Welcome, Fellow Opera Lovers,
The Opera Tampa 25th anniversary season is here, can you believe it? We’ve had such an
extraordinary adventure with this opera company from the very rst production of Madama Butter y
all those years ago.
I want to thank each and every one of you for being here. Whether this is your 25th season with us or
your very rst opera, you’re part of the beautiful community that makes grand opera happen at The
Straz. We have so much to celebrate, and I believe our selections for this season re ect our profound
appreciation of this unique art form. Carmen, The Pirates of Penzance and Aida all stand as
monuments to operatic achievement. We offer them to you as a way of rejoicing in great stories and
gorgeous music together at such a prestigious moment for Opera Tampa. We’re glad you are here.
We have more celebrating to do during our annual fundraiser, the Grand Gala, which takes place
on May 2 and honors soprano Deborah Voigt with the Anton Coppola Excellence in the Arts Award.
Hopefully, you have your tickets to this glamorous event already. If not, visit operatampa.org or see
page 16.
This 25th anniversary season also marks the appointment of our new artistic director Robin Stamper,
who serves concurrently as managing director as he has for several years. We are thrilled to have
him at the helm of our productions as well as steering our outreach programs and helping shape the
exciting future for Opera Tampa.
Enjoy this very special opera season. I look forward to seei ng you at these performances events.
Sincerely,
Judy Lisi
Judy General Director, Opera Tampa; President and CEO, Straz Center
ese se perform rman a ce ces an and ev even ents ts. the hese se rmances and d en e ts t . Photo by Rob/Harris Productions, Inc.
Judith Lisi is the president of the David A. Straz, Jr. Center for the Performing Arts,
which she joined on Oct. 1, 1992. She previously served as Executive Director of the
prestigious Shubert Performing Arts Center in New Haven, Conn., where, among her
many achievements, she founded the Shubert Opera Company in collaboration with
the Yale School of Music and the New Haven Symphony Orchestra and produced 40
full-scale productions.
In 1995, three years after joining the Straz Center, she founded Opera Tampa
and has produced nearly 50 full-scale productions and presented concerts by such
opera luminaries as Renée Fleming, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa and Deborah Voigt.
Lisi holds a B.A. from Sacred Heart University, an M.A. in theater and
communication arts from St. Louis University, pursued doctoral coursework in
theater at the University of Minnesota and studied opera at The Juilliard School
of Music and with the Metropolitan Opera.
In 2008, Lisi received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the International
Society for the Performing Arts. In 2012, the Broadway League bestowed the
Distinguished Lifetime Service Award on Lisi for her years of outstanding
leadership. In 2013, Lisi was honored with the Greater Tampa Chamber of
Commerce’s Woman of In uence Award, the Jewish National Fund’s
Lawrence D. Wasser Humanitarian Award, Tampa Bay Magazine’s Tip of the
Hat Award and was named the 2015 Citizen of the Year by the Economic Club of
Tampa. Lisi is the Preserve Vision Florida, Inc.’s 2018 Person of Vision Award
recipient and in April 2018 was inducted into the Tampa Bay Business Hall of Fame.
And, in recognition of the exceptional nature of both her career and her service to
society, she was bestowed with the 2019 Alumni Achievement Award from the Sacred
Heart University Alumni Association Board of Directors.
She is very grateful to the Opera Tampa Board and donors who love opera and are
passionate about supporting this great art form.
The David A. Straz, Jr. Center for the Performing Arts and its programs are funded in
part by the City of Tampa; the Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners; the
Tourist Development Council/Hillsborough County; the State of Florida, Department of
State, Division of Cultural Affairs and the Florida Council on Arts and Culture.
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