Richard Russell News

This week, Sarasota Opera launched its newest initiative to bring opera to the community in the midst of the Covid-19 emergency public health measures. OperaMobile's first ride featured performances by Soprano Hannah Brammer (Juliet in Romeo & Juliet, Winter 2020) and Baritone Alex Boyd (Count Monterone in Rigoletto, Fall 2019) with Maestro Jesse Martins accompanying on piano.

Executive Director Richard Russell and Artistic Director Victor DeRenzi announced that Scott Guinn will become the new Director of Development beginning July 1, 2020.

Sarasota Opera fans know that nothing equals the thrill of a live performance. But since the company's 2020 Winter Opera Festival ended early due to the COVID-19 health crisis, the art of opera has continued online, and on the air, with a variety of creative efforts.

Sarasota Opera will immediately suspend all performances of operas and other concerts and events as of March 13 in response to the current Coronavirus situation and following guidance of the City of Sarasota and state health officials.

At 7:30 pm on Sunday, March 15th, a beloved tradition returns to the historic Sarasota Opera House, when principal artists a?" the stars of Sarasota Opera's productions a?" take the stage to perform their favorite songs, arias, and ensembles, accompanied by piano. Hear the beautiful Rigoletto quartet, Carmen's thrilling Seguidilla, a Korean Art Song, and many more special selections. Tickets start at $10 and can be purchased online at SarasotaOpera.org, by phone, or at the box office. The Winter Opera Festival continues through March 22 with performances of Puccini's La bohème, Gounod's Romeo & Juliet, Donizetti's The Elixir of Love, and Catalani's La Wally (opening March 7). For more information visit SarasotaOpera.org, call (941) 328-1300, or visit the box office at 61 N. Pineapple Avenue, Sarasota, FL 34236.

Discovery Channel is turning up the torque on Motor Mondays with a brand-new season of FAST N' LOUD, premiering Monday, March 30 at 10PM ET/PT. With builds bigger than ever before, Richard Rawlings' team wrestles with intricate projects, impossible deadlines and demanding standards while Gas Monkey Garage solidifies its elite status in the hotrod world. Throughout the season, Richard, Russell J. Holmes and the crew push the boundaries on some of the most complex builds the garage has ever taken on. The series is produced by Lionsgate's Pilgrim Media Group.

Hot off the Captain's table! There's just over a month until Sasha Regan's award-winning All-Male company docks at Wilton's Music Hall for another nautical adventure! The much-loved crew of All-Male H.M.S. PINAFORE downs anchor at Wilton's from 15th April - 9th May before setting sail to Bath, Winchester, Cambridge and Exeter.

Executive Director Richard Russell and Artistic Director Victor DeRenzi have announced that soprano Caitlin Crabill will be performing the role of Wally for all performances of Sarasota Opera's production of Alfredo Catalani's La Wally, opening Saturday, March 7, 2020. Teresa Romano, who was originally scheduled to sing in the production, has withdrawn due to illness.

On Saturday, February 8, Sarasota Opera opened the 2020 Winter Opera Festival with a festive brass fanfare played from the outside balcony of the Opera House, followed by the unveiling of a plaque commemorating the completion of the Verdi Cycle.

An adventure around the world awaits with the 2020-2021 Sarasota Opera Season, as announced today at a press conference held at the Sarasota Opera House. Executive Director Richard Russell and Artistic Director and Principal Conductor Victor DeRenzi presided over the event and were joined by principal artists performing selected arias from the upcoming seasons' works.

On Wednesday, January 22, 2020 from 5:30-7:30 pm, the community is invited to visit Sarasota Opera House for a wide variety of free activities and offerings. Visitors can enjoy art songs, ensembles, and arias sung throughout the opera house, raffles, backstage tours, wig and makeup demonstrations, a display from the recent acquisition of approximately 30,000 historic opera costumes, special ticket offers, and complementary refreshments. Artists appearing in the upcoming Winter Opera Festival productions of La bohème, Romeo & Juliet, The Elixir of Love, and La Wally will be on hand to share the excitement of the season, themed a?oeLove is In the Air.a?? The festive event will conclude with a special performance on stage. For more information, visit SarasotaOpera.org, call (941) 328-1300, or visit the box office in person at 61 N. Pineapple Avenue, Sarasota, FL 34236.

Sarasota Opera has been awarded a $50,000 Arts Appreciation Grant from the Gulf Coast Community Foundation. The grant offers unrestricted funding to area arts organizations in support of their artistic mission. This year's Arts Appreciation Grant will help support Sarasota Opera's 2019/2020 Season, which marks the company's 61st year of presenting world-class opera on the Southwest Florida Gulf Coast.

Sarasota Opera Association, Inc. kicked off the final and public phase of a $40M comprehensive campaign and celebrated the acquisition of an historic collection of opera costumes from Toronto-based Malabar Ltd. at an event on October 8, 2019 at the Sarasota Opera House hosted by Executive Director Richard Russell and Artistic Director Victor DeRenzi.

Sarasota Opera will present the Academy Award winning film a?oeBeetlejuicea?? as a late-season addition to their a?oeClassic Movies at the Opera Housea?? series. a?oeBeetlejuicea?? will start at 7:30 pm on Friday, October 4, 2019.

Victor DeRenzi, Artistic Director and Principal Conductor, and Richard Russell, Executive Director, are pleased to announce the casting for the 2019-20 season at Sarasota Opera, welcoming back returning Sarasota audience favorites as well as introducing new artists for their company debuts.

Single tickets will go on sale exclusively ONLINE at SarasotaOpera.org Thursday, August 1st for the 2019-20 Season, which includes some of the company's most popular productions: Verdi's Rigoletto, Puccini's La bohème, and Donizetti's The Elixir of Love, as well as the return of two celebrated worksa?"Romeo & Juliet by Charles Gounod, and La Wally by Alfredo Catalani.

National Endowment for the Arts Acting Chairman Mary Anne Carter has approved more than $80 million in grants as part of the Arts Endowment's second major funding announcement for fiscal year 2019.

On Friday, May 10 at 7:30 pm, the historic Sarasota Opera House will be filled with exquisite songs written by well-known opera composers. Soprano Elizabeth Tredent (the title roles in Rita and Susanna's Secret, Violetta in La traviata), tenor Matthew Vickers (Des Grieux in Manon Lescaut, Avito in The Love of Three Kings), and baritone Marco Nistico (Giorgio Germont in La traviata, Amonasro in Aida) will be accompanied on the piano by John F. Spencer IV. The program will represent a musical journey through time-from a Mozart song set to the words of Goethe to a song Richard Strauss composed as a gift to his wife the day before their wedding in 1894. The songs will be performed in their original languages of Italian, French, German, and Russian, with translations provided.

Contra Costa Civic Theatre (CCCT) presents All the Way, directed by CCCT Artistic Director Marilyn Langbehn. Pulitzer Prize winner Robert Schenkkan's "action-packed, thoroughly gripping…jaw-dropping political drama" (Variety) about the first year of Lyndon Johnson's presidency plays April 12 through May 5 at CCCT. For tickets and information visit the theatre's website at www.ccct.org or call 510.524.9012.