First billed as the grand finale of the Merced Symphony’s historic 65th anniversary season, the much-anticipated opera concert “Die Meistersingers” was postponed in June due to “unforeseen circumstances.”
Now the date is set for Saturday, Oct. 14, at 7:30 p.m.
And this one will be worth the wait.
Guests will enjoy an evening of some of the greatest operatic works of all time — from Wagner to Verdi, Mozart and Bellini. Expect to be wowed by amazing vocal fireworks at the Merced Theater.
The concert will feature soprano Ellen Leslie, an internationally sought-after musician and four-time winner of the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition in the San Francisco District.
Leslie made her solo debut with the San Francisco Symphony in their 2019 holiday concert ‘Twas the Night, and was also slated to appear with the Symphony as the soprano solo in Bach’s Magnificat (cancelled due to COVID-19). In summer 2019 she toured Finland, Latvia, Estonia, and Sweden as the soprano soloist in Brahms’ Requiem and performed a recital of arias with Symphonia Caritas in San Francisco’s War Memorial Veterans Building. In her reprise as Josephine (HMS Pinafore) with San Francisco’s Lamplighters Music Theatre in August 2019, she was lauded as “sparkling…by turns lovelorn, impish and imperious.” She is also featured in conductor Ming Luke’s 2020 TED-Ed video “The Physics of Opera Singing.”
Luke, of course, is the Merced Symphony director who will be conducting Die Meistersingers at the Merced Theatre, 301 W. Main Street in downtown Merced, on Oct. 14.
For more information, call (209) 383-3277, or visit online at: MercedSymphony.org.