CLEARWATER - Eight vocal finalists, who are budding talents from the Tampa Bay area, have been selected to participate in a two-hour master class with world-famous opera director Tito Capobianco.
The class is presented in partnership with the Pinellas Opera League The Marcia P. Hoffman Performing Arts Institute at Ruth Eckerd Hall, who selected the pariticpants.
The event is open to the public who will be able to watch as the Maestro coaches the singers on their dramatization of operatic repertoire.
The master class is Friday, Feb. 17, 7 to 9 p.m., in the Murray Studio Theater at Ruth Eckerd Hall. A short reception will follow.
Tickets are $15 and may be purchased in advance or at the door.
Tito Capobianco, who will personally conduct the master class, has long been acclaimed for his ingenious and versatile treatment of repertory classics and his innovative updated settings of the operas dating back to his 1957 modernistic version of Puccini’s Tosca.
In addition to his unparalleled and distinctive success with his 24 opera productions at Lincoln Center in New York City, Maestro Capobianco has staged more than 250 productions in Europe, Australia, and the United States.
During the 1960s, his collaboration with the soprano Beverly Sills became legendary. Other talented artists who have participated in his productions include Claudio Abbado, Leonard Bernstein, James Levine, Lorin Maazel, Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo, Sherrill Milnes, Joan Sutherland and many others.
Throughout his career, Capobianco has demonstrated his commitment to the educational needs of young artists. In 1968 he became director of the American Opera Center at the Juilliard School of Music in New York City. He later created the Opera Department at the College of Performing Arts in Philadelphia as well as the San Diego Opera Center and the Pittsburgh Opera Center.
He has also been distinguished with numerous honorary degrees for his extensive community involvement. Today, Mr. Capobianco concentrates exclusively on teaching young artists in the United States and Europe.
For more information, please call the Hoffman Institute at 727-712-2706.
The Marcia P. Hoffman Performing Arts Institute at Ruth Eckerd Hall provides year round instruction in Drama, Dance, Voice, Instrumental and Jazz. Ruth Eckerd Hall is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization.
