Sarasota Opera Food & Wine Festival Welcomes New Partners and Returning Favorites

Sarasota Opera's Annual Food & Wine Festival returns on September 17, 2022 from 1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. and will take place at the historic Opera House on Pineapple Avenue. This year's festival will feature many returning classics, such as Michael's on East, Tsunami Sushi and Hibachi Grill, Classico, and Selva Grill, but also includes some new partners from outside the downtown area. Sarasota Opera is pleased to announce that in addition to returning eateries, Food & Wine Festival patrons will also have the opportunity to try some delicious bites from new partners, such as Rise and Nyes and Happy Soul. In previous years, this event (formerly titled "Taste of Downtown") has sold out, also raising significant funds for the Sarasota Youth Opera program. This year's Food & Wine Festival will feature Youth Opera performances, raffles, and a photo booth in addition to the yummy bites and drinks. These performances will include selections from the Youth Opera's upcoming fall production of The Secret World of Og.

Additional Participating restaurants are:

ll participating restaurants graciously donate their food and staff for this event. Tickets are now available for $75 per person, and can be purchased at www.sarasotaopera.org/foodandwinefest, at the Box Office located at 61 N. Pineapple Avenue, Sarasota, FL 34236, at (941) 328-1300, or upon entry for $85. All proceeds go to support the Youth Opera program. This season, Sarasota Opera's signature events are produced by Mary Kenealy Events.

Event Details:

What: Sarasota Opera Food & Wine Festival
When: Saturday, September 17, 2022
Where: Sarasota Opera House

61 N. Pineapple Avenue, Sarasota, FL 34236
Tickets: $75 purchased in advance, $85 purchased on the day of the event.

https://www.sarasotaopera.org/foodandwinefest

ABOUT SARASOTA YOUTH OPERA

Since 1984, Sarasota Youth Opera has given thousands of young people an opportunity to experience opera first-hand through participation in after-school choruses, Sarasota Opera mainstage productions, summer workshops, and fully staged Youth Opera productions. As the only program in the United States committed to presenting annual full-scale opera productions for young voices, accepting all who wish to participate regardless of skill level or ability to pay, Sarasota Youth Opera is a national model for opera education.

Youth Opera Choruses: Beginning at age 8, singers are placed in one of two chorus levels. Each chorus provides a setting for everyone to participate and progress at their own level as they gain greater skills and experience. Selections performed are made up of classical music, which includes opera and choral pieces in different languages. The choruses perform throughout the community in formal concerts and outreach events.

Opera Mainstage Season: Members of the Youth Opera are selected to join Sarasota Opera's Winter Festival season, appearing in the mainstage children's chorus, as supernumeraries (extras who perform non-singing roles) and for special roles written by the composer for children's voices. In recent seasons these have included roles in La bohème, Tosca, and Carmen. Singers are involved in the complete production process - from early music and dramatic rehearsals to performing alongside opera professionals.

Youth Opera Productions: Part of Sarasota Opera's commitment to young people includes the commissioning of new operatic works written for children and young adults. Six new works have been presented as part of this mission: Deadline (1989), Polly Pen's Her Lightness (1993), Tom Suta's Eye of Ra (1998), John Kennedy's The Language of Birds (2004), Daron Hagen's Little Nemo in Slumberland (2012) and Rachel J. Peters' Rootabaga Country (2017). Members take part in the making of each opera, complete with professional staging, costumes, lighting, sound, and orchestral accompaniment.

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