17^th Season in Rome

W.A. Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte / G. Puccini’s Suor Angelica

Opera Scenes and Concerts

Program Dates: July 5-30, 2012

● Louisa Panou, Founder and Founding Artistic Director
● National Opera Association Award – Best Opera Production
● Operafestival di Roma: “Of all the programs in Rome, this one gets the highest amount of good feedback from
    singers.” - Classical Singer Magazine
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- William Welty, Managing Director
- Anthony Offerle, Artistic Director
- Artistic Board:  Peter Atherton, Francesco Carotenuto, Melanie Kohn Day

About us

The award winning Operafestival di Roma (founded in 1995) is a non-profit educational institution that offers opportunities to musicians from all nations to study and perform opera in Italy in the summer. Performances are  given in the beautiful 15th Century courtyard of S. Ivo alla Sapienza in central Rome. They are fully staged with period costumes, props and  lighting designed by our production team and are accompanied by the Orchestra Sinfonica dell’International Chamber Ensemble. Four weeks of master classes, coaching, lessons in lyric diction, voice and conversational Italian, and rehearsals for the opera provided by a distinguished faculty culminate in a week-long series of opera performances, recitals, opera scene performances, and concerts. In 2011, the festival partnered with the University of Florida - College of Fine Arts / School of Music, who are our academic and production partners. University credit is available to all participants at no additional cost.

Productions

Past productions have included Die lustige Witwe, Gloria, Die Zauberflöte, Don Giovanni, I Pagliacci, Il barbiere di Siviglia, Così fan tutte, La serva padrona , L'elisir di amore, Le nozze di Figaro, Suor Angelica, and Stabat Mater.

All productions are sung in the original language with much of the training emphasis placed on diction and style. Each leading role is double cast, providing singers with the rehearsal and stage time necessary to develop the role fully. Voice and diction training and masterclasses are designed to enhance this experience. Each opera is staged with period costumes, props, and lighting planned for the production by our design team.

In Loving Memory

Louisa Panou, founder of Operafestival di Roma, passed away in her home in Charlottesville, Virginia, on January 16, 2006. The cause was pancreatic cancer.

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