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Update: Due to rain, the opera performance will move to St. Bartholomew’s Church at 325 Park Avenue (at East 51st Street).
Every summer, New York's Central Park plays host to some of the city's best warm-weather performances, from SummerStage to Shakespeare in the Park. Those returning seasonal favorites will be joined this June by a one-off open-air opera, performed at the park's Naumburg Bandshell.
On Monday, June 26, renowned Italian conductor Alvise Casellati is bringing a performance of his Opera Italiana is in the Air to the bandshell from 7pm to 8:30pm, the second stop of a tour that also includes Rome's Piazza di Siena, the National Mall in Washington, D.C. and Art Basel in Miami, Florida. Pulling opera from the pomp and, frankly, priciness of the theater, Casellati's open-air performances are made to be free of charge, informal in nature and accessible to all.
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Entitled “Peace on Earth: The Art of Nature,” the free concert will feature Casellati conducting both professional musicians and aspiring students from the Metropolitan Opera, The Juilliard School, and the Manhattan School of Music. The event will include a composition from 11-year-old musician Issac Thomas, a student at The Juilliard School, whose performance piece "All Around Earth" was selected by the maestro as this year's winning piece after reviews of Juilliard student compositions.
The live concert will also include a rendition of the U.S. National Anthem performed by The Rising Voices Choir from the Music Therapy Department at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Hospital, accompanied by the orchestra. The performance will be streamed live to patients receiving treatment at the Lenox Hill hospital, as well as through the Opera Italiana YouTube channel.
As for the inspiration behind the performance, "Nature is the ultimate masterpiece, and it is the duty of each individual to make daily steps to respect it and preserve it," Alvise Casellati said in a press release. "For this reason, you will hear how our best composers celebrated Nature through their music, including 11-year-old composer Isacc Thomas."
This is not the first time that Casellati has brought Opera Italiana is in the Air to New York City—the maestro has conducted the open-air opera five times previously in Central Park, from 2017 to last year’s “Rebuild Harmony” concert.
