CONTACT: Hope Griffin – info@operaorlando.org: (407) 512-1900
Kamilah Smith – sparksocialorlando@gmail.com: (407) 418-9829‬

WHAT: Opera Orlando in Concert
WHEN: October 26 at 7 p.m.
WHERE: Windermere Preparatory School, Cypress Center for the Arts
6189 Winter Garden Vineland Rd. | Windermere, FL 34786
TICKETS: $22 for General Admission online
includes light appetizers and drinks
www.teachtix.com

Opera Orlando is pleased to announce a special collaboration with Windermere Preparatory School as part of the 2019-20 season. Opera Orlando guest artists and studio artists will work with the music and theater students of Windermere Preparatory School in masterclass settings during the fall semester, culminating in a performance on October 26 at 7 p.m. at the newly constructed Cypress Center on campus at Windermere Prep. The performance will feature world-renowned pianist and opera conductor Nicolas Giusti and Opera Orlando’s own Gabriel Preisser, performing a concert of operatic arias, duets, and ensembles side by side with students from Windermere Prep. This performance is open to the public and includes light appetizers and wine.
“This collaboration is indeed fortuitous for our students at Windermere Prep as they are putting on their first opera this semester, Menotti’s The Medium,” said Jason King, who serves as the director of fine arts at Windermere Prep. “We are thrilled to partner with Opera Orlando. We know that introducing our kids to all art forms, providing them the opportunity to collaborate on the stage with international talent, is truly invaluable and life-molding.”
Opera Orlando executive director and “resident baritone” Gabriel Preisser added, “We know that this is the beginning of a wonderful long-term partnership with the students and faculty at Windermere Prep, and we are so grateful to them for having us. They have a beautiful venue and a talented array of students who are eager to launch their careers in the arts. It is our privilege to provide formative opportunities, like this concert, that will certainly enrich the students’ lives and also enrich our entire community.”

See full bios below for Nicolas Giusti and Gabriel Preisser.
To purchase tickets, please visit www.teachtix.com

ARTIST BIOS
As executive and artistic director of Opera Orlando, Gabriel Preisser uses his performance experience in over fifty operatic and music theater roles to serve the company in areas of growth and development, artistic vision and planning, and administration. Born and raised in Apopka, just outside Orlando, Mr. Preisser has deep ties to the Central Florida area. He graduated summa cum laude from Florida State University, with a major in vocal performance and a minor in business, and completed a master’s degree in voice at the University of Houston.

Critically acclaimed by The New York Times and Opera News, Mr. Preisser has performed leading-man roles for various companies throughout the U.S., including the Minnesota Orchestra, Colorado Symphony, Opera Tampa, and others. Most notably, he created the role of Lt. Gordon in Kevin Puts’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Silent Night at Minnesota Opera, with subsequent performances at Opera Philadelphia and Cincinnati Opera and on national PBS broadcasts.
On the concert stage, he has garnered a reputation for his dynamic interpretations of Orff’s “Carmina Burana” and Walton’s “Belshazzar’s Feast” with the Canterbury Chorale, Atlanta Ballet, Orlando Ballet, and the Jacksonville Symphony. In addition, he is a frequent recitalist throughout the U.S. and a proponent of American composers such as Charles Ives, Carlisle Floyd, Aaron Copland, and John Duke.

Besides his performing career, Mr. Preisser co-founded Angels & Demons Entertainment, an opera/musical theater production company focusing on semi-staged and site-specific opera and musical theater presentations. He currently lives in Winter Garden with his wife, son, and daughter.
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A master of the Italian style, Maestro Nicolas Giusti is known for his work alongside international opera artists June Anderson, Rockwell Blacke, Cecilia Bartoli, Franco Bonisolli, Renato Bruson, Placido Domingo, Leo Nucci, and Giancarlo Menotti. As a conductor, coach, teacher, and composer, he is the beneficiary of the Italian operatic tradition through his many years of collaboration with Maestro Arturo Toscanini’s assistant, Antonio Tonini, of the Teatro alla Scala di Milano. He has coached several international artists in preparation for major operatic appearances. As a collaborator in Franco Zeffirelli’s film “Callas Forever,” he was vocal consultant and the pianist for the film.

Highlights of his conducting engagements include National Philharmonic Orchestra of Moldova, the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Prague, the Theatrical Orchestra of Izmir, the AMIT Orchestra of Roma, the International Orchestra of Italy, the National Orchestra of Portugal, the Symphonic Orchestra of Plovdiv Theater, the Orchestra of Sofia Theater, the Philharmonic Orchestra of Giuseppe Tartini, the Philharmonic Orchestra of Marrucino Theater, the Choir and Orchestra of Luis Mariano (San Sebastian, Spain), the Chamber Orchestra of Toronto, and the Rome Symphonic Orchestra.
As an orchestra conductor, he had notable successes with such operatic productions as Die Zauberflöte at Colosseum of Oporto (Portugal, 2005), Gianni Schicchi (Orbetello Festival with the legendary Giuseppe Taddei), Tosca (with Silvano Carroli, transmitted on RAI radio3), and La bohème at the State Theater of Izmir (Turkey), the first production of the century in that country.

In addition to presenting masterclasses throughout Europe, Maestro Giusti has served as musical director for the Mario del Monaco Foundation’s Accademia di Cagli, associate director of Belcanto at the Festival of Avenches (Switzerland), and for over twenty years as professor of opera at Ministero dell’Università e della Ricerca (Istituto di Alta Cultura) in Pescara, Italy.

Most recently he has conducted operas with various organizations in Germany, France, Belgium, Spain, Canada, and Turkey, including Nabucco, Aida, Tosca, Carmen, Le nozze di Figaro, Madama Butterfly, La bohème, Carmina Burana, La sonnambula, and many concerts.

About Windermere Preparatory School: Windermere Preparatory School (WPS) is a private college preparatory school educating students from pre-kindergarten through grade 12. Founded in 2000, WPS is a Nord Anglia college preparatory school, located on a 48+-acre campus in southwest Orlando. WPS provides a seamless curriculum that culminates with the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IB). WPS is the only Central Florida private school to offer the IB Diploma, which is widely considered to be the Gold Standard of high school curriculum. WPS is a local school of distinction with a global vision, providing service to over 1500 students, including a population of international boarding students from around the world. WPS is an International Baccalaureate World School, fully accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SAC), Florida Council of Independent Schools (FCIS), Southern Association of Independent Schools (SAIS), and the Florida Kindergarten Council (FKC). Additionally, WPS is a member of the Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA).

For more information about Windermere Preparatory School, please visit www.windermereprep.com.

About Opera Orlando: Celebrating, expanding, and sharing the world’s greatest art form, Opera Orlando is now in its fourth full season of producing high-quality operatic entertainment and educational programs that engage Central Florida audiences.

Many thanks to our 2019-20 platinum and gold season sponsors
Fairwinds Credit Union, Sundance Printing, Managed Services Group,
Passport Winter Park, Orlando Health, Walt Disney World Resorts, Winter Park Wine,
Ginsburg Family Foundation, Montverde Academy

For tickets, please visit teachtix.com