Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/185868
Sarasota News Leader October 4, 2013 Page 108 SARASOTA OPERA AND LIBRARY TO HOLD VERDI CELEBRATION This month, Sarasota Opera will join in the worldwide celebration honoring the bicentennial anniversary of the birth of famed Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi, the Opera has announced. In partnership with Selby Public Library, Sarasota Opera has planned a program of public talks and free concerts, "including a big birthday celebration" on Thursday, Oct. 10, the day of the composer's birth, a news release says. The Oct. 10 observance will begin at 4 p.m. at the library (1331 First St., Sarasota) with the unveiling of special exhibits and a performance by Sarasota Opera artists in the rotunda, the release continues. Immediately afterward, guests will be invited to follow the red carpet out the south entrance of the library and walk across the street to the Sarasota Opera House. There, at 5 p.m., guests will be offered backstage tours, more performances by Sarasota Opera artists as well as by members of the Sarasota Youth Opera, a meet-and-greet with Sarasota Opera's production team and children's activities, the release adds. Toward the end of the evening, guests will be invited into the William E. Schmidt Opera Theatre to join in a birthday tribute to Verdi, including a community sing of his famous chorus, Va, pensiero, from his opera, Nabucco, the release says. The Sarasota Opera House is located on Pineapple Avenue in downtown Sarasota. Photo by Norman Schimmel