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Welcome to the Duluth Festival Opera

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FREE tickets to select OperaFest events are available at your local library for any member of the Arrowhead Library system. FOR MORE DETAILS AND A LIST OF PARTICIPATING LIBRARIES, CLICK HERE

KIDS (under 18) will receive FREE admission to the Bayfront Park events on August 18 & 19.

Established in 2005, the vision of the Duluth Festival Opera is to transform lives through
the beauty and power of opera. Our mission is “to introduce, encourage and present
quality opera for all within the Lake Superior region.” Our new motto, Opening the
Extraordinary to Everyone, informs our commitment to make quality professional opera
accessible to the entire community with special programs for youth, students, and
underserved audiences.

The DFO creates theatrically vivid, musically inspiring opera and musical theatre with
singers and artists of outstanding professional ability from our own region and around
the nation. Repertoire selected from a broad spectrum of both old and new works,
well-known and unfamiliar will be produced in a variety of venues to appeal to a wide
audience.

The 2012 Summer OperaFest was created as a fresh, new approach to our seasonal programming and it is the first opera festival of its kind in our region. It includes an unprecedented variety of accessible, low-cost, audience-friendly events designed to appeal to a wide variety of interests.  If you haven’t tried opera in an relaxed, friendly atmosphere, then this is an excellent way to give it a try!

2012 DFO Summer OperaFest
August 9-19

Opera on the Lake                                          OperaFest in Cabaret
August 9 at 4pm                                                    Nokomis Restaurant, 5593 North Shore Drive
We kick off the Summer Opera-Fest with another highly popular opera cabaret
show along with Chef Sean Lewis’ wonderful wines and gourmet cuisine. The
Opera-Fest soloists will perform “up-close and personal” in a delicious musical
preview of the Festival at the North Shore’s finest restaurant. Seating is limited.

OperaFest Gala Opening Night              A Night at the Opera
August 16 at 7:30pm                                          Marshall Fregeau Auditorium, 1215 Rice Lake Rd
Join MPR classical music host and our Master of Ceremonies, Steve Staruch, for this Festival Gala Opening Night concert. We will present ten leading operatic voices from around America to create a night of unforgettable operatic highlights. Selections will include highlights from Lucia di Lammermoor, Turandot, Rigoletto, Carmen, Fidelio, Romeo et Juliette, La Boheme and more. Our DFO featured singers will be New York City Opera’s Matthew Curran and Kirk Dougherty, the Metropolitan Opera’s Nathan Herfindahl, San Francisco Opera’s Linh Kaufmann, Minnesota Opera’s Timothy James, Gerry Schmidt, Victoria Vargas, Amy Wolf; and the winner of the Nico Castel International Vocal Competition, Holly Sorensen.

OperaFest at the Movies                            Opera Film Festival
August 17-19                                                          Zinema2 Theater, 222 E. Superior Street
Two solid days of five beautiful, touching, opera-related films at Zinema 2; Including Amadeus, LaTraviata, The Magic Flute, The Life of Maria Callas and, just for fun, the Marx Bros. 1935 classic comedy, A Night at the Opera.

Opening Night Screening Party            August 17 at 6pm
Join us in the Zinema 2 lobby for food, wine, prizes and a “suprise” movie!

OperaFest in Recital                                     In Love With Song
August 18 1pm                                                      DuluthCongregational Church, 3833 E. Superior Street
Soprano Linh Kauffman, last season’s sensational “Pocahontas’, and pianist Andrew Fleser present an inspiring vocal recital featuring the music of Purcell, Schubert, Debussy, Puccini and much more, in the intimate and acoustically wonderful Duluth Congregational Church.

OperaFest in Concert                                  Opera’s Greatest Hits
August 18 at 5pm                                                 Bayfront Festival Park
Join our DFO opera soloists for a relaxed, informal concert during Bayfront Park’s “Art in Bayfront Park” Festival. This outdoor art fair and concert will feature many wonderful opera choruses, sung by Twin Cities’ choruses Sonomento and CORO, as they join with our soloists to sing the greatest hits from the most glorious operas of all time. It’s the perfect summertime concert … surrounded by beautiful artwork and right on the waterfront! Featured singers will include Matthew Curran, Kirk Dougherty, Nathan Herfindahl, Timothy James, Linh Kaufmann, John Scott Moir, Gerry Schmidt, Holly Sorensen, Victoria Vargas and Amy Wolf.

OperaFest in Concert                                 Serenade in the Park
August 19 at 3pm                                                Bayfront Festival Park
Six talented Duluth Festival Opera soloists will present an afternoon of inspiring music in song to close the “Art in Bayfront Park” Festival. You will be thrilled as their beautiful voices bring to life your favorite songs, arias and ensembles from opera, famous movies, the light classics and popular musical theatre hits. What a glorious way to finish off your Art Fair weekend in Duluth! Featured singers are Kirk Dougherty, Nathan Herfindahl, Linh Kauffman, Gerry Schmidt, Victoria Vargas and Amy Wolf.