Opera At Florham Presents 40th Anniversary Concert And Dinner

Opera at Florham celebrates 40 years of continuous music with tributes to founders Charles Del Rosso, Violetta DuPont, and Steve DeMaio. Enjoy a sit-down dinner and a performance by Soprano Alexandra Razskazoff, Mezzo-Soprano Shanley Horvitz, Tenor Frederick Schlick, Baritone Matthew Ciuffitelli, and acclaimed accompanist Mary Pinto. Matthew and Frederick are fan favorites at Opera at Florham, and Alexandra and Shanley are winners of recent Opera at Florham vocal competitions.

The program will include a nostalgic look back on Opera at Florham's 40 year history with special guest host Diana Soviero, one of the most celebrated opera singers of the 20th century! This event takes place on Sunday, September 18that 3:00 pm at Fairleigh Dickinson University - The Mansion, 285 Madison Avenue, Madison, NJ.

Alexandra Razskazoff, Soprano, acclaimed by The New York Times as a "richly faceted, slinky soprano," whose "soprano [is] rich, distinctive of timbre, and penetrating, and possess[es] a lovely bloom on top" (Opera News). Alexandra most recently was named a Grand Finals Winner in the 2022 Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition. In spring and summer of 2022, Alexandra made some significant house debuts, performing Beethoven's 9th Symphony with Bozeman Symphony, as well as Mimì (La bohème) at Teatro Municipal de Santiago, Chile. She reprised Violetta (La Traviata) with Out of the Box Opera, as well as Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni) with Teatro Grattacielo at the Phoenicia International Festival of The Voice.

Shanley Horvitz, Mezzo-soprano, reviewed "to spin lovely, warm legato phrases, replete with ease of emission, dynamic variety, elegance, yet holding obvious power in reserve." Shanley had a fruitful competition season in 2022 winning 1st place of the International Orpheus Competition, 1st place Houston Gilbert & Sullivan Career Grant Competition, 1st place of the 2021 Mario Lanza Institute Competition, 1st place of the Vienna Summer Music Festival, and more. Shanley recently debuted the role of Anacoana in Franchetti's Cristoforo Colombo with Teatro Grattacielo, Jezibaba in Dvorak's Rusalka, and the title role in Bizet's Carmen with Vincerò Academy where in 2022 she will made her Carnegie Hall debut singing the role in concert. Recently she also debuted Donna Elvira in Vienna Summer Music Festival's production of Don Giovanni at Palais Ehrbar.

Frederick Schlick, Tenor, praised for his "tender power" (Opera Wire), has a Master's in Opera Performance from The Boston Conservatory. He made his professional debut as Young Jim Thompson in Tom Cipullo's Glory Denied with Pensacola Opera in 2016 and later reprised the same role with Tri-Cities Opera. The 2018 -2019 season marked his NYC debut with City Lyric Opera as Nemorino in Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore, Don José in La Tragédie de Carmen, and Alfred in Die Fledermaus. In 2020 he sang Rodolfo in Lancaster Opera's La Bohème and Opera at Florham in Un Pomeriggio in Italia. He became a Nashville Opera resident artist in 2021. He lives in Westchester, NY where he is a music teacher and web developer.

Matthew Ciuffitelli, Baritone, described as "truly an anthem of our times" by Classic FM regarding Matthew's 'Figaro' parody. He appeared as Eisenstein in Amore Opera's Die Fledermaus, Prince Yamadori in New Jersey Festival Orchestra's Madama Butterfly and as Angelotti in Tosca. He performed at Sarasota Opera as a resident artist as the Official Registrar in Madama Butterfly. Matthew sang in Broadway's 10th Anniversary Concert of A Tale of Two Cities as Gabel. He performed with the Rolling Stones at Chicago's United Center. Matthew was the winner of the 2018 New Jersey State Opera Competition Award.

Mariana Karpatova, Narrator, In the summers of 2021, 2020, and 2018, Ms. Karpatova helped organize and perform in the "Unbeaten Path" chamber music festival in her native Bulgaria. In October 2021, she performed a set of Rachmaninov songs at the Bulgarian Concert Evenings' opening night gala at Carnegie Hall. Other Opera appearances include Sarasota Opera in Oberto, Metropolitan Opera in Elektra, Spoleto USA Festival, Bulgarian National Opera, Baltimore Opera andCoro Lirico.

Since 2002 she has maintained a private coaching practice and is currently a member of the vocal teaching staff at Fairleigh Dickinson University in Madison.

Mary Pinto, Opera at Florham's Artistic Director, is an acclaimed accompanist, and vocal coach who has worked with international opera singers and major American opera companies for over 25 years. Locally, with the NJ State Opera and Light Opera of NJ, and internationally with Opera Noire's Ensemble in Moscow and St. Petersburg and Masterclass d' Ischia, Italy. In the fall of 2020, she performed at Black Opera's tribute to honor the 75th Birthday of Jessye Norman. She is on the faculty of Montclair State University and has studios in New Jersey and New York City.

Tickets are $100 for concert and dinner. To reserve a table for 8-10, contact us at info@operaatflorham.org or 973-443-8620. Reserve now as seating is limited and some tables are already filled. Order tickets online at operaatflorham.org or send your check to Opera at Florham Treasurer, 712 Ridge Drive, Union, NJ 07083.

Opera at Florham ("OaF") has been in residence since 1982 at Fairleigh Dickinson University, Madison, presentingconcerts, fully staged operas, and an Annual Vocal Competition. Each season our professionally trained artists present four to five concerts where they perform famous arias and excerpts from America's great American Broadway musical theater repertoire.

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