Festival Opera returns to the beautiful setting of Orinda Community Park on Thursday, June 22 at 6 p.m., with the 13th Annual Opera in the Park concert graciously sponsored by the Rotary Club of Orinda, with grateful thanks and appreciation to the City of Orinda Parks and Recreation Department and sponsor Compass realtor Pablo Tiscareno, and Solano Jewelers. Free and ample lawn seating awaits attendees along with a selection of food and wine trucks to enable their summer repast al fresco. The park is located at 28 Orinda Way, Orinda.
Long considered one of the highlights of the summer musical season, this year’s Opera in the Park concert will present an evening of music from the worlds of opera, Broadway and the Great American Songbook.
Selected by Festival Opera’s General Director Zachary Gordin, the featured guest artists are: Aisha Campbell, soprano; Dalyte Kodzis, mezzo-soprano; Matheus Coura, countertenor; Michael Foreman, tenor; and Matthew Lovell, bass-baritone. The exciting musical program will offer opera highlights from Puccini’s La Bohème, Bizet’s Carmen, Mozart’s Don Giovanni, in addition to excerpts from beloved Broadway shows including Les Misérables, Camelot, and works by Sondheim, Gershwin, Kurt Weill, and Irving Berlin. The singers will be accompanied by distinguished Bay Area pianist Chun Mei Wilson. Zachary Gordin will serve as the evening’s concert host.
Festival Opera’s summer season will continue on Sunday, August 6 at 4 p.m., when the company will joyfully revisit the lush grounds of Walnut Creek’s Civic Park for a different Opera in the Park program, this one made possible by the Walnut Creek Civic Pride Foundation. This free community concert will feature Festival Opera singers performing highlights from the world of grand opera in an idyllic setting for a late summer afternoon concert of beautiful music and new cherished memories. The park is located at 1375 Civic Drive, Walnut Creek.
At the heart of Festival Opera’s 2023 summer season will be a new production of Georges Bizet’s immortal opera, Carmen, set for two performances Friday, August 18 at 7.30 p.m. and Sunday, August 20 at 2 p.m. at Walnut Creek’s Hofmann Theatre, Lesher Center for the Performing Arts.
Zachary Gordin, said “It is with great pride Festival Opera celebrates its 32nd anniversary season with a refreshed, contemporary interpretation of Bizet’s iconic work, Carmen. I’m especially pleased to present a cast of rising, highly talented opera stars in such a collaborative stage production that will surely resonate with Bay Area audiences.”