Sarasota Opera to Present Second “Opera Talk” Presentation, Featuring Ruby Fulton, 12/9

Sarasota, FL - Wednesday, December 9, at 10am Sarasota Opera, in partnership with the Hermitage Artists Retreat in Englewood, FL, will present the second of their "Opera Talk" series with Baltimore-based composer and musician Ruby Fulton.

Ms. Fulton, whose work has been praised by the New York Times, Baltimore Sun, and Washington Post, Hermitage composer Ruby Fulton will offer a talk on Famous Opera Travel Music. Fulton explains that from Mozart to Benjamin Britten to Philip Glass, travel is an important theme in many operas. She hopes to explore different opera composers' approaches to conveying a sense of movement with music, text and the human voice. This free event will happen in the Kamlet Library in the Deane Carroll Allyn Pavilion Building at the Sarasota Opera House. Refreshments will be served.

The Hermitage Artist Retreat in Englewood, FL and Sarasota Opera are partnering to present free community programs featuring Hermitage Artists in Residence who are working on new opera projects. In October, the two presented composer Mikael Karlsson and librettist Elle Kunnos de Voss, the first Opera Genesis Fellows, in a public talk at the Sarasota Opera House.

Composer and musician Ruby Fulton uses experimental music to investigate popular culture, political issues, and altered mental states. Fulton is a multi-instrumentalist, performing on and writing for violin, flugelhorn, and keys. Much of her work falls into the category of concert music, written for ensembles ranging from duos and trios to full orchestras, choirs, and wind ensembles. As Co-Artistic Director of Rhymes with Opera, Fulton has created and performed experimental vocal and chamber opera works in Baltimore and New York City. She holds a doctorate from the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, MD with additional degrees from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and Boston University. She has taught undergraduate and graduate composition and music theory at the Shenandoah Conservatory, the Peabody Conservatory, Johns Hopkins University, and Towson University.

For information on the talk, please call the Sarasota Opera Box office at (941) 328-1300. More information on Ms. Fulton as well as images can be found at www.rubyfulton.com.

ABOUT SARASOTA OPERA

Based in Florida's beautiful Gulf Coast, Sarasota Opera is approaching its 57th consecutive season. In 1960, the company began presenting chamber-sized repertoire in the historic 320-seat Asolo Theater on the grounds of Sarasota's Ringling Museum of Art. Recognizing the need for a theater more conducive to opera, the company purchased the former A.B. Edwards Theater in downtown Sarasota in 1979 and first performing in it in 1984 as the Sarasota Opera House. The theater has just undergone a $20-million renovation and rehabilitation enhancing audience amenities, while updating the technical facilities including increasing the size of the orchestra pit. The theater, which reopened in March 2008, has been called "one of America's finest venues for opera" by Musical America.

Since 1983 the company has been under the artistic leadership of Victor DeRenzi. Since then the company has garnered international attention with its Masterwork Revivals Series, which presents neglected works of artistic merit, as well as the Verdi Cycle producing the complete works of Giuseppe Verdi. Recognizing the importance of training, Maestro DeRenzi founded the Apprentice Artist and Studio Artist programs. Sarasota Opera also maintains a commitment to education through its Invitation to Opera performances for local schools and the unique Sarasota Youth Opera program.

Sarasota Opera is sponsored in part by the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs, the Florida Arts Council, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Programs are supported in part by an award the Tourist Development Tax through the Board of County Commissioners, the Tourist Development Council and the Sarasota County Arts Council. Additional funding is provided by the City of Sarasota and the County of Sarasota.

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