The Verdi Chorus will present “Songs of Fantasy” on Feb. 1, 2020 in collaboration with the Sahm Family Foundation at the First United Methodist Church in Santa Monica, California. 

The performance, which will focus on the Fox Singers, will be led by Verdi Chorus Artistic Director Anne Marie Ketchum. The ensemble is made up of the professional ensemble of the Verdi Chorus. The members include sopranos Sarah Salazar, Kelly O’Shea and Megan McDonald; mezzo-sopranos Charlotte Bash, Ariana Stultz and Judy Tran; tenors Joseph Gárate,  Daniel Brennan, Elias Berezin, and Fernando Ruiz; baritones Mauricio Palma ll and Andrew Walker; and basses Esteban Rivas, DeJuan Carlos and Raed Saade.

The program will be dedicated to fantastical elements with arias, duets, and ensembles from such works as “The Magic Flute,” “L’Elisir d’Amore,” Britten’s “Peter Pan,” and “Candide.” 

“This time, we are exploring songs of fantasy, a subject which has produced some of the greatest music from the worlds of both opera and musical theater,” stated Ketchum. “This genre has also produced some of the most iconic roles, from Mozart’s Papageno and Papagena to Bernstein’s Candide and Cunegonde. This is such a wonderful thing for both our audience and the Fox Singers themselves, who have the opportunity to develop and perform a variety of these unforgettable operatic and musical roles that will very likely be part of their future performance careers.”