Get Your Tickets to the Opera in Garden City

The Garden City Historical Society will present “Opera Comes to The Garden City Historical Society,” performed by Opera Night, Long Island, on Sunday, Nov. 17, at 3 p.m., in the Historical Society Museum located 109 Eleventh Street.

Open seating begins at 2:30 p.m. Ticket donation is $25; light refreshments will follow the performance.

Tickets are available at the Society’s consignment shop, the A.T. Stewart Exchange, on the Museum’s lower level, Tuesday-Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturday from noon to 4 p.m. Tickets may also be purchased through the mail; send a check for the appropriate number of tickets to The Garden City Historical Society, c/o Penny Hinderstein, P.O. Box 179, Garden City, NY 11530, and include your name, address and phone number. Make checks payable to The Garden City Historical Society. Tickets requested by mail will be received through return mail.

Seating is limited so early purchase is recommended.

Opera Night founder and director Isabella Eredita Johnson will provide the piano accompaniment for soprano Barbara Divis, mezzo-soprano Lorraine Helvick and tenor Robert Murphy.

The afternoon performance will include the arias Habanera from Carmen (Bizet), Lakme Duet; Un Bel Di from Madama Butterfly (Puccini); and "Ah, mes amis" from the Daughter of the Regiment (Donizetti), known for the 9 "High C's", as well as Mon Coeur from Samson and Delila (Saint Saen), O Mio Babbino from Gianni Schicci (Puccini), "Quanto e Bella" from L'elisire d'amore (Donizetti) and a possible duet: "O Soave Fanciulla" from La Boheme, Puccini.

Soprano Barbara Divis has performed more than 35 operatic lead roles throughout the country and has performed Madama Butterfly with six opera companies and Mimi in La Boheme with seven opera companies. Companies of note that Barbara has performed with are Atlanta Opera, San Diego Opera, Austin Lyric Opera, Santa Barbara Opera, Opera San Jose and Hawaii Opera Theatre. She received her Master’s degree in vocal performance from the University of Houston and her Bachelor’s degree in vocal performance from The University of Texas at El Paso. Music from her two CDs are currently being featured with author Michael J. Vaughn, in his new novel, Operaville—sold on Amazon.com.

Award-winning Mezzo-Soprano, Lorraine Helvick, has been dazzling audiences in North America and Europe for the past 10 years. She recently finished work on the Oscar nominated film, “Crackers.”

Helvick received her Master's from Westminster Choir College where she studied with the celebrated Sharon Sweet and coached with Daniel Beckwith and JJ Penna. During this time, she won second place in the Hilliard Rankel Vocal Competition. She has performed roles and scenes with Manhattan Opera Repertory Ensemble, and has been asked to perform several times with Northern Westchester Symphony Orchestra.

During her performances in Europe, Helvick earned her Zertifikat in American Spirituals. She has also performed as a guest solo artist in Switzerland, England, Wales and Canada. She is thrilled to be performing in her native New York again as Frugala in Puccini’s Ill Tabarro. She currently studies with the MET’s and HBO’s Boardwalk Empire star, Anthony Laciura.

Tenor Robert Murphy graduated from Manhattan School of Music with a B.M. in 2011. Upon graduation he was an apprentice artist at Sarasota Opera for the winter 2012 and 2013 seasons. This past summer Robert was an apprentice at Central City Opera in Colorado where he covered Count Almaviva in Rossini's The Barber of Seville and sang Joe Crowell in Rorem's Our Town. Robert continues to pursue young artist apprenticeships doing many auditions for upcoming seasons.

Isabella Eredita Johnson, pianist, lives in Northport, and accompanies and teaches piano professionally. She was awarded a scholarship to the Manhattan School of Music where she received both her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees, studying with Constance Keene.

She has won both the George Schick Award for outstanding musicianship and first prize at the Mason and Hamlin Piano Competition. Among her proudest accomplishments are the presentations of the Diabelli Variations and the Goldberg Variations. Each of these two concerts involved the gathering of over 39 pianists, each performing a single variation. Eredita is an active advocate for the arts on Long Island, and is the founder and director of "Opera Night, Long Island."

The Opera Night series is celebrating its tenth year anniversary.