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Opera Tampa 2016 Gala
The Opera Tampa League, which is in its 21st year, held its
annual benefit Gala in Carol Morsani Hall at the David A. Straz,
Jr. Center for the Performing Arts in Tampa. Dr. Ignacio and Diane
Ferras, III, the event’s co-chairs, and Judy Lisi, president and
CEO of the Straz, welcomed supporters to an onstage cocktail
reception and a tour of the set for Verdi’s La Traviata. Guests were
then escorted into the lobby for a wine-paired dinner prepared by
Chef Benito D’Azzo of the Straz Center’s Maestro’s Restaurant
and Catering Services. Opera Tampa singers entertained and also
assisted Tampa Bay Magazine Publisher/Editor Aaron Fodiman
2015 Gala co-chairs Charlie Simmons and
his wife, Opera Tampa League board member
Faith “Cookie” Simmons, sponsored the
Anton Coppola Award and were among
2016’s patrons.
166 TAMPA BAY MAGAZINE
| MAY/JUNE 2016
with a live auction. Tito Capobianco, one of the opera world’s
most important directors, was given the Anton Coppola Excellence
in the Arts Award. The award, sponsored by Cookie and Charlie
Simmons, is presented annually in honor of Opera Tampa’s
original artistic director and conductor, Maestro Anton Coppola,
as a recognition of the recipient’s contributions to Opera Tampa
and to the music world at large. Opera Tampa and its singers
bring opera music to children, adults and seniors through their
traveling, teaching and performing programs.
Ernie Lisi and his wife
Judy, the general director
of Opera Tampa and the
president and CEO of the
Straz Center, said that La
Traviata was the very first
opera she saw as a girl.
Maestro Daniel Lipton,
Opera Tampa’s artistic
director and coordinator,
exchanged opera stories
with renowned baritone
Sherrill Milnes, Opera
Tampa’s 2015
Anton Coppola awardee.
Opera Tampa League’s board chair
Gina d’Angelo and her husband, Straz Center
trustee Barry Levine, helped sponsor and
underwrite the Gala benefit.