Opera Naples Stars Under the Stars-Cambier Park

Steffanie Pearce
Soprano
Opera Colorado

Founding director of Opera Naples, Ms. Pearce has thrilled audiences from Paris, Madrid & Lisbon, to Cincinnati, Denver and Los Angeles, with over 200 performances in her signature role of Violetta

Other distinctive portrayals of tragic heroines including: Tosca, Leonora, Marguerite, Donna Anna, Mimi, Konstanze and the Three Heroines of Tales of Hoffman. She has been a guest artist with many opera companies including; Opera de Marseille, Opera Lisboa, Opera Colorado, The Opera Co. of Philadelphia, Pittsburgh Opera Theater, San Diego Opera, The Buxton Festival in England, Baltimore Opera, Opera Delaware and New Jersey Opera Festival. In March of 2005 Ms. Pearce became the Founding Director of South West Florida’s first Professional Regional Opera Company, Opera Naples. She sang the title role in their premier production of Tosca April 23, 2006

Equally at home on the concert stage, she has performed the Strauss 4 Last Songs and Carmina Burana with The Montreal Symphony. Her oratorio repertoire is extensive and she has appeared as a soloist at many famous theaters including: Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center, The Kennedy Center, The Hollywood Bowl and The Dorothy Chandler,.

Susana Diaz
Soprano
Cincinnati Opera

Susana Díaz is an accomplished lyric coloratura soprano and rising operatic talent to watch for. Her warm, crystalline timbre and intelligent, artistic style bring polished interpretations to the concert and stage. Susana, a Cuban-American, has been featured by many leading regional companies, such as the Cincinnati Opera, Dayton Opera, Florida Grand Opera, Ballet Florida, and Bay View Music Festival. In South Florida, Ms. Díaz has appeared with Festival Miami, Gold Coast Opera, Miami Lyric Opera, Pro-Arte Grateli, Florida Chamber Orchestra, Alhambra Orchestra, Amici dell’Arte, Hispanic-American Lyric Theatre, and Miami Oratorio Society. Interpreted roles include the title roles of Lakmé and Lucia di Lammermoor, Adina in L’Elisir d’amore, the Queen of the Night in The Magic Flute, the Sandman/Dew fairy in Hansel and Gretel, and Amarilli in Handel’s Il pastor fido. Upcoming roles include Elvira in the Riuniti Opera’s 2007 production of I Puritani.

Susana is an engaging recitalist and concert singer, excelling in the works of Mozart, Debussy, Turina, Richard Strauss, and Webern. She was an award winner of the Metropolitan Opera District Auditions, a finalist in the Columbus Opera Competition and a winner of the Schloss Leopoldskron Voice Competition in Salzburg, Austria. Ms. Díaz holds a Master of Music degree from the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, where she is also completing her doctoral thesis on the vocal works of Cuban-American composer Aurelio de la Vega.

Leah Summers
Mezzo Soprano

Benjamin Warschawski
Tenor
New York City Opera

Benjamin Warschawski: Career highlights have included Alfredo in La Traviata with New York City Opera, OperaDelaware, and Bohème Opera New Jersey; Edgardo in Lucia Di Lammermoor with Sarasota Opera and Nashville Opera; the Duke in Rigoletto with Opera Illinois, Austin Lyric Opera, Augusta Opera, and Annapolis Opera; Cavaradossi in Tosca with Augusta Opera; the title roles in Werther and in Puccini’s Edgar with Dicapo Opera Theatre; Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly with Augusta Opera and Capitol City Opera; and Don José in Carmen with Tri-Cities Opera.

Nelson Martinez
Baritone
Florida Grand Opera

Born in the city of Holguin, Cuba, Nelson Martinez began his musical studies with Raul Camayd, Director of the Lyric Theater and Superior Arts Institute. He went on to sing leads in a huge selection of Cuban and Spanish Zarzuelas with the Rodrigo Prats Lyric Theater. Mr. Martinez then moved to Havana and started his operatic career as first soloist of the Cuban National Opera and performed all the lead baritone roles in their repertoire. Nelson has toured extensively: performing in Korea, Russia, Spain, France, Portugal, Colombia, Mexico and China in concerts, Zarzuelas, opera and musical theater. He has won recognition in multiple international singing competitions including the National Contest for Young Opera Singers –Rodrigo Prats, in memoriam, the International Contest for Young Opera Singers-Ernesto Lecuona, in memoriam, and Belle Voci. Since moving to the United States, Mr. Martinez has participated in the Grand Park Festival in Chicago as well as performing locally here in South Florida. He has performed with Florida Grand Opera, Pro Arte Grateli, and most recently received critical acclaim as Rigoletto with Miami Lyric Opera. Favorite roles include: Giorgio Germont in La Traviata (Verdi), Sharpless in Madama Butterfly (Puccini), Scarpia in Tosca (Puccini) and Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor by Donizetti.

Leah Summers, mezzo-soprano has performed extensively in opera and concert throughout the United States and abroad. Most recent performances include Cherubino in Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro, Page in Strauss’ Salome, Maddalena in Verdi’s Rigoletto and Suzuki in Puccini’s Madame Butterfly, as well as many other roles with the New York City Opera. She has appeared in leading roles with opera companies such as the Pittsburgh Opera, Opera Orchestra of New York and The Vienna Staatsoper. She has been heard with the Dallas Symphony, the New York Chamber Orchestra, the Ensemble Musica Sacra in Salzburg/Austria, the Richmond Symphony, the West Virginia Symphony, Continuum, Tanglewood Music Festival, New Julliard Ensemble and the New York Festival of Song. Miss Summers is a Fulbright scholar and the recipient of a Sullivan Foundation Grant. She holds degrees from the University of Miami, The Manhattan School of Music, the Hochschule für Musik and Darstellende Kunst in Vienna/Austria and the Julliard Opera Center in New York. She is featured on Bridge Record’s recent recording of the songs of Stephan Volpe, as well as Mahler’s 8th symphony on the Delos label. Her upcoming engagements include Dorabella in Mozart’s Cosi Fan Tutte at Opera Colorado in the 2008/2009 season.

OPERA NAPLES WAS VOTED
BEST PERFORMING ARTS ORGANIZATION
IN SOUTHWEST FLORIDA!

THIS EVENT IS COMPLETE, BUT WATCH FOR ANOTHER NEXT YEAR!

Maestro William Noll is a performance veteran of the major concert halls of the United States and Europe. in the spring of 2000, he made his conducting debut in Beijing, for an outstanding sold-out performance of an all-Tchaikovsky program. From Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall in New York to festivals and tours in Italy, Belgium, and China, Mr. Noll has established excellence in performance standards for almost three decades. He has held positions with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, the Atlanta Opera, the Choral Guild of Atlanta, Providence Opera Theatre and the summer festivals of Aspen, Spoleto and Brevard. As a conductor/pianist, Mr. Noll has collaborated with James Levine, Robert Shaw, Zubin Mehta, Julius Rudel, Eve Queler, Jorge Mester, Christian Badea and Donald Vorhees, among many others. In addition, his catalog of commercial recordings which include classical symphonic and jazz repertoire continues to grow on labels such as Newport Classic, Intersound, Pro-Jazz, Time-Life, and Sony.

Below: A spellbound audience thrills to an unprecedented event - an evening of Opera Under the Stars at Cambier Park, with Naples' extraordinary weather complimenting two perfect evenings.

Photography by Pat Shapiro