Opera Italiana is in the Air (Photo Credit: Getty Images / Janice Yim)
“The Serenade at Sunset: Opera for Your Soul” – One of the Most Awaited Outdoor Opera Performances in New York City Returns to Wow
both first-time listeners and fans of Opera
Opera Italiana is in the Air, a Cultural initiative led by renowned conductor, Founder and Music Director Alvise Casellati is to host an outdoor concert at the Naumberg Bandshell in New York City’s Central Park this Tuesday, September 24th, 2024 starting at 6:00pm until 7:30pm. This special event is offered for free to the public with no tickets required and the Master of Ceremonies for the event will be NBC News Entertainment Correspondent, Chloe Melas.
Opera Italiana is in the Air was created in 2017 in Central Park, New York, following a conversation between Daniele Bodini, Chairman of the FIAC Foundation, and Alvise Casellati, Conductor and former Secretary of FIAC. Since then, its success has been exponential and it has expanded from Central Park, New York to the cities of Washington and Miami and to the home of Opera in Italy: Naples, Milan and Rome.
The program for this special evening will begin with the Hymn of the Nations, created by Giuseppe Verdi with the idea of melting national anthems of all countries to demonstrate that music unites everyone. Additional performances include Mascagni and his Cavalleria Rusticana Intermezzo, Puccini’s arias and duets from Turandot and La Bohème in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the composers passing, Mozart’s Don Giovanni and a special surprise for those many listeners who will remain rapt until the very end.
Special guests’ stars include internationally acclaimed American soprano Latonia Moore, and two of the most sought-after young talents: Chinese-Australian tenor Kang Wang and Georgean-Italian bass George Andguladze. Opera Italiana further collaborates again with Juilliard’s Pre-College program. This year, Maestro Casellati, in a blind competition, selected for the second time a composition by Isaac Thomas, a 12-year-old composer, whom the Maestro refers to as “the Mozart of our times”. His composition “Echoes of the Land” will premiere during this evening.
Once again, Opera Italiana is in the Air continues its collaboration with the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Hospital, Department of Music Therapy and for the first time a collaboration with the New York Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center.
Sponsors for the event include Intesa Sanpaolo, GKSD Investment Holding, Ferrero, The Alexander Bodini Foundation, ENI, Bracco Diagnostics Inc. and Flower&Klein Executive Search. ‘Opera Italiana is in the Air’ is presented under the patronage of the Consulate General of Italy in New York, the Italian Cultural Institute in New York, the Foundation for Italian Art & Culture, The National Italian American Foundation (NIAF) and RFK Italy.
About Opera Italiana:
Opera Italiana is in the Air is a visionary initiative dedicated to celebrating the beauty and diversity of Italian opera while reimagining its role in contemporary culture. Maestro Alvise Casellati seeks to inspire a new generation of opera lovers and redefine its role in the future of classical music. In 2023, UNESCO, the cultural agency of the United Nations, added Italian Opera Singing to its Intangible Cultural Heritage list for protected status.
www: www.operaitalianaisintheair.com
