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October 8, 2009

Famed opera singer will perform in local fundraiser for Sharpsville opera house

By Courtney L. Anderson

Maestro Francisco Casanova has graced the grand stages of Carnegie Hall and the Metropolitan Opera in New York, Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Italy, and now is bringing his world-renowned talent to Sharpsville�s Pierce Opera House.

Casanova and other singers will perform at 3 p.m. Nov. 8 at the recently restored and reopened Pierce Opera House in the first concert of the Pier Miranda Ferraro Fan Club

The concert honors the memory of the Italian tenor Ferraro, Casanova�s teacher, and will serve as a fundraiser for the Valley Lyric Opera and the Sharpsville Historical Society.

After the success of July�s production of comic opera �Don Pasquale,� the first production at the venue in 80 years, VLO President Dr. Francisco Cano said they wanted to make �another splash.�

They plan to do so with a performance by the lauded singer in the space that owner and Sharpsville Borough Manager Michael G. Wilson �restored so beautifully and diligently� over the past 10 years.

�Mike is committed to the theater and the area,� Cano said of Wilson, noted that his family renovated the opera house at their own cost �out of a willingness to preserve the building and bring opera to a community with no opera tradition.�

�We�re trying to build a tradition,� Cano said. �It�s almost like a renaissance.�

Wilson said he�s become a fan of opera through the partnership and hopes to host more operas and maybe ballets and other performances at the venue. �We feel grateful Casanova is willing to perform,� Wilson said.

A friend of Cano since their childhood in the Dominican Republic, Casanova has taught master classes locally the past several years, passing on technique to a new generation of singers.

One of his students, baritone Dan Byerly of Sharon, will perform an aria or two himself and a duet. Byerly, a 2004 graduate of Sharon high who studied piano at Grove City College and singing with Casanova and Cano, said he�s very excited to have worked with Casanova and he feels privileged and humbled to have done so.

He said that Casanova�s performance is a big deal for this area.

�It�s a caliber of singing that is hard to come by anywhere in the world,� Byerly said..

�Singing is a craft, just like carpentry,� said Cano, a singer himself known for performances with VLO over the past 13 years. �It�s a 20 year route to learn how to sing, with no guarantees.�

But there is a guarantee that the audience will be entertained at the performance. �If anyone likes good music and good singing they�re going to enjoy the concert,� Byerly said, raving about Casanova�s interpretation of the songs. �It is truer to the original form and the original idea while still remaining fresh at each performance.

Also appearing at the concert are soprano Sandra Mesandra, tenor Adam Peterson and pianist Tristan Cano of Greenville.

At the concert, Cano said they plan to announce an international voice competition for 2012 in Ferraro�s honor. They also hope to perform another opera, possibly the Giacomo Puccini�s �La Boheme,� and hold a youth art contest in conjunction, Cano said.

The Pierce Opera House is at 100 N. Mercer Ave., Sharpsville. Tickets for the Nov. 8 concert are $25 and are available at the Sharpsville Borough Building, Mehler Insurance Agency, Sharpsville Floral or Pompa�s Beauty Salon.



For more information: 724-962-5757 or 724-962-7896. The concert is a production of VeraMusica Ltd. For more information about the Pier Miranda Ferraro Fan Club, visit www.veramusicaltd.com

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