These events are presented in partnership with FIU Miami Beach Urban Studios and Miami Classical Music Festival.
Zen and the Art of Opera
February 8, 2021
Join us for an evening with Michael Rossi, a rising star in the next generation of conductors, and founder of Miami Classical Music Festival, a training ground for singers and orchestral musicians, in residence at The Betsy Hotel. As an opera conductor he made his international debut conducting Plácido Domingo and the Chinese National Opera Orchestra in Beijing in a live television broadcast and his Washington National Opera Main Stage Debut conducting Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro. Since then, he has led the Washington National Opera on numerous occasions with performances of La Boheme, two productions of Hansel & Gretel, the first National Endowment of the Arts Opera Honors, and the orchestra’s Strathmore Hall Debut concert. He made his Carnegie Hall debut conducting the premiere of Marcos Galvany’s opera Oh My Son and recorded the album. Rossi has also conducted the world's leading organizations including the Philadelphia Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Washington National Opera, Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra and the Orquesta Sinfónica de Xalapa.
Zen and the Art of Zarzuela
March 8, 2021
A consummate and sought-after voice teacher, Manny Perez has discovered, nurtured and presented many vocal talents emerging today, maintaining vocal studios in Miami and New York City. His students have graced many of the world’s greatest stages including the Metropolitan Opera, New York City Opera, Carnegie Hall, San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Florida Grand Opera, as well the Teatro Solis in Uruguay, La Scala, Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, The Royal Opera House, Teatro Colón de Buenos Aires, Ópera de Oviedo, and Teatro Comunale di Bologna, to name a few. His students pursue and enjoy national and international opera careers and he is also a prominent vocal instructor in the cantorial community, Perez is a successful interpreter of opera and Spanish music in his own singing career, and has released two albums. Evelio Taillacq wrote of Perez’ vocal stylings in the Spanish press “we are dealing with an interpreter with a beautiful timbre, with just measure and magnificent phrasing.” Manny Perez lives and teaches in his hometown of Miami, though he was born in Cuba, and emigrated to the USA at the age of five, and graduated from the School of Music at the University of Miami.
Zen and the Art of Faithful Song
April 12, 2021
COVID has brought people together in ways they never expected. In the world of faith-based music, an entire new way of choral performance has arisen that connects performers and audiences across wide distances around awe-inspiring digitally mastered performances. Yet to make these things happen takes (not only) musical talent, but also technology and community-building skills. Rising soprano Elizabeth Zito is a versatile vocalist who performs an eclectic and inspirational mix of opera, jazz, blues, sacred, classical and world music - and over the past nine months she has become a sought after leader in convening faith-based audiences for musical celebration and worship. In this event, Michael Rossi, Founder and Artistic Director of the Miami Classical Music Festival will engage with Ms. Zito about their partnership connecting faith-based audiences via digital means - and will share performances they've recorded and edited collaboratively. Many believe that when COVID lifts these new pathways will continue to flourish, allowing those who love to sing and perform to connect with others though they may be separated by distance.
Zen and the Art of Conducting
May 10, 2021
Join three outstanding global classical conductors - two emerging and one established - as they discuss navigating a life in classical music - with a baton in one hand and so much other stuff in the other. Hear them talk about what it really takes (and means) to succeed in this narrow, highly competitive, yet incredibly exciting field.
Mark Gibson is Principal Instructor of the Miami Classical Music Festival Conducting Institute. He is also director of orchestral studies at the renowned College-Conservatory of Music (CCM), University of Cincinnati, and music director of the CCM Philharmonia Orchestra - and has enjoyed a career that spans three continents. He is presently at work on the long anticipated 8th edition of the classic text, “The Modern Conductor”, for Pearson. In 2017, Oxford University Press released Mr. Gibson’s highly acclaimed book on conducting and musical matters, “The Beat Stops Here.”
Michael Rossi is founder and artistic director of the Miami Classical Music Festival. He has conducted the world's leading organizations including the Philadelphia Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Washington National Opera, Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra and the Orquesta Sinfónica de Xalapa. As an opera conductor he made his international debut conducting Plácido Domingo and the Chinese National Opera Orchestra in Beijing in a live television broadcast and his Washington National Opera Main Stage Debut conducting Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro. Since then, he has led the Washington National Opera on numerous occasions with performances of La Boheme, two productions of Hansel & Gretel, the first National Endowment of the Arts Opera Honors, and the orchestra’s Strathmore Hall Debut concert. He made his Carnegie Hall debut conducting the premiere of Marcos Galvany’s opera Oh My Son and recorded the album.
Javier José Mendoza is Assistant Professor and Orchestra Conductor of the FIU Symphony Orchestra. Mendoza is also Artistic Director of the Chicago Arts Orchestra (CAO) and is active in a movement to unearth and re-debut forgotten works from viceregal Latin America. Mendoza is energetically re-premiering pieces from archives in Mexico, Guatemala, and Spain. Mendoza is one of a few American conductors actively working with an El Sistema-inspired youth orchestra program in Latin America, and he has conducted Opera Maya in Quintana Roo, Mexico and presented the first orchestral concert performed at Tulum, one of the last cities built and inhabited by the Maya. Mendoza studied at Butler University with Henry Leck and received his Master of Music degree with distinction from the University of New Mexico.
