on a satirical novel written by Sinclair Lewis in 1926.

Florentine Opera General Director William Florescu attended the Grammy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles this past weekend. Bill Florescu commented on the Grammys; "I was convinced of the importance of Elmer Gantry as a new American Opera and I was excited by its ability to highlight popular American forms as a compelling work of art. I am proud that the Florentine produced Elmer Gantry, which has now achieved international acclaim through this recording and the Grammy Awards, introducing countless new fans to the opera. The nominations and subsequent awards are an exciting endorsement of the Florentine's recent innovative work."

In December of 2011 Robert Aldridge commented on the three Grammy bids for Elmer Gantry; "These three Grammy nominations are, simply put, a testament to the leadership of Bill Florescu, the fabulous support of the Florentine Opera board, the staff, and also the remarkable Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. To be nominated is a great honor, but it is general director Bill Florescu and the Florentine Opera Company that should truly be the recipients of this. And many, many thanks to them, for this!".

During the 54th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony on Sunday February 12, 2012, both Aldridge and Garfein offered thanks to General Director William Florescu and the Florentine Opera from the mainstage as Florescu looked on along with NAXOS exec John Newton and engineers from Sound Mirror Boston and Korea (see MP4 files for acceptance speaches by Aldridge, Garfein and Newton).

The two-time Grammy Award-winning recording is currently available on iTunes and through Naxos, Amazon and Barnes & Noble. For more information visit www.florentineopera.org and www.grammy.com/nominees. Additional information on the opera and its creators is available at the Elmer Gantry website at http://www.elmergantryopera.com/site/.

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