The Florentine Opera Announces 2020-21 Season: The Season of the Ensemble

Milwaukee, Wis, March 3, 2020 – The Florentine Opera announces the 2020-21 SEASON OF THE ENSEMBLE.  The Florentine Opera finds glory in the human voice through ensemble storytelling, from Riverwest to the West Side.

Celebrating her first full year at the Florentine Opera this month, General Director and CEO Maggey Oplinger reports, “In this first season we’ve created together, I hope Milwaukee’s opera lovers see the classics they crave, something fun they’re curious about exploring, and our efforts to create deeper connections for new and experienced opera fans.” Look for the transformational power of love – Gilda’s love breaks a curse, and love overcomes darker obsession in the Baumgartner Studio Artist showcase. In our French double bill, we see love triumph over all, romantically and between parent and child. Our finale La Boheme is our favorite story of bromance, romance and artistic passion through a Bronzeville lens. Dramaturg Sheri Williams Pannell leads us in discovering our poets, painters and gathering places of Bronzeville’s heyday in the 1940s. Look for work by Mary Nohl award-winning painter Ras ‘Ammar Nsoroma and the next generation of Milwaukee talent on stage, as Boys and Girls Club, Golda Meir and Milwaukee French Immersion children’s chorus join us.

Florentine Opera is exploring ways to connect the community to classical voice when not in costume. Spotlight, introduced last season and taking place in intimate spaces around town, was favorably received. This season’s Spotlights feature Vivica Genaux with Jory Vinikour, who will wow with Baroque beauty, and Eric Ferring, a breakout tenor, exploring classic song repertoire across borders and eras.

Formerly called @The Center, our “Florentine Presents” Series not only continues in our Riverwest home at the Lueders Opera Center, but we also explore a deeper relationship with the Sharon Lynne Wilson Center for the Arts. Drinking Songs, Shakespeare and La Vie En Rose round out the season with our new class of Baumgartner Studio Artists. Florentine’s “Classics and Carols” program will shine in a new way as we move into more traditional spaces designed for music.

Florentine Opera 2020-2021 Season Announce:

Verdi’s Rigoletto
October 9 & 11, 2020 @Uihlein Hall
Italian blockbuster – Traditional grand opera at its best with love, betrayal and sacrifice.

Baumgartner Studio Artists Showcase
Weill’s Little Mahagonny
February 12 & 14, 2021 @ Wilson Theater at Vogel Hall
Explore the light and dark sides of temptation and seduction in the short Cabaret about regretting getting what you want, followed by swoon worthy scenes and solos with rising stars.

Viardot’s Cinderella / Ravel’s The Child and the Enchantments
March 12, 14, 19, 21, 2021 @Wilson Theater at Vogel Hall
Elegant and enchanting!
Made for adults, and kid friendly, this Florentine double premier is a beautiful retelling of Cinderella, followed by a mischievous child’s magical world coming to life. If you love the films Amelie and Beauty and the Beast, this sparkly short, sophisticated and quirky pairing will delight.

Puccini’s La Boheme
May 7 & 9, 2021 @Uihlein Hall
Experience one of the most beloved romances ever written, now set in Milwaukee’s 1940s Bronzeville.
Four creatives shiver in a garret, where they cheerfully produce their avant-garde pieces and recognize how fulfilling their lives are, despite poverty and cold.

2020 SPOTLIGHT SERIES:

Vivica Genaux & Jory Vinikour
January 19, 2021@22nd Floor Penthouse at Reinhart Boerner Van Doeren
Vinikour on the harpsichord and internationally recognized Genaux blaze their way through virtuosic and beloved Baroque repertoire.

Eric Ferring with Madeline Slettedahl
April 14, 2021@Sharon Lynne Wilson Center
This remarkable young breakout tenor debuts in Milwaukee in this intimate exploration of Mozart, Handel, Schumann and Moore, crossing borders and eras.

FLORENTINE PRESENTS:

Drinking Songs
October 23, 2020 @Sharon Lynne Wilson Center
October 24 + 25, 2020 @Lueders Opera Center
Who doesn’t love a great night of carousing?

Shakespeare
November 13, 2020 @Sharon Lynne Wilson Center
November 20 + 22, 2020 @Lueders Opera Center
Shakespeare’s greatness as inspired a multitude of great tunes from Romeo and Juliet, Othello, Macbeth, Falstaff and more.

Carols & Classics 
December 11 + 19, 2020 @Lueders Opera Center
December 13, 2020 @Location TBD
December 15, 2020 @Saint Paul’s Episcopal
Join us for a joyful and reflective celebration of the season through timeless Christmas music from around the world, and in classical settings.

La Vie en Rose
April 8, 2021 @Sharon Lynne Wilson Center
April 9 + 11, 2021 @Lueders Opera Center
Ah, French songs are so romantic and beautiful.

The Full 2020-21 Season can be found at www.florentineopera.org

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. It has not been verified for its accuracy or completeness.