Denyce Graves Master Class with Opera Carolina

I love opera and it’s only fitting I share my love here. After all, it’s about time for the Charlotte opera season to start and I’m thrilled. It’s a time to dress up, listen to beautiful music and for a little while, immerse myself in stories that will take me through every single human emotion in just a few hours.

Opera Carolina, in collaboration with Johnson C. Smith University, will present a master class with international opera superstar Denyce Graves. The master class, which follows Graves’s opening night performance in Il Trovatore with Opera Carolina, will offer one-on-one instruction to voice students from regional colleges and universities on opera repertoire, interpretation, performance and style. Approximately eight students will participate.

Recognized worldwide as one of today’s most exciting vocal stars, mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves continues to gather unparalleled popular and critical acclaim in performances on four continents. USA Today identifies her as “an operatic superstar” of the 21st century.

I’m sharing a video of Denyce with the great Placido Domingo in “Sampson et Dalila” performed in 1992 with Orchestra of the Teatro Municipal de Rio de Janiro. It’s sheer bliss for the opera lover.

You can watch the Master Class on Sunday, October 16, Belk Theater stage at the Blumenthal Performing Arts Center, Charlotte, N.C. . Tickets are available to the public, although seating is limited. Call 704.332.7177 ext. 218 to reserve $10 tickets. Student tickets are free.