Many opera lectures-recitals together with Detroit Opera (formerly the Michigan Opera Theatre)
Resident Artists have been presented by the Verdi Opera at the Detroit
Opera House, previewing various opera productions. Concerts and
opera exhibits were also presented at the Detroit Institute of Arts, at
Detroit's International Institute, at the Italian American Cultural
Society in Clinton Township and the Italian American Club of Livonia, as
well as at other venues, in cooperation with the Dante Alighieri Society
of Michigan, and under the auspices of the Consulate of Italy in Detroit.
Other activities have included presentations and
performances at several Detroit metropolitan area high schools and
public libraries; lectures and exhibits on opera at colleges,
universities, cultural clubs, and other organizations in Michigan, Ohio,
Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and at the Shakespeare Festival in Stratford,
Canada. Artists of
the Verdi Opera have performed with the Detorit Opera
as well as with the symphony orchestras of Birmingham-Bloomfield,
Livonia, Plymouth, Dearborn, Saginaw Bay, and Sarnia/Ontario,
among others. Special concerts were also presented with
the Parma Opera Ensemble (2001) and with the famed La Scala
Instrumental Ensemble (2007) featuring world-renowned and
Grammy Award winning basso Michele Pertusi.
In addition,
the Verdi Opera is privileged to have supported and featured
at its concerts the artistry of mezzosoprano Irina Mishura
a leading performer at New York's Metropolitan Opera House,
at Milan's La Scala
and at other major opera theaters in the world. Tenor Scott
Piper, who was chosen by celebrated director Franco Zeffirelli
to star in new productions of Aida and La Traviata in Verdi's
hometown of Busseto,
also performed with the Verdi Opera.
Tenor Michael Fabiano and soprano Caitlin Lynch, each a recipient of
the Verdi Opera's $1,000 Prize award to continue their studies in
Italy when they were students at the University of Michigan School
of Music, have performed leading roles at the Metropolitan
Opera House in New York and other major opera theaters in the USA
and abroad.
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