Opera Italiana Is In The Air Holds Performance in New York City’s Central Park

“The Serenade at Sunset: Opera for Your Soul” Wows Thousands of first-time listeners and fans of Opera

NEW YORK, NY, UNITED STATES, October 8, 2024 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Opera Italiana is in the Air, a Cultural initiative led by renowned conductor, Founder and Music Director Alvise Casellati hosted an outdoor concert at the Naumberg Bandshell in New York City’s Central Park. This special event was offered free to the public with NBC News Entertainment Correspondent, Chloe Melas acting as the Master of Ceremonies and attracted a crowd of thousands to see this special performance.

In the spirit of the UN General Assembly "High Level Debate" underway in New York, the program for this special evening began with Giuseppe Verdi’s Hymn of the Nations, with the idea of melting national anthems of all countries to demonstrate that music unites everyone, and the Maestro united this piece with the US National Anthem. The enthusiasm for this performance caused a standing ovation over many parts of this program, notably during the famous piece "Nessun Dorma" by Puccini which ends with the words "I will win", when all singers sang all together, after the performance of the piece from Isaac Thomas, the 13-year old composer and the William Tell ouverture.

During the performance, Maestro Casellati took the time to explain how important it is to see new compositions and hire living composers, work with the young musicians and pursue social responsibility projects such that of Opera Italiana working with the Music Therapy Departments of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Hospital and NY Presbyterian Hospital, Weill Cornell Medicine. In these projects, the Maestro stated, “Music elevates Opera to its ultimate most important goal: its ‘healing’ power”.

Special guests’ stars included 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” premiered during this special evening.

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.

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 includes collaboration with the New York Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center.

Notable attendees included: Alvise Casellati, Chloe Melas, Latonia Moore, Kang Wang, George Andguladze, Isaac Thomas, Cesare Bieller, Deputy Consul General of Italy in NY, Alessandra Oliva and Marta Mammana, Adjunct Consuls of Italy in NY, Fabio Finotti, Director of the Italian Cultural Institute, Daniele Bodini, Philanthropist and Chairman of the Foundation for Italian Art and Culture, Kamel Ghribi, Philanthropist, President of GKSD Investment Holding & the European Council on Africa and the Middle East, Angelino Alfano, Italian former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Internal & Foreign Affairs, Nicola Baiocchi Country Manager of Intesa Sanpaolo, Gerald Kunde, Director of Ferrero North America, Azzurra Rinaldi representative of ENI in the USA, Maurizio Cuocci and Ilaria Ciaramella of Flower&Klein.

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.

To view the full Gallery of Images: https://bit.ly/4ekBWBO
Photo Credits: PMC / Sylvain Gaboury

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.

I: @operaitalianaisintheair | F: operaitalianaisintheair | Y: @operaitalianaisintheair9272

Norah Lawlor
Lawlor Media Group, Inc.
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