Elizabeth Caballero, Arturo Chacón-Cruz, & Louis Otey to Lead Florida Grand Opera’s Studio Artist Program

(Photo credit: Alexander Jane Creative, Florida Grand Opera has announced a transformation of its Studio Artist Program. Soprano Elizabeth Caballero, tenor Arturo Chacón-Cruz, and baritone Louis Otey will join Florida Grand Opera’s studio as Artist Training and Development Consultants for the 2024-25 season. They will work alongside Neil Nelson, the Senior Artist Training and Development Consultant, and Dr. Jared Peroune, {…}

Jul 22, 2024

Florida Grand Opera Names Three New Board Members

Florida Grand Opera announced the appointment of Giacomo Bossa, Sandra Savini, and Chang Oh Turkmani to its Board of Directors. Bossa is a partner at Barakat + Bossa, and is known for his adeptness in navigating different legal jurisdictions and cultural frameworks. Bossa successfully leads trials to verdicts and counsels clients towards innovative, cost-effective solutions. He is admitted to practice {…}

May 23, 2024

Maria Todaro is Officially Appointed to Position of General Director of Florida Grand Opera

(Credit: Tania Barricklo) Florida Grand Opera has dropped the interim tag and announced the official appointment of Maria Todaro to the position of General Director. Todaro’s professional life has seen her transition from mezzo-soprano to entrepreneur when she founded a company Arteodor, France at the age of 21; she also co-founded the Hudson Valley International Festival of the Voice. From {…}

May 7, 2024

Q & A: Advocating For Women On and Off Stage With Rebecca Krynski Cox & Maria Todaro

(Photo credit: Leonor Anthony) Hours before her final debut performance as Mimì in Florida Grand Opera’s “La Bohème,” soprano Rebecca Krynski Cox announced via Instagram that she is nine months pregnant. Cox and Florida Grand Opera’s General Director Maria Todaro spoke with OperaWire about working together through this process and on the importance of supporting women and pregnant people within {…}

Oct 26, 2023

Maria Todaro Announced as Interim General Director at Florida Grand Opera

(Credit: Eric Joannes) Florida Grand Opera has announced that Maria Todaro will serve as the company’s Interim General Director throughout the 2023-24 season. Todaro commenced her professional life as a mezzo-soprano and entrepreneur. She founded the company Arteodor and took on a stage directing career where she worked with such organizations as Minnesota Opera, Atlanta Opera, and Hawai’i Opera Theater. {…}

Mar 21, 2023

Q&A: James Conlon, Marlon Daniel, & Maria Todaro on Their Shared Devotion to the Life and Works of Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges

Photo: Bob-Estremera, Bonnie Perkinson, & Tania Baricklo The name and reputation of the revolutionary Classical composer Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges were once nearly forgotten. Through the work of Los Angeles Opera Music Director James Conlon, Marlon Daniel founder of the Saint-Georges International Music Festival, and stage director Maria Todaro, Bologne is returning to the spotlight. Below these individuals discuss {…}

Feb 18, 2023

Q & A: Maria Todaro on Her New Productions of ‘The Anonymous Lover’ & Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges

Photo Credit: Tania Barricklo Multi-talented opera director, fight choreographer, composer, singer, and conductor Maria Todaro spoke with OperaWire about revising the recent productions of “The Anonymous Lover” and her ‘love affair’ with the composer Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges. In 2022 Todaro staged “The Anonymous Lover” for Minnesota Opera. Paying homage to Bologne, she set the opera in 18th century {…}

Jul 3, 2019

Brandie Sutton & Orson Van Gay II Lead Phoenicia International Festival Of The Voice’s 2019 Season

Phoenicia International Festival of the Voice will soon celebrate its 10th anniversary season with “musical gems that honor African American culture and talent,” according to the press release. The Festival will kick off with “10 Year Gala, Decade of Opera Favorites,” featuring sopranos Nancy Allen Lundy and Michelle Jennings, tenors Anthony Laciura and Barry Banks, bass-baritone Kyle Albertson, bass Morris {…}