From TOLEDO OPERA
Toledo Opera will host their annual fundraising Gala at the Toledo Club, 235 14th Street, on Friday, May 9. This year’s event will be a progressive Gala – celebrating three opera-loving cultures while featuring dynamic performances by the Toledo Opera Resident Artists.
The gala will begin at 6 p.m. in the Red Room, where Italian-inspired cocktails and hors d’oeuvres will be served. During this time, guests will enjoy performances of Italian opera arias. Following cocktail hour, guests will move to the Dining Room for a plated French dinner of Beef Bourguignon, Coq au Vin, or Wild Mushroom en Croûte. Throughout dinner, the room will be serenaded by melodies of French composers that have shaped opera and classical music for centuries. A paddle raise during dinner will support the education programs of Toledo Opera.
Finally, dessert will be served in the Centennial Room. As guests enjoy American desserts, beloved American classics will be performed.
Throughout the event Toledo Opera Artistic Director, Kevin Bylsma, will serve as master of ceremonies.
He will be joined by the 2024-2025 Resident Artists: Sarah Rachel Bacani (soprano); Emily Cotton (mezzo soprano); Brady DelVecchio (tenor); Robbie Raso (baritone); and Alessandro “Alex” Rotundo (piano).
For Toledo Opera General Director James M. Norman, the evening is more than a celebration – it is an opportunity to bring the community together in support of the art form: “Toledo Opera’s annual fundraising gala is always a special evening, but this year, we invite our guests on a spectacular journey through Italy, France, and America — no passport required! This celebration of culture and cuisine will transport you through the flavors, sights, and sounds of these operatic powerhouses, all while supporting the future of opera in our community. With exquisite food, delightful drinks, and world class music, it promises to be an unforgettable night in support of Toledo Opera.”
“The combination of incredible food with the beautiful voices of Toledo Opera’s Resident Artists makes this an event not to miss,” stated Toledo Opera Artistic Director Kevin Bylsma. “Prepare to betransported to the world’s operatic capitals, all while staying in Toledo!”
Tickets are now available. Full tables for 8 are available, as well as event sponsorships. Sponsorships range from $1,000 (Bellini Sponsor) to $10,000 (Bizet Sponsor) and include a variety of benefits and recognition at the event and on the Toledo Opera website. Tickets can be purchased at 419-255-7464 or at toledoopera.org. All proceeds from this event will support Toledo Opera in its mission to bring world class opera to the greater Toledo region.
Kevin J. Bylsma
With more than three decades experience as a vocal coach, collaborative pianist, choral conductor, and organist, Kevin J. Bylsma is a musician of impressive depth and ability, well known for his work in opera, art song, and oratorio. A longtime member of the Toledo Opera staff, Bylsma is currently theCo-Artistic Director/Head of Music Preparation and Chorus Master. He was formerly Music Director of the Department of Community Programs for the Michigan Opera Theatre and vocal coach, accompanist, and chorus master for OPERA! Lenawee.
Dedicated to the education and training of the next generation of operatic talent, Bylsma is the Coordinator of Opera and Repetiteur for Bowling Green State University’s College of Musical Arts, responsible for vocal coaching as well as serving as a collaborative pianist for the school’s large body of young singers.
For the past 29 years, he has served the historic Mariners’ Church of Detroit as Associate Organist and Choirmaster.
Sarah Rachel Bacani
Filipino-American soprano Sarah Rachel Bacani is currently the soprano Resident Artist at Toledo Opera where she performs the role of Adèle/Spirit of the Rose in their touring outreach production of Grétry’s “Beauty and the Beast.” Her 2023-2024 season included portraying Liat in Toledo Opera’s “South Pacific.”
In 2022, also with Central City Opera, she made her professional debut performing the role of Mariola in Jake Heggie’s “Two Remain.”
An accomplished competitor, this year, she placed in the Top 12 of the Inaugural Luciano Pavarotti Foundation Opera Naples International Voice Competition and is a semi-finalist in Fort Worth Opera’s McCammon Voice Competition. Hailing from Toms River, New Jersey, Ms. Bacani received her Performer Diploma and Master of Music in voice at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music and her Bachelor of Music in vocal performance from the Manhattan School of Music. Mezzo-soprano
Emily Cotten
Emily Cotten graduated from Loyola University New Orleans with her masters in vocal performance in 2022. At Loyola, she performed La Ciesca (“Gianni Schicchi”), Mistress of the Novices (“Suor Angelica”), and Belinda (“Dido and Aeneas”).
She last appeared with Toledo Opera as Ensign Dinah Murphy in South Pacific.
She received her Bachelor of Music at the University of Michigan, where she was an EXCEL grant recipient and performed in Bolcolm’s “Dinner at Eight” and Mozart’s “Le Nozze di Figaro.” She spent two summers as an Apprentice Artist with Opera in the Ozarks.
Brady DelVecchio
“Golden-voiced tenor,”Brady DelVecchio hails from Pittsburgh. He graduated from The Peabody Conservatory of Music at Johns Hopkins University. DelVecchio has found continued acclaim in theater and film.
In his second year as a resident artist, he has sung the roles of Spoletta in “Tosca” and the Professor in “South Pacific” for Toledo Opera.
He has recently portrayed roles in “La Calisto” (Mercurio), “Cendrillon” (Le Prince Charmant), “Don Giovanni: (Don Ottavio), “The mMikado” (Nanki-Poo), Strike up the Band (Timothy Harper), Tosca (Spoletta), and “West Side Story” (Tony). Additionally, he regularly performs as a soloist in oratorio, concert, and symphonic works.
Robbie Raso
Baritone Robbie Raso is a graduate of the AJ Fletcher Opera Institute at University of North Carolina School of the Arts, the Eastman School of Music, and the Carnegie Mellon School of Music.
As the baritone resident artist with Toledo Opera he sang the roles of Angelotti and the Jailer in “Tosca” and Luther Billis in “South Pacific.”
In the summer of 2023, Mr. Raso performed the roles of Enrico (“Lucia di Lammermoor”) and Dandini (La Cenerentola) with Mediterranean Opera Festival in Caltagirone, Sicily.
Raso is also an instrumentalist, having studied trombone since middle school.
Alessandro (Alex) Rotundo
Alessandro (Alex) Rotundo graduated from the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University in 2022, earning a B.M. in composition and piano, under the tutelage of Kevin Puts and Shirley Yoo. He earned his M.M. in Composition at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music in the Mason Bates studio, where he was also very active as a collaborative pianist. In addition, he received a regular High School Diploma in Piano Performance with honors from the National Guild of Piano Teachers of the American College of Musicians.
His first orchestral work, composed when he was 10, was premiered in May 2010 by the intermediate division of the Peninsula Youth Orchestra. From 2014 to 2018, he studied composition with David Conte and violin performance with Monika Gruber and Joseph Maile at the Pre-College division of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM). He has won numerous composition awards, including the Peabody Institute’s Otto Ortmann Composition Prize and the Multicultural Sonic Evolution Composition Competition.
