Florida Grand Opera's Singing Staff Makes Their Concert Debut

FGO's artist-administrators are banding together to clamber over the footlights and show off their singing chops in Staff Sing, a fun-filled concert of operatic favorites designed to kick off the 2023–24 season and benefit the opera.

The cast includes soprano/Director of Finance Susana Diaz, mezzo-soprano/Artistic Administration and Finance Associate Lauren Frick, contralto/Marketing and Communications Manager Cindy Sadler, tenor/Development Associate Peter Rivera, baritone/Director of Artistic Operations Matt Cooksey, and bass-baritone/Samuel M. Townsend Studio Artist Manager Neil Nelson, along with FGO pianist Paul Schwartz.

"The Staff Sing came out of a brainstorming session," says FGO General Director and CEO Susan T. Danis. "I have always enjoyed working with singers that have chosen to take on administrative roles at opera companies. They bring a special passion to what they do. FGO is so fortunate to have six outstanding professional singers on our administrative team. Their willingness to give a benefit concert to kick off our 82nd season is just wonderful and a real treat for South Florida audiences."

The 75-minute concert features popular arias, musical theater songs, and ensembles, including selections from Carmen, Die Fledermaus, Candide, Rigoletto, Faust, The Pearlfishers, Camelot, Show Boat, and more. The staff drew from their collective stage experience and repertoire to program a light-hearted evening of "party pieces" that they love to sing and audiences love to hear.

Cuban-American soprano Susana Diaz is an accomplished opera singer and recitalist, and recently joined the FGO staff as Director of Finance. She has performed with many leading regional companies, including the Cincinnati Opera, Dayton Opera, Orlando Philharmonic and Ballet Florida. In South Florida, Ms. Díaz has appeared with the University of Miami's Festival Miami, Artist Series of Sarasota, Orchestra Miami, Miami Symphony Orchestra, Miami Lyric Opera, and Miami International Piano Festival. Favorite opera roles include Violetta in La traviata, Gilda in Rigoletto, and Adina in L'elisir d'amore. Ms. Díaz specializes in Spanish and Cuban zarzuela. She debuted at Carnegie Weill Recital Hall in a recital entitled ¡Pasión por la Zarzuela! "If you allow it, the universe will always take you where you need to be," Diaz says. "I've loved singing and math since I was a little girl. Every time I've tried to focus on only one, the universe brings me back to the other. That's why I know that I'm 'home' at the FGO."

Mezzo-soprano Lauren Frick is a frequent performer in the South Florida region. Most recently, she made her house debut as Marcellina in Le nozze di Figaro with Sunny Side Opera and appeared in The Magic Flute with Orchestra Miami and Cavalleria rusticana and Suor Angelica with Miami Lyric Opera. She also appeared alongside Christine Goerke and Alan Held in the inaugural season of the Wagner Institute at the Miami Music Festival as Grimgerde in highlights of Die Walküre. Other notable roles include Mrs. De Rocher in Dead Man Walking, Pauline in The Queen of Spades, Ruth in The Pirates of Penzance, the Old Lady in Candide, and the title role in Dido and Aeneas. At FGO, she serves as Finance and Artistic Administration Associate and coordinates FGO's educational outreach with Miami-Dade and Broward County schools. “I'm looking forward to collaborating with my fellow singers in the office,” Frick says. “I have definitely developed a new appreciation for what it takes to make things happen in this field, and it has made a huge difference in the approach of my artistic process and singing in general."

Pre-COVID, contralto Cindy Sadler enjoyed a full-time singing career. She has been acclaimed by Opera News as a "charismatic mezzo" … "lovely to hear" and by The New York Times as a "wonderful" singer who "made every phrase count." Her signature roles include Baba the Turk (The Rake's Progress), Quickly (Falstaff), Erda (Der Ring des Nibelungen), Marcellina (The Marriage of Figaro), Zita (Gianni Schicchi), La zia principessa (Suor Angelica), and the Marquise de Birkenfeld (The Daughter of the Regiment). She has appeared with Chicago Lyric Opera, Atlanta Opera, Dayton Opera, Kentucky Opera, Austin Opera, Fort Worth Opera, New Orleans Opera, Tulsa Opera, the Princeton Festival, Des Moines Metro Opera, and many others. "When I made my FGO debut as Gertrude in Romeo & Juliette, it never occurred to me that only ten years later I would be making my arts administration debut as FGO's first Marketing and Communications Manager," Sadler says. "I'm still not sure which is my favorite role."

Tenor and FGO Development Associate Peter Rivera discovered his passion for opera in his hometown of Ponce, Puerto Rico. His roles include Cassio (Otello), Tamino (The Magic Flute), Ferrando (Così fan tutte), Raoul de St Brioche (The Merry Widow) and Leonardo (Cecilia Valdés), among others. He has concertized extensively throughout Miami, appearing at the St. Hugh-Steinway Concert Series, the Miami Music Festival, the 5th and 6th International Ernesto Lecuona Festival, Manny Pérez Vocal Studio Concerts at Temple Beth Am and at the Miami-Dade County Auditorium with the Florida Chamber Orchestra in "An Operetta Fantasy," and "Aires de España," to name a few. He appeared as Gherado in Gianni Schicchi with the Savannah Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of renowned conductor Eugene Kohn and has performed with many important opera workshops and music organizations, including the International Institute for the Vocal Arts, Opera de Puerto Rico, Fundación Puertorriqueña de Zarzuela y Operetta, Lingua e Canto and the VoiceExperience. Rivera considers himself "an opera advocate with or without melody." "I always love to share the beauty and importance of this art form," he says, "not just by singing but talking to people and sharing how connected I am now more than ever."

Director of Artistic Operations Matt Cooksey is best-known at FGO for his stage directing (including last season's The Barber of Seville and the upcoming La bohème) and as a popular pre-show lecturer, but he has legit baritone chops as well. A graduate of the Jacobs School of Music (Indiana University Bloomington) and Florida State University, he has occasionally filled in on FGO Studio Artist concerts. Key roles include the Clock and Cat (L'enfant et les sortilèges), Ko-Ko (The Mikado), Wolf/Cinderella's Prince (Into the Woods) and outreach performances of Papageno (The Magic Flute), the Wolf (Little Red Riding Hood), and the Father (Hansel and Gretel). He has also appeared as a featured soloist with Cantus Columbus (GA) and the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra, where he performed the Dvorak Te deum and the bass solo in Haydn's Lord Nelson Mass, and he is featured on The Lady Composer, a CD of songs by West End composer Madeleine Dring.

Jamaican-American bass-baritone Neil Nelson is an FGO and South Florida favorite. Most recently, he appeared to great acclaim in FGO's 2022-23 season as the Sacristan in Tosca, and as the Emperor Claudius in Agrippina and Count Monterone in Rigoletto during the 2021–2022 season. He also serves as the Samuel M. Townsend Studio Artist Program Manager and is responsible for guiding the artistic development of FGO's exclusive cadre of early-career performers. A graduate of The New England Conservatory of Music with a degree in music performance, Mr. Nelson has performed operatic roles domestically and abroad with prestigious companies such as Tatarstan Opera Theatre and Ballet (Kazan, Russia), Boston Lyric Opera, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Palm Beach Opera, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Orlando Opera, Opera Naples and many others.

Staff Sing takes place on Saturday, August 12, 2023 at 7:30 p.m. at the FGO offices located inside the Greater Fort Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce, and on Saturday, August 19, 2023 at 7:30 p.m. in the Balfe Rehearsal Hall at the Doral Opera Center, Miami, Tickets are $25.00 and available at fgo.org or at the door.