Summer Salon III – Jason Stearns, Opera Baritone; Lee Dougherty Ross, Piano

Metropolitan Opera Baritone JASON STEARNS has enjoyed a professional career singing many of the “bad guys” of Verdi, Puccini and others such as MacBeth, Iago, Scarpia, and Di Luna. In fact, in addition to his roles at the Met, in 2009, he played Monterone to Dmitri Hvorostovsky’s Rigoletto with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

“In my view, Jason is one of the best baritones in the world today and can be ranked with all the greats in the last half of the 20th century,” said William Yannuzzi, music director of the Baltimore Opera Company.

A Grammy Award winner on a recording with the National Symphony Orchestra, Stearns was also a featured soloist with the United States Army Band for 21 years. He and his wife, Suzanne, live in Sarasota and enjoy teaching as well as performing in the area.

LEE DOUGHERTY ROSS, founder of Artist Series Concerts, is a Sarasota favorite who started her career at the age of 12 with the Norfolk, Virginia Symphony Orchestra. An exuberant bundle of enthusiasm, she hasn’t stopped playing nor promoting the arts since.

$50 per salon per person, includes a lovely lunch. Reservations taken until seven days prior.

Make checks payable to Sarasota Opera Guild; Send to Sherry Wheeler, 749 Placid Lake Dr., Osprey FL  34229

wheshink@gmail.com; 941-966-6351

Or to pay with a credit card: https://www.facebook.com/sarasotaoperaguild/