Gloria Davy

More than 44 musicians with the Las Cruces Symphony Orchestra join a cast of professional singers and dancers from the United States and Europe in Shining A New Light on the Arts, an original blend of cutting-edge classical and contemporary performing arts. The two-act Pacific Arts Society production on Saturday, July 29 at 8 p.m. features an elaborate counterpoint of soaring classical vocals matched by lyrical and spirited dance.

Mezzo-soprano Natalie Bancroft is a distinguished female singer who imbues her vocals with dramatic force. The Italian classical & jazz pianist Raimondo Campisi is an unruly artist with communicable joie de vivre. Together they make music - beautiful music - stuff from the soul.

Following the success of Black History at New York City Opera, last season's inaugural series of events co-presented by New York City Opera and the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, City Opera returns to the Schomburg Center in 2010 for three new collaborative programs celebrating the great American operatic repertoire highlighting the African-American experience, the distinguished African-American artists who have enriched the opera world, and City Opera and Schomburg's parallel commitment to promoting black culture. The series begins with Opera at the Schomburg on Monday, February 1, 2010, followed by A Tribute to Robert McFerrin on Saturday, March 6, 2010 and 'The Life and Times of Malcolm X' on Wednesday, May 12, 2010.