Opera Naples has added a concert to its current season. Naples resident Samantha Hankey will do a recital on April 7th at Moorings Presbyterian Church. Opera Naples Artistic and Music Director Ramón Tebar will accompany Hankey on the piano.
With appearances at The Metropolitan Opera, Vienna State Opera, Royal Opera House, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Carnegie Hall and The Kennedy Center, Hankey is a rising opera star who has been praised for her elegant and youthful tone.
“I have been following Samantha's career for some years now, and she is an artist I wanted very much to perform with,” said Tebar. “When I found out that she is local and spent many summers in Naples during childhood and is now living in town, I couldn't resist adding a performance with her as soon as possible. I am very happy that she made herself available while in town between her international engagements to perform in this recital.”
MORE INFORMATION:
Hankey is a mezzo-soprano.
VIP tickets are $250 (includes premium seating plus pre-concert and post-concert receptions). General admission is $50.
The Hankey recital will take place after the conclusion of Opera Naples Festival Under the Stars, which opens February 13 in the Wang Opera Center and concludes on March 15 at Baker Park with the finals of the Luciano Pavarotti Foundation Opera Naples International Voice Competition.
Tebar leads the festival’s musical activities, conducting the Naples Festival Orchestra, which includes several musicians from The Metropolitan Opera and San Francisco Opera, including the San Francisco Opera’s concertmaster.
The festival is notable for being the only outdoor winter opera festival in the United States.
Festivalgoers will enjoy three operas featuring internationally renowned artists, special concerts featuring the Opera Naples Chorus and resident artists, the second Luciano Pavarotti Foundation Opera Naples International Voice Competition as well as a performance of “Don Quixote” by the Gulfshore Ballet.
The full schedule follows:
- Feb. 13 –“Voices of Triumph: A Celebration of the Opera Chorus,” 7 p.m., Wang Opera Center
- Feb. 21 – “Scalia/Ginsburg” by Derrick Wang, 7 p.m., Wang Opera Center
- Feb. 22 – “Scalia/Ginsburg” by Derrick Wang, 2 p.m., Wang Opera Center
- Feb. 28 – “Don Quixote” by Ludwig Minkus with Gulfshore Ballet, 6:30 p.m., Wang Opera Center
- March 7 - Family & Community Day, 10 a.m., Baker Park
- March 7 – “Stars and Standards: An American Songbook Celebration,” 7 p.m., Wang Opera Center
- March 11- “Turandot” by Giacomo Puccini, 7 p.m., Baker Park
- March 12 – “The Elixir of Love” by Gaetano Donizetti, 7 pm, Baker Park
- March 13 – “Turandot” by Giacomo Puccini, 7 p.m., Baker Park
- March 14 - Semifinal round of the Luciano Pavarotti Foundation Opera Naples International Voice Competition, 1 p.m., FGCU’s Bower School of Music & the Arts
- March 14 – “The Elixir of Love” by Gaetano Donizetti, 7 p.m., Baker Park
- March 15 - Final round of the Luciano Pavarotti Foundation Opera Naples International Voice Competition, 7 p.m., Baker Park
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.
