First presented by FWO in 1958, and last seen in 1999, Giuseppe Verdi’s grandest opera AIDA, performs as a concert production with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra. Set in the Old Kingdom of Egypt, AIDA tells the fateful story of forbidden love between an enslaved Ethiopian princess, and an Egyptian military commander.  AIDA was commissioned by Cairo's Khedivial Opera House and had its premiere there in December of 1871.

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Making her debut with FWO is Argentinian singer and director Malena Dayen. Malena is a 2022/23 Princeton Hodder fellow and she recently directed and performed in Firesongs, a new piece by Thomas Cabaniss that premiered at Chelsea Factory in collaboration with National Sawdust in New York City. Elaine Rinaldi will also make her FWOpera debut as the first female conductor in our 75 year history! She is the founder and artistic director of Orchestra Miami, a professional symphonic ensemble based in Miami, Florida.

This larger-than-life concert production will feature Metropolitan Opera and Lyric Opera of Chicago star Michelle Bradley in the title performance that earned her great acclaim in Prague, and the American operatic tenor Ben Gulley will sing the role of Radames. Grammy Award winning American mezzo soprano Tichina Vaughn, who has established an important presence among the world’s leading opera houses, concert halls and theaters will sing the role of Amneris. Grammy and Emmy-Award winning baritone Reginald Smith Jr. will sing the role of the Amonasro. Also in the cast are basses Kevin Thompson as the King, Kenneth Kellogg as Ramfis, soprano Adia Evans as the High Priestess and Nathanial Catasca as the Messenger.