Opera Italiana Is In The Air Presents REBIRTH! An Open-Air Concert

On Monday June 28th at 7:00 PM, Opera Italiana is in the Air returns to Central Park to present a special, one-night only, open-air performance of beloved Italian opera classics under the baton of Maestro Alvise Casellati at the newly reopened Naumburg Bandshell.

A summer evening of music that is free and open to the public, the concert will be titled "REBIRTH!" as a celebration of music and life returning to the city. This will also be the first full orchestra performance at the Bandshell since the completion of a two-year restoration project.

Opera Italiana is in the Air brings together a world-class orchestra for this incredible, one-night only event. Musicians from The Metropolitan Opera, the New York Philharmonic, The Juilliard School, The New School, and Manhattan School of Music will perform alongside three sensational international opera soloists: the renowned stars Jennifer Rowley, soprano, and Stephen Costello, tenor, and the fast-rising star Gabriella Reyes, soprano. The concert is a tribute to Enrico Caruso, of one of the most astounding tenors of all time, and is supported by the Italian Cultural Institute of New York and the National Committee for the Celebrations of the Centenary of the Death of Enrico Caruso to honor the 100th anniversary of his death. It will feature the music of Puccini, Verdi, Donizetti, and Rossini and will also include a performance by the talented 17-year-old composer Mondriana Villegas, a student of the New York Philharmonic's Very Young Composers program.

This year, Opera Italiana is in the Air is collaborating for the first time with the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) presenting the Rising Voices Choir who will open the concert singing the national anthem. The concert will be streamed to the Music Therapy department patients and all MSK patients and staff.

"It is wonderful to bring a historical concert, with a full orchestra, to the city and be part of New York's rebirth and revitalization as a place of art, discovery, and cultural exchange. We are all in need of the healing power that music provides, and it is a privilege to bring so many artists together after a time when performers have struggled so greatly. This event would not be possible without our partners and sponsors who believed in our "REBIRTH!" and homage to Caruso," said Casellati.

"We are so pleased to collaborate with Opera Italiana is in the Air to present our Rising Voices Choir, a group of cancer patients, survivors, and caretakers who share their passion for music to find healing, community, and support as part of our vanguard Music Therapy Program. We hope staff and patients will find great joy in watching this incredible evening of music, art, and culture in the heart of New York City," said Karen Popkin, Program Coordinator, Creative Arts and Movement Therapies at Memorial Sloan Kettering.

"I am so excited to be sharing my new composition with a live audience for the first time. I hope it will inspire other young people like me to be interested in classical music, pursue their passions, and have the confidence to share their art with the world," said Mondriana Villegas, student of the New York Philharmonic's Very Young Composers program.

Opera Italiana is in the Air is presented with the invaluable support of the Consulate General of Italy in New York.

This event was made possible through the generous contribution of the Italian Cultural Institute of New York, Intesa Sanpaolo, The Alexander Bodini Foundation, FIAC, ACP Group, ENI, Bracco Diagnostics and Ferrero North America.

Learn more at https://www.operaitalianaisintheair.com/.