Love it or hate it, this Sunday is Valentine’s Day. And if you celebrate the holiday, the pressure is on to be, well, romantic. Shakespeare wrote that if music be the food of love, play on. And that’s exactly what the Florentine Opera Studio Artists will do this weekend.
The Florentine takes on four studio artists each season. The program gives young singers a chance to work on their skills, sing supporting roles full scale productions, and present a Valentine’s Day concert where they get to take center stage. This season the artists are soprano Ariana Douglas, mezzo-soprano Katherine Fili, tenor Thomas Leighton and baritone Leroy Davis.
This year's concert, Vienna.... City of My Dreams, features romantic music from opera, operetta and musical theatre, and plays at the Wilson Theatre at the Marcus Center's Vogel Hall Friday through Sunday.
The Florentine Opera Studio Artists stopped by the Lake Effect Performance Studio with pianist Ruben Pirrainen, to give us a preview: