Opera is not just for the rich. At least not at Gulfshore Opera, says founder and General Director Steffanie Pearce.
“The traditional stereotype of opera is that it's elitist entertainment. You have to be rich, and you have to speak foreign languages and all that to enjoy it,” Pearce acknowledged. “But we're just so much more than that. The youth initiatives that we have at Gulfshore Opera are really part of our founding principles.”
Since its inception, patron John Wernette helped support the Gulfshore Opera youth-oriented community engagement initiatives.
“John and Beverly Wernette have been very significant contributors to our efforts,” Pearce noted. “Both very much love our outreach to the at-risk youth through our Harmony Choir, which has seven chapters in the three counties.”
At-risk kids find their way to Gulfshore’s Harmony Choir from after-school programs in lower-income communities such as Boys and Girls Clubs, Youth Haven and Grace Place. And they don’t just learn to sing.
“Chapters of the Harmony Choir go to a senior facility, either a daycare or assisted living situation, and the kids do a little performance and then after they serve snacks to the seniors and engage in conversations, individually, one-on-one,” Pearce said. “It's a great experience for the children and certainly for the seniors who have very little contact with cute little kids. It makes everybody feel good, and it helps to bring the community together.”
Gulfshore Opera also operates a statewide Professional Artist Workshop that trains aspiring young opera singers how choose and perform the right music for auditions.
It’s another program that was dear to Wernette and that Gulfshore Opera will proudly continue in his absence.
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“We also have an Emerging Artists Program, by which we seek out, and nurture young gifted who are looking at improving their skills and perhaps doing auditions as classical vocalists,” added Gulfshore Opera founder and General Director Steffanie Pearce. “In an outpouring of love for John and Beverly, our group called the Ambassadors has established a fund called the John Wernette Emerging Artists Fund, and we have been taking in donations from a lot of generous people so that we can expand this program.”
Gulfshore Opera provides local pianists who help these emerging artists develop a repertoire. Pearce personally gives individual voice technique lessons to those whom she believes have the talent to go far in the industry.
The Professional Artist Workshop is a one-week intensive. GO’s music director, Maestro Jorge Parody, helps each participant find five arias that give a good, solid representation of their best qualities along with the confidence and the skills to excel in auditions.
“It's a difficult field, and you don't make a lot of money at it when you're training and auditioning,” Pearce noted. “So, our Emerging Artists Fund helps support young Florida-based artists.”
Wernette’s support was instrumental in each of these programs, said Pearce.
“We are forever grateful for his warm friendship, generous support, and for his legacy pledge to the Encore! Fund for the Future. He will be deeply missed by all who knew him.”
With over 40 years of experience in opera, Pearce is a producer, director, performer, and teacher. Before focusing her energy on producing and directing opera, she enjoyed a long international singing career with opera companies that included Opera Marseille, Opera Lisbon, The Opera Company of Philadelphia, and San Diego Opera. She performed at major theaters, including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, and the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.
Pearce moved to Naples in 2000 and founded Southwest Florida’s first opera company in 2005. In June 2014, she reorganized and expanded operations into three counties with the formation of Gulfshore Opera.
In 2016, Pearce was honored with the WGCU Makers Award. Chosen as one of five women in Southwest Florida, she was recognized as an authentic, passionate, and inspiring woman who will leave a memorable, lasting impact on the people, economy, and culture of Southwest Florida.
In November 2023, Pearce was selected as one of Gulfshore Life’s Women of the Year. They honored her as an arts visionary known for bringing opera to Southwest Florida, ensuring equitable access to the arts, and shaping our community with her outstanding contributions over the past 20 years.
Under Pearce’s direction, Gulfshore Opera strives to enrich the Southwest Florida community by presenting accessible, high-quality vocal music performances with classically trained artists and to foster a sense of belonging through various music-based activities.
Support for WGCU’s arts & culture reporting comes from the Estate of Myra Janco Daniels, the Charles M. and Joan R. Taylor Foundation, and Naomi Bloom in loving memory of her husband, Ron Wallace.
