Having enriched the Vero Beach community with excellent performances for nearly four decades, Vero Beach Opera continues that tradition in its 38th year, launching the 2026 season with a not-to-be-missed performance of “Rigoletto,” one of Giuseppe Verdi’s most popular operas.
“Rigoletto”
3 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 11, at the Vero Beach High School Performing Arts Center
Considered too daring and too modern when first introduced to mid-19th century European audiences, “Rigoletto” was censured and forced to make some adjustments. Even the title had to be changed from the original “La Maledizione” (the curse), referencing the curse placed by the Count Monterone upon the playboy Duke of Mantua and his flippant jester Rigoletto.
The curse comes to fruition when Rigoletto’s only child, Gilda, becomes entangled in his schemes. The warning to “beware the curse of unintended consequences” still rings true, while the opera itself has become one of the most beloved works in the opera world today.
The cast includes SeungHyeon Baek as Rigoletto; Laura Leon as Gilda; Joshua Wheeker as Duke of Mantua; Philip Cokorinos as Sparafucile/Monterone; Rebecca Luttio as Maddalena/Countess Ceprano; Susan Neves as Giovanna/Duchess; Turner Staton as Count Ceprano/Usher; Anthony Capizzi as Borsa; Nicholas Dieux as Marullo; Grace Lauther as Page/Monterone’s daughter; and the Vero Beach Opera chorus. The production will be fully staged, with English supertitles, and will feature the Brevard Symphony Orchestra.
“I am excited to begin my fourth continuous season with Vero Beach Opera with two of the greatest Italian operas as well as our usual assortment of concerts and our Rising Stars Competition,” says Gregory Buchalter, VBO music director and conductor.
“Last year we presented Verdi’s ‘La Traviata’ and now we’re featuring the other great opera from his middle period, ‘Rigoletto,’ in many ways a flawless opera. Verdi had perfected the combination of intense theatricality with his music ideas, and ‘Rigoletto’ has some of his greatest music, highlighted by perhaps the most famous aria of the entire operatic literature, the Duke’s ‘La donna è mobile.’ Even Verdi considered ‘Rigoletto’ his greatest achievement,” says Buchalter.
“In the second scene of Act 1, Verdi gives us a unique musical device, and an example of his total commitment to the dramatic intensity through his music. Rigoletto meets the assassin Sparafucile for the first time in a dark alley. The mood is already sinister and Verdi creates a macabre atmosphere by not only having a duet between two low-voiced men, rare in Italian opera, but also by eliminating the violins in this entire number and having only low, dark sounding instruments,” he adds.
“The result is eerie. Then, in total contrast, is the famous quartet of the last act, which is bubbly and exciting. Surely you will leave the performance humming the great tunes and melodies you will have just heard throughout the entire opera,” Buchalder predicts.
Opera Showcase 2026: A Journey Through Opera’s Greatest Hits
7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 14, at the Vero Beach High School Performing Arts Center
The season continues in concert form on Valentine’s Day, offering an exciting evening featuring a diverse selection of pieces from “Così fan tutte,” “Turandot,” “Norman,” “Tales of Hoffman,” “Don Carlo,” “Don Giovanni,” “La Bohème” and “La Traviata.”
Bringing these characters to life will be sopranos Alexandra Razskazoff and Ashley Nuñez, mezzo soprano Kimberly Stanish, tenor Dominick Chenes and baritone David Pershall. The performers will be accompanied by piano and strings.
Opera fans will remember Razskazoff and Pershall as previous Rising Stars Competition first place winners. Pershall’s win was in VBO’s first-ever Rising Stars competition in 2013, launched with the support and expertise of the late, renowned Metropolitan opera star Marcello Giordani.
Razskazoff later starred as Nedda in 2025’s “I Pagliacci.” Pershall has performed in numerous VBO operas through the years, most recently as Marcello in 2022’s “La Bohème.” Also returning to the Vero Beach Opera stage is Nuñez, who charmed audiences as Giannetta in 2024’s “L’Elisir d’Amore.”
To make the evening even more enjoyable, VBO Master of Ceremonies extraordinaire Ian Campbell will explain each musical selection to the audience.
“The Impresario” and “Cavalleria Rusticana”
3 p.m. Sunday, March 29, at the Vero Beach High School Performing Arts Center
You might not know whether, or when, to laugh or cry, but you will certainly enjoy this clever blend of “The Impresario,” a comedy by Mozart and “Cavalleria Rusticana,” a tragedy by Pietro Mascagni.
The cast, each playing a role in both of the one-act operas, includes: Yi Li as Auditioning Tenor/Turiddu; Hilary Ginther as Auditioning Soprano/Santuzza; Susan Neves as Madame Herz/Mama Lucia; Catherine Ortega Spitzer as Mademoiselle Silverklang/Lola; and Jonathan Lasch as Auditioning Baritone/Buff/Alfio.
It, too, will be conducted by Buchalter, fully staged, with English supertitles and will feature the Brevard Symphony Orchestra.
Buchalter expects that VBO will “put an unexpected twist on Mozart’s already hilarious one-act comedy, then masterfully spin directly into Mascagni’s breathtaking one-act tragedy.”
Bring tissues.
VBO Rising Stars Competition
3 p.m. April 15, Semifinals, 3 p.m. April 16, Finals, and 7 p.m. April 17, All Star Concert.
All take place at the Vero Beach High School Performing Arts Center
Rounding out this splendid 2026 season is the internationally heralded Rising Stars Competition, a three-day opera festival, during which you’ll experience some of opera’s finest up and coming stars, as talented young singers compete in front of a live audience, performing their best, and some of the opera world’s favorite, arias. An elegant evening concert on the final day concludes with the announcement of the winners.
“I want to express our thanks to our loyal audience members. We also recognize our ‘grand lady of opera,’ Eloise Rodger, who first had the idea to start an opera group in 1988,” says Joan Ortega-Cowan, VBO board president and executive director.
“Román [Ortega-Cowan, artistic director] was initially involved as a singer, but in 2003, we both stepped into our current leadership roles, and could never have foreseen the success to come. We are grateful to the many volunteers responsible for this success, and for sharing our vision of creating a professionally producing opera company of the highest quality,” she adds.
“For many years VBO has not only produced fine opera but has fostered and supported the development of the rising stars of this most challenging, and finest, of art forms,” says Nicholas Muni, who joins the team as 2026 opera designer, producer and stage director, and calls VBO “one of the hidden operatic gems in our country.”
“I salute all those who generously give their time and support to VBO and add my welcome to our upcoming season.”
For more information visit VeroBeachOpera.org.
