OPERA America Invites Artists, Administrators and More to A TOAST TO 50 YEARS

OPERA America is inviting artists, administrators, trustees, and audiences to "A Toast to 50 Years," a celebration of opera's progress and of OPERA America's 50th Anniversary, taking place today, Friday, May 15, from 4:30 to 5:00 p.m. EDT. The event can be live streamed at youtube.com/operaamerica. It is part of Opera Conference 2020, which was moved online in response to the COVID-19 pandemic to provide the support and perspectives necessary to inform the field's path forward.

OPERA America's president and CEO, Marc A. Scorca, will be joined by three of OPERA America's 50th Anniversary Ambassadors: sopranos Angel Blue and Christine Goerke, and bass Morris Robinson. The event will also include special announcements, a trivia game about the origins of opera in America, and the formal introduction of a new video creation, Light Shall Lift Us: Opera Singers Unite in Song.

The video features more than 100 opera singers, including Ambassadors Morris Robinson, Zachary James, Daniela Mack, Ailyn Pérez, David Portillo, and Brenda Rae, in a virtual performance of Light Shall Lift Us, a large ensemble work created by the Pulitzer Prize-winning team of composer Paul Moravec and librettist/lyricist Mark Campbell. The video - with music direction by Andrew Whitfield, video editing by Cara Consilvio, and orchestra simulation by Peter Lurye - is demonstrative of the dedication of artists to the art form and of their artistry.

"It is moving, though not at all surprising, to see artists from all across America, at all levels of their careers, come together as a community. It's indicative of the spirit of collaboration in opera and the resilience that artists and opera companies are exhibiting in the face of the current crisis," declared Marc A. Scorca, president/CEO of OPERA America. "We are deeply grateful to all the participating artists, and thrilled to share this important work with the opera community and audiences around the country."

The 107 artists who lent their voices to this project are:

Javier Abreu

Danielle Beckvermit

Daniel Belcher

Andrew Bidlack

Matt Boehler

Amanda Lynn Bottoms

Liz Bouk

Marnie Breckenridge

Erica Brookhyser

Raehann Bryce-Davis

William Burden

Jennifer Johnson Cano

Leonardo Capalbo

Joyce Castle

Lisa Chavez

Hailey Clark

Sarah Coit

Troy Cook

Sasha Cooke

Olivia Cosío

Tara Curtis

Adrienne Danrich

Joseph Dennis

Mary Dunleavy

Jason Ferrante

Jessica Fishenfeld

Emily Fons

Daryl Freedman

Blake Friedman

Joseph Gaines

Blythe Gaissert

Priti Gandhi

Sara Gartland

Eve Gigliotti

Nathan Granner

Devon Guthrie

Jasmine Habersham

Sam Handley

Roger Honeywell

Soloman Howard

Briana Elyse Hunter

Craig Irvin

Zachary James

Keith Jameson

Jessica E. Jones

Michael Kelly

Maya Kherani

Michael Kuhn

Claire Kuttler

Tesia Kwarteng

Sarah Larsen

Anna Laurenzo

Victoria Livengood

Cecilia Violetta López

Zulimar López-Hernández

Alexandra Loutsion

Daniela Mack

Amanda Majeski

Alex Mansoori

Trevor Martin

Robert Wesley Mason

Aundi Marie Moore

John Moore

Dylan Morrongiello

Brian James Myer

Miles Mykkanen

Luis Alejandro Orozco

Edward Parks

Ailyn Pérez

Dimitri Pittas

Matthew Polenzani

David Portillo

Stephen Powell

Katherine Pracht

Gabriel Preisser

Emily Pulley

Elise Quagliata

Brenda Rae

Zoie Reams

Morris Robinson

Lisa Marie Rogali

Adrian Rosas

Annie Rosen

Jordan Rutter

Christian Sanders

Lucy Schaufer

Laurel Semerdjian

Alek Shrader

Benjamin Sieverding

Jake Stamatis

Dane Suarez

Jack Swanson

Talise Trevigne

Richard Troxell

Maria Valdes

Jamie Van Eyck

Miguel Angel Vasquez

Craig Verm

Yunpeng Wang

Andrew Wilkowske

William Ferguson

Karin Wolverton

Caroline Worra

Matthew Worth

Wei Wu

Adriana Zabala

Jennifer Zetlan

For more information about Light Shall Lift Us: Opera Singers Unite in Song, go to operaamerica.org/LSLU.

For more information about Opera Conference Online, go to conference.operaamerica.org.

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