Sarasota Opera to Launch New Opera Broadcast and Film Series

Sarasota Opera is pleased to announce the launch of its new opera broadcast and film series. This new series will allow Sarasota Opera to expand its programming from the fall and winter season to year-around. All showings will occur in the William E. Schmidt Opera Theatre at the Sarasota Opera House.

"Sarasota Opera audiences are often asking for more programming," according to Executive Director Richard Russell. "We are happy to expand our season by providing opera content from around the world."

Sarasota Opera will partner with Screenvision, to present four operas from London's Royal Opera House: Don Giovanni, Nabucco, La traviata, and Manon Lescaut. Each presentation will be preceded by a 15 minute welcome and pre-show discussion about the opera being shown.

There will be two showings of each opera. The schedule for the first four months has been set and is as follows:

Don Giovanni by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Production from the Royal Opera House
Monday, April 14th
1:30pm and 7:00pm

Nabucco by Giuseppe Verdi
Production from the Royal Opera House
Thursday, May 15th at 7pm
Sunday, May 18th at 1:30pm

La traviata by Giuseppe Verdi
Production from the Royal Opera House
Thursday, June 19th at 7:00pm
Sunday, June 22nd at 1:30pm

Manon Lescaut by Giacomo Puccini
Production from the Royal Opera House
Thursday, July 24th at 7:00pm
Sunday, July 27th at 1:30pm

Tickets are now on sale. Ticket prices will be $20 for general admission and $25 for seating in the orchestra boxes or Mezzanine. $20 Tickets will be available for purchase at the Sarasota Opera Box Office and online at http://www.sarasotaopera.org/Opera_in_HD.aspx. $25 tickets will ONLY be available at the Sarasota Opera Box Office. Current Sarasota Opera subscribers will receive a 10% discount on ticket prices.

Sarasota Opera was recently awarded grants from the William and Marie Selby Foundation, the Gulf Coast Community Foundation to purchase film projection equipment for the Opera House, and an additional "Building Opera Audiences" grant from OperaAmerica to support marketing.

Additional opera, as well as ballet and theater broadcasts, will be announced in coming months.

Based in Florida's beautiful Gulf Coast, Sarasota Opera is approaching its 55th consecutive season. In 1960, the company began presenting chamber-sized repertoire in the historic 320-seat Asolo Theater on the grounds of Sarasota's Ringling Museum of Art. Recognizing the need for a theater more conducive to opera, the company purchased the former A.B. Edwards Theater in downtown Sarasota in 1979 and first performing in it in 1984 as the Sarasota Opera House. The theater has just undergone a $20-million renovation and rehabilitation enhancing audience amenities, while updating the technical facilities including increasing the size of the orchestra pit. The theater, which reopened in March 2008, has been called "one of America's finest venues for opera" by Musical America.

Since 1983 the company has been under the artistic leadership of Victor DeRenzi. Since then the company has garnered international attention with its Masterwork Revivals Series, which presents neglected works of artistic merit, as well as the Verdi Cycle producing the complete works of Giuseppe Verdi. Recognizing the importance of training, Maestro DeRenzi founded the Apprentice Artist and Studio Artist programs. Sarasota Opera also maintains a commitment to education through its Invitation to Opera performances for local schools and the unique Sarasota Youth Opera program.

The 2014 Fall Season will feature Leoncavallo's Pagliacci followed by the return of the Sarasota Youth Opera production of Dean Burry's The Hobbit. The 2015 Winter Festival includes Puccini's Tosca, Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro, Rimsky-Korsakov's The Golden Cockerel, and Verdi's Don Carlos. Subscriptions are now on sale at the Sarasota Opera Box Office. Single Tickets for the 2014-2015 season will go on sale August 1st online and September 2nd in the box office. For more information, please call (941) 328-1300, go online at www.sarasotaopera.org, or visit the Sarasota Opera Box Office at 61 N. Pineapple Avenue, Sarasota, FL 34236.