Photo courtesy of Phoenicia Festival of the Voice.
This summer, from August 2-5, will be the third annual Phoenicia Festival of the Voice. Last year's festival culminated in a thrilling performance of Mozart's Don Giovanni in Phoenicia's Parrish Field, performed by the Woodstock Chamber Orchestra and a suite of internationally-renowned opera singers.
Festival organizers just announced the centerpiece for 2012: Puccini's Madama Butterfly, to be performed at 7:30pm on Sunday, August 4. The Metropolitan Opera's Steven White will conduct. The title role of Cio-Cio San has yet to be cast; Pinkerton will be played by American tenor Richard Troxell, Suzuki by mezzo-soprano Nina Yoshida, and Sharpless by festival co-founder Louis Otey.
Tickets to the three-day festival, including the outdoor opera performance, are currently on early-bird sale at the Phoenicia Festival of the Voice website for 20 percent off.
If you can't wait til August to hear some thrilling opera from the Voicefest organizers, there will be a concert at the new Saugerties Performing Arts Factory at 3pm on Sunday, April 22. The show will feature festival co-founders Louis Otey, Maria Todaro and Kerry Henderson singing popular numbers from opera and musical theater, with pianist Justin Kolb on the keys. Proceeds will help raise funds for the Festival of the Voice.
