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Opera Tampa Gala
Opera Tampa guests were welcomed
to “Inverness Castle,” the “home”
of Lord and Lady Macbeth, for a
Royal Feast on the stage in honor of Verdi’s
operatic interpretation of Shakespeare’s
Macbeth. At the Straz Center gala dinner,
opera superstar Denyce Graves was
presented with this year’s Anton Coppola
Excellence in the Arts Award in recognition
of her singular voice, her phenomenal
career and her dedication to the opera art
form. In addition to a large silent auction
and a live auction, guests were invited to
become opera luminaries by donating to
Opera Tampa’s efforts to take opera into
the community. Since 2012, the company’s
outreach programs have included more
than 40,000 children and lifelong learners,
and this year more than 8,000 people were
inspired at over 50 locations throughout
the area.
Warren Rodgers, who dressed as Rigoletto, and his wife
Dr. Zena Lansky, who dressed as Lady Macbeth, were the chairs
of this year’s gala, which was the most successful ever.
160 TAMPA BAY MAGAZINE | MAY/JUNE 2018
Judy Lisi,
the CEO and
president of the
Straz Center
and the general
director of
Opera Tampa,
came as Tosca
and her
husband Ernie
took on the
image of Scarpia,
her pursuer.
Denyce Graves, who is on the voice faculty of the
Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore, Maryland, was
congratulated on being presented with the Anton Coppola
Excellence in the Arts Award by Tampa Bay Magazine
Publisher and Editor Margaret Word Burnside.