Palm Beach Opera Opens Season with Resident Artist Showcase at Northwood Home

Palm Beach Opera opened its season on Dec. 9 with the annual Resident Artist Showcase, featuring intimate performances and exclusive receptions at The Cornelia T. Bailey Opera Center.

Marking the first public event of PBO’s 2024 Season, the Resident Artist Showcase featured a curated evening of opera scenes performed by the company’s Benenson Young Artists and Bailey Apprentice Artists. Featuring exclusive receptions before and after the performance, the one-night-only event took place inside Palm Beach Opera’s 18,000 sq. ft. company hub located in the eclectic Northwood community.

Upon arrival, guests enjoyed passed appetizers under the bistro lights at The Cornelia T. Bailey Opera Center’s outdoor space before heading into the intimate Rehearsal Hall for the performance. The two-hour concert featured excerpts from “Le nozze di Figaro,” “La bohème,” “Arabella,” “Roberto Devereux,” “Béatrice et Bénédict,” “Rusalka,” and more, all accompanied by live piano.

Director Paul Curran, who serves on PBO’s guest faculty this season as an acting coach, opened each scene with a thoughtful introduction and shared insight into the creative process. After the performance, audiences enjoyed a special meet-the-cast reception with coffee and dessert.

The one-night-only showcase was celebrated by the Palm Beach Daily News as “a delightful evening of clear dramaturgy and exploration with young talent,” featuring “mainstage-ready” performances that matched “any current young talent on the Metropolitan Opera stage.”

“The Resident Artist Showcase allows us to expand our offerings and foster artistic growth at the same time—providing a platform for emerging artists to perform rarely-heard scenes selected specifically for their voices,” said General & Artistic Director David Walker. “Matched with our festive receptions, we are proud to open our season with this intimate event.”

Lee Ann and Jeffrey Alderton, Sanford Baklor and Maxine Marks, Louise Cohen, Julie and Robert Desnick, Lauren and Terry Duffy, Monica and Cantor Meir Finkelstein, Sanford Fisher, Anne Fitzpatrick, David Genser, Judy and Jerry Kaufman, Amin Khoury, Ingrid Kosowsky and Frank Arundell III, Marsha and Henry Laufer, Elaine and Peter McCombs, Daisy Soros, Roseanne and Dennis Williams, and General & Artistic Director David Walker were all in attendance among others. The Resident Artist Showcase performance was sponsored by Judy and Jerry Kaufman.

Palm Beach Opera’s 2024 Season continues with Puccini’s “Tosca” On Jan. 26-28, Offenbach’s “The Tales of Hoffmann” on March 1-3, and Bellini’s “Norma" on April 5-7 at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts. For more information, visit pbopera.org.

Palm Beach Opera is dedicated to producing live opera at an international standard of excellence, enriching the lives of the communities it serves with a diverse offering of educational programs, and training the next generation of opera stars. Founded in 1961, the fully professional Palm Beach Opera presents mainstage performances at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts in West Palm Beach and is a proud member of OPERA America and the Cultural Council of Palm Beach County. 

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