Toledo Opera will host their annual fundraising Gala at the Toledo Club (235 14th Street, Toledo, OH 43604) on Friday, May 9, 2025. This year’s event will be a progressive Gala – celebrating three opera-loving cultures while featuring dynamic performances by the Toledo Opera Resident Artists.
The gala will begin at 6:00 p.m. in the Red Room, where Italian-inspired cocktails and hors d’oeuvres will be served. During this time, guests will enjoy performances of Italian opera arias. Following cocktail hour, guests will move to the Dining Room for a plated French dinner of Beef Bourguignon, Coq au Vin, or Wild Mushroom en Croûte. Throughout dinner, the room will be serenaded by melodies of French composers that have shaped opera and classical music for centuries. A paddle raise during dinner will support the education programs of Toledo Opera. Finally, dessert will be served in the Centennial Room. As guests enjoy American desserts, beloved American classics will be performed.
Throughout the event Toledo Opera Artistic Director, Kevin Bylsma, will serve as Master of Ceremonies. He will be joined by the 2024-2025 Resident Artists: Sarah Rachel Bacani (soprano); Emily Cotton (mezzo-soprano); Brady DelVecchio (tenor); Robbie Raso (baritone); and Alessandro “Alex” Rotundo (piano).
For Toledo Opera General Director James M. Norman, the evening is more than a celebration – it is an opportunity to bring the community together in support of the art form: “Toledo Opera’s annual fundraising gala is always a special evening, but this year, we invite our guests on a spectacular journey through Italy, France, and America—no passport required! This celebration of culture and cuisine will transport you through the flavors, sights, and sounds of these operatic powerhouses, all while supporting the future of opera in our community. With exquisite food, delightful drinks, and world-class music, it promises to be an unforgettable night in support of Toledo Opera.”
“The combination of incredible food with the beautiful voices of Toledo Opera’s Resident Artists makes this an event not to miss,” shared Toledo Opera Artistic Director Kevin Bylsma. “Prepare to be transported to the world’s operatic capitals, all while staying in Toledo!”
Tickets are now available. Full tables for 8 are available, as well as event sponsorships. Sponsorships range from $1,000 (Bellini Sponsor) to $10,000 (Bizet Sponsor) and include a variety of benefits and recognition at the event and on the Toledo Opera website. Tickets can be purchased at 419-255-SING (7464) or at toledoopera.org. All proceeds from this event will support Toledo Opera in its mission to bring world-class opera to the greater Toledo region.
With more than three decades experience as a vocal coach, collaborative pianist, choral conductor, and organist, Kevin J. Bylsma is a musician of impressive depth and ability, well known for his work in opera, art song, and oratorio. A longtime member of the Toledo Opera staff, Mr. Bylsma is currently the Co-Artistic Director/Head of Music Preparation and Chorus Master. He was formerly Music Director of the Department of Community Programs for the Michigan Opera Theatre and vocal coach, accompanist, and chorus master for OPERA! Lenawee. In recitals and master classes, he has collaborated with the great American singers Samuel Ramey, Diane Soviero, Marilyn Horne, Dawn Upshaw, Michelle De Young, Irina Mishura, Kathryn Lewek, and Jennifer Rowley. He is the Co-founder and Artistic Director of the Ann Arbor Festival of Song, and, for the past twenty-nine years, he has served the historic Mariners’ Church of Detroit as Associate Organist and Choirmaster. Dedicated to the education and training of the next generation of operatic talent, Mr. Bylsma is the Coordinator of Opera and Repetiteur for Bowling Green State University’s College of Musical Arts, responsible for vocal coaching as well as serving as a collaborative pianist for the school’s large body of young singers. From 2009–2018, Mr. Bylsma taught at OperaWorks, an intensive summer opera program, based in Los Angeles, CA, and since 2014, he has served the Michigan District Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition as principal pianist. Increasingly active as a music director, Mr. Bylsma has conducted Mozart’s Coronation Mass, Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass, Poulenc’s Gloria, R. Vaughan Williams’ Mystical Songs, and Beethoven’s Mass in C and Choral Fantasy, and most recently led the Bowling Green State University Opera Theatre’s production of Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea.
Filipino-American soprano Sarah Rachel Bacani is currently the soprano Resident Artist at Toledo Opera where she performs the role of Adèle/Spirit of the Rose in their touring outreach production of Grétry’s Beauty and the Beast. Her 2023-2024 season included covering the role of Juliette (Roméo et Juliette) at Central City Opera, where she also performed the role in their Family Matinee production as a Bonfils-Stanton Foundation Artists Training Program Apprentice Artist. In 2022, also with Central City Opera, she made her professional debut performing the role of Mariola in Heggie’s Two Remain. On the Indiana University Opera Theater stage, she performed the roles of Juliette (Roméo et Juliette), Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni) and Pamina (Die Zauberflöte). There, she also performed in scenes as Leïla (Les Pécheurs de Perles), Micaëla (Carmen), and Fiordiligi (Così fan tutte). An accomplished competitor, this year, she placed in the Top 12 of the Inaugural Luciano Pavarotti Foundation Opera Naples International Voice Competition and is a semi-finalist in Fort Worth Opera’s McCammon Voice Competition. She previously competed as a finalist for the 2024 Young Patronesses of the Opera/Florida Grand Opera National Voice Competition, placing sixth (Kay Carpenter Memorial Award) and winning the Irene Patti Swartz Memorial Award to a Soprano. She was also a semi-finalist for the 2024 Shreveport Opera Mary Jacobs Smith Singer of the Year Competition. In concert, Ms. Bacani has performed the soprano solo in Britten's Les Illuminations, Mozart’s Requiem, and Getty’s The White Election. Hailing from Toms River, NJ, Ms. Bacani received her Performer Diploma and Master of Music in voice at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where she studied under the tutelage of Jane Dutton. She received her Bachelor of Music in vocal performance from the Manhattan School of Music, where she studied with Cynthia Hoffmann. Ms. Bacani portrayed Liat in Toledo Opera's South Pacific.
Mezzo-soprano Emily Cotten graduated from Loyola University New Orleans with her masters in vocal performance in 2022. At Loyola, she performed La Ciesca (Gianni Schicchi), Mistress of the Novices (Suor Angelica), and Belinda (Dido and Aeneas). She received her Bachelor of Music at the University of Michigan, where she was an EXCEL grant recipient and performed in Bolcolm's Dinner at Eight and Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro. She spent two summers as an Apprentice Artist with Opera in the Ozarks, where she performed roles: Despina (Così Fan Tutte), Desiree Armfeldt (A Little Night Music), and Public Opinion (Orfee aux Enfers). She last appeared with Toledo Opera as Ensign Dinah Murphy in South Pacific.
“Golden-voiced tenor" Brady DelVecchio is thrilled to continue as a resident artist at Toledo Opera. Hailing from Pittsburgh, PA, he graduated from The Peabody Conservatory of Music at Johns Hopkins University. Mr. DelVecchio has found continued acclaim in theater and film. He has recently portrayed roles in La Calisto (Mercurio), Cendrillon (Le Prince Charmant), Don Giovanni (Don Ottavio), The Mikado (Nanki-Poo), Strike up the Band (Timothy Harper), Tosca (Spoletta), and West Side Story (Tony). Additionally, he regularly performs as a soloist in oratorio, concert, and symphonic works. Upcoming performances can be found by visiting www.BradyDelVecchio.com. He has sung the roles of Spoletta in Tosca and the Professor in South Pacific for Toledo Opera.
Baritone Robbie Raso is a graduate of the AJ Fletcher Opera Institute at University of North Carolina School of the Arts, the Eastman School of Music, and the Carnegie Mellon School of Music. Most recently, he performed the roles of Chrevreuse (Maria di Rohan) and Marcaniello (Lo frate 'nnamurato) at UNCSA. In the summer of 2023, Mr. Raso performed the roles of Enrico (Lucia di Lammermoor) and Dandini (La Cenerentola) with Mediterranean Opera Festival in Caltagirone, Sicily. Other performance highlights include Jack Absolute (The Rivals), Rodomonte (Orlando paladino), and Zebul (Jeptha) at UNCSA; Johannes "Pa" Zegner (Proving Up), Rapunzel's Prince (Into the Woods), and Ophèmon (L'amant anonyme) at Eastman; and Count Almaviva (Le Nozze di Figaro), Count Robinson (Il Matrimonio Segreto), and Papageno (The Magic Flute) at Carnegie Mellon University. He also originated the role of Border Guard (ID, Please) at the Tête-à-Tête Opera Festival in London in 2017. In addition to singing, Mr. Raso is also an instrumentalist, having studied trombone since middle school. He currently serves as the baritone resident artist with Toledo Opera and sang the roles of Angelotti and the Jailer in Tosca and Luther Billis in South Pacific.
Alessandro (Alex) Rotundo graduated from the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University in 2022, earning a B.M. in composition and piano, under the tutelage of Kevin Puts and Shirley Yoo. He earned his M.M. in Composition at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music in the Mason Bates studio, where he was also very active as a collaborative pianist. In addition, he received a regular High School Diploma in Piano Performance with honors from the National Guild of Piano Teachers of the American College of Musicians; completed the MTAC Certificate of Merit Advanced Level Exam with Honors, performing in MTAC Panel Audition State Panel Finals. He was also a violinist in California’s Peninsula Youth Orchestra up until 2018, and played upright and electric bass in the Hillsdale High School Jazz Ensemble. His first orchestral work, composed when he was 10, was premiered in May 2010 by the intermediate division of the Peninsula Youth Orchestra. From 2014 to 2018, he studied composition with David Conte and violin performance with Monika Gruber and Joseph Maile at the Pre-College division of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM). He has won numerous composition awards, including the Peabody Institute's Otto Ortmann Composition Prize and the Multicultural Sonic Evolution Composition Competition.
Toledo Opera’s fundraising gala will take place at the Toledo Club on Friday, May 9 beginning at 6:00 p.m. to learn about sponsorship opportunities, please contact Leah Whitaker at lwhitaker@toledoopera.org. To to purchase tickets visit: toledoopera.org. For media access, please contact Rachael Cammarn at rcammarn@toledoopera.org.
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