St. Petersburg Opera Presents OPERA IDOL Tonight, May 12

St. Petersburg Opera is presenting its fourth Opera Idol evening of singing tonight, May 12. The culmination of its Music in Motion series of workshops, Opera Idol will feature ten singers, all from the local area, who will vie to become the audience choice.

Funded by the Florida Suncoast Opera Guild’s Education Sponsorship of St. Petersburg Opera, Music in Motion has been offered at no cost to the singers as a means of developing local talent. The workshops consist of 12 hours of coaching and instruction from Maestro Sforzini in techniques for making performances more musically interesting and emotionally satisfying.

The ten singers in this group include Megan Alfaro, Phoenix Gayles, Sarah Coit, Melissa Misener, Abby Colburn, Vanessa Rodriguez, Douglas Denning, Chris Romeo, BranDon Evans and John Short.

Coit, Colburn, Denning, Gayles, Rodgriguez, Romeo and Short are all current students or recent graduates of the University of South Florida. All ten singers have appeared in St. Petersburg Opera productions as chorus members, covers (understudies), comprimarios (small roles), or in outreach programs.

Each singer will perform one aria (song) and the audience will select three finalists. During the tabulation of the votes, the contestants will be joined by the cover cast for the upcoming production of The Marriage of Figaro for a sneak preview of Figaro. The three finalists for Opera Idol will sing a second aria, after which the audience will cast a final ballot. A panel of music professionals will also offer brief feedback comments to each singer.

Previous winners of Opera Idol have been Joshua Quinn, Ruthie Nelson, and Amy Hartsough.

The Opera Idol competition begins at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 12, 2012, at St. Mary Our Lady of Grace, 515 4th St . S., St. Petersburg. Tickets are $10 ($5 students with valid student ID). Tickets may be purchased in advance by telephone at 727-823-2040 and are available at the door.