Summer Concert Series

The tradition of Opera Orlando previewing its upcoming season with a series of intimate concerts predates the company itself: It’s a holdover from its predecessor company, Florida Opera Theatre, which existed from 2009 to 2015.

Now, with Opera Orlando preparing to mark its 10th anniversary, the brothers Preisser (Gabriel, executive director, and Grant, artistic director) will once again dispatch some of their top performers to the University Club of Winter Park to whet the audience’s appetite for what’s to come.

On three consecutive Sundays, patrons will get to hear a wide-ranging repertoire of songs, arias and duets performed by headline talent who’ll later appear in some of the shows to be presented during the 2025–26 Opera on the MainStage season in Steinmetz Hall at Dr. Phillips Center.

Although none of the individual performers had yet been announced at press time, we do know the shows in which they’ve been cast.

First will be a performer slated to appear in Giacomo Puccini’s La Bohème, and second will be a performer who’ll return for Silent Night, the 2012 dramatization of a World War I holiday ceasefire that won the Pulitzer Prize in Music for composer Kevin Puts and librettist Mark Campbell.

The third and final performance in the series will feature a vocalist from Opera Orlando’s production of Franz Lehár’s The Merry Widow. Each concert will be followed by a mix-and-mingle reception with wine, appetizers and desserts at no extra charge.

Last year’s series featured a stellar lineup of Grammy-winning performers including soprano Lindsey Ohse, lyric tenor Dominick Chenes, and the husband-and-wife team of baritone Norman Garrett and mezzo-soprano Catherine Martin. Tickets, as usual, can be purchased for individual performances or as a package of three at a discounted rate.

The University Club of Winter Park is located at 841 North Park Avenue, Winter Park. For more information, call or visit the website.