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2006 MARKS 65 YEARS OF FGO ACHIEVEMENT AND SUCCESS
YEAR-LONG CELEBRATION OF FLORIDA GRAND OPERA’S CONTRIBUTION
TO SOUTH FLORIDA
Miami, FL, February 7, 2006. 2006 promises to be a memorable year for Florida Grand Opera as it celebrates its 65th consecutive year of performances and contributions to the South Florida community.
In its 65-year history, Florida Grand Opera (FGO) has achieved numerous milestones. The opera takes pride in having featured some of the world’s leading singers, including Regina Resnick, Roberta Peters, Joan Sutherland, Luciano Pavarotti, Beverly Sills, Renata Scotto, James Morris, Sherrill Milnes, Nicolai Gedda, Evelyn Lear, Thomas Stewart, Diana Soviero, Elizabeth Futral, Helen Donath, Deborah Voigt, Fernando de la Mora and David Daniels, while nurturing the rising stars of the opera stage such as Sarah Coburn, Leah Partridge, Kelly Kaduce and Andrew Richards. Eighty-seven different productions by 43 composers have been presented as part of FGO’s repertory, including in the past 20 years twenty-five productions never before seen in South Florida.
Through its Young Artist Studio, FGO has trained over 150 artists who have gone on to mainstage careers with some of the world’s best known opera companies. And for more than 30 years, FGO’s community engagement and education programs have been presenting performances to high school, middle school and elementary school students while providing special educational opportunities to particularly gifted students. As has been its custom, FGO also continues to offer free tickets to dress rehearsals to classes of students from Miami-Dade and Broward public schools.
In its long and illustrious history, FGO has demonstrated a remarkable consistency of purpose and leadership. In this time, it has had only three visionary leaders: Dr. Arturo di Filippi (1941-1972), Robert Herman (1973-1985) and Robert M. Heuer (1985-present). As a result, since its founding FGO has achieved a standard of excellence in its body of work that is the envy of many larger and older performing arts organizations.
Its 2005-2006 season will climax in May of 2006 with the production of Georges Bizet’s Carmen, the very same opera that began - and now concludes - FGO’s 55-year relationship with the Miami-Dade County Auditorium. Florida Grand Opera’s 2006-2007 season will open on October 28, 2006 with a new production of Aida by Giuseppe Verdi at the Ziff Opera House in the new Miami Performing Arts Center. Fifty-three performances are scheduled for next season in Miami-Dade and Broward Counties, increased from 41 in 2005-2006 (as compared to 20 in 1985). FGO will also increase its season schedule from five to six operas, including the world premiere of Anna Karenina by David Carlson.
FGO is poised for major growth in the next few years. 2005 saw a major increase in its corporate and institutional support, as well as in the number of in-school performances offered to Broward and Miami-Dade students. In 2006, FGO will begin to perform in a new world-class facility that will allow for a significant expansion of its repertoire. In 2007, Florida Grand Opera will introduce a world premiere opera (Anna Karenina) and will host the national Opera America conference in Miami. And in 2008, FGO expects to open its new 284,000 square foot Anderson Opera Center, a state-of-the-art building across from the Performing Arts Center that will consolidate in one location all FGO activities in Miami, such as its offices, rehearsal halls, coaching and practice rooms, costume, wig and makeup workshops, housing for artists and public spaces such as a restaurant, a parking garage and a 485-seat theatre.
In fact, few other opera companies in the U.S. are growing in so many ways at once. Plans for innovative new productions are well under way, new staff has been hired and new community initiatives are being introduced. Three of FGO’s sets for 2006-2007 are being built exclusively for FGO, while the other three are all being rented from top-tier opera companies such as the San Francisco Opera, Houston Opera and Opera de Montreal. Further, renowned artists and production personnel such as Renata Scotto, Denyce Graves, Jon Villars, Norma Fantini and Angela Brown, as well as Miami favorites Leah Partridge, Andrew Richards and Sarah Coburn, are being brought to Florida, reinforcing FGO’s stature as a world-class opera company.
To celebrate these accomplishments, FGO will be present “A Night in Seville”, a spectacular black-tie gala dinner dance at the Four Seasons Hotel Miami on Saturday, February 18. In true “grand” opera style, this memorable evening will feature serenading guitars playing Spanish melodies, sensational Flamenco dancers, delicious gourmet cuisine and dancing to the Chase Orchestra. Highlights of the evening will be a silent auction and the honoring of a number of opera patrons and volunteers who are representative of thousands of patrons, volunteers, government officials and many others who have enabled Florida Grand Opera to become recognized as one of America’s leading opera companies.
Mr. Heuer observed, “We’re very proud of what we have achieved in the past 65 years. Yet while we have much to celebrate, we are not standing still: we’re making bold plans for the future. I believe that in 2006 FGO will be recognized without question as one of America’s very finest opera companies. A world-class opera company in a world-class venue in a world-class city: Miami and all of South Florida truly have a great deal to celebrate.”
The southeast’s premier opera company and the 12th largest in the U.S., Florida Grand Opera was created in 1994 by the merger of The Greater Miami Opera and The Opera Guild of Ft. Lauderdale, each the oldest cultural institution in its respective community. Under the leadership of Mr. Heuer, FGO currently produces five mainstage operas per season in Miami-Dade and Broward counties: its performances are attended by over 80,000 people, while its education and outreach programs serve over 50,000 people annually. With its $12.5 million operating budget (up from $1.5 million in 1985), the opera today employs 57 full-time and 300 part-time and seasonal personnel in five locations.
Florida Grand Opera maintains offices in both Miami and Ft. Lauderdale to service its diverse South Florida patron base, which stretches from Martin, Palm Beach and Broward Counties in the North to Collier County in the West to Miami-Dade and Monroe counties in the South. FGO is a resident company of the Miami Performing Arts Center and a founding partner of Riverwalk A&E in Ft. Lauderdale. A member of Opera America, FGO is sponsored in part by the National Endowment for the Arts, the State of Florida, Broward County and Miami-Dade County.
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