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Constance Fee

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It might come as a surprise to some but according to Dr. Ron Bowman, president of the Naples Opera Society (NOS), Islanders love opera! Rest assured this is no empty boast on Bowman’s part. He has the stats to prove it.

“Last year we saw a spike in membership and it was all thanks to Marco Island,” Bowman asserted. “Every time I visit the Island for a lecture or concert, I meet the most interested people. And they are eager for opera!”

Next Tuesday evening at the Norris Center in Naples, Bowman will extol Marco Island once again when NOS welcomes acclaimed soprano Constance Fee for a benefit concert, “A Special Evening of Opera.” Fee is the daughter of Islanders Dr. Neal and Marion Fee and is presently Artist-in-Residence at Roberts Wesleyan College in Rochester, New York, where she serves as vocal program director and assistant professor of vocal performance. All profits of the concert will go toward the NOS Scholarship Program that endows promising young voices with scholarship assistance.

“When I first met Connie at the Opera Naples inaugural ball in 2005, I knew she was a find,” Bowman said. “The accomplishments throughout her extensive operatic career are stellar. The fact that she is now dedicated to developing young talent is what makes her such a perfect guest — it’s the very thing this concert hopes to cultivate: Greater awareness and encouragement of our youth.”

Fee is in total agreement. “To participate in the mission of NOS is a real privilege,” she said. “First of all, it means the opportunity to help raise scholarship funds that will help support talented young singers throughout the Gulf Coast in developing their artistry and skills. I have heard so much from Ron about all the wonderful singers.

“Next, it is such a thrill to be performing this beautiful music in such a wonderful performance space with dear friends and colleagues,” she continued. “And to have family in the audience makes it a special blessing. I spent so many years living and performing out of the country, that to share this evening with them is something I really cannot put into words.

“And lastly, to be able to perform opera scenes with my student, Steven Tompkins, who is on the verge of beginning his own professional performing career, is a very special joy,” Fee concluded.

About Fee

Constance Fee is an internationally acclaimed vocalist with over fifty soprano and mezzo-soprano roles to her credit. Her feature repertoire includes the title roles in Puccini’s Tosca, Rossini’s La Cenerentola, Bizet’s Carmen, Donizetti’s La Favorite and in Strauss’ Der Rosenkavalier, Octavian.

Her international career of 20 years encompassed breathtaking scope — in Paris: with the Opéra National de Paris la Bastille, Opéra Comique, Théâtre du Châtelet, and Théâtre des Champs-Élysées; with the Netherlands Opera in Amsterdam; the New Israeli Opera in Tel Aviv; the Welsh National Opera in Cardiff; the Opéra Royal de Wallonie in Liège, Antwerp and Ghent, Belgium; the Vienna Volksoper; the opera houses of Cologne, Stuttgart, Kassel, and Bremen, Germany; Lucerne, Switzerland; Lyon, Toulouse, and Angers, France; Luxembourg; and in the US with the Houston Grand Opera, the Opera Theatre of St. Louis, the Long Beach Opera, and the Lyric Opera of Kansas City.

On the concert stage, Fee has performed as soloist with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra at the Rudolfinum in Prague; L’Orchestre Symphonique Français at Salle Pleyel in Paris; the Internationale Musikfestwochen in Lucerne; the New York Philharmonic at Lincoln Center; the Saint Louis Symphony, the San Diego Symphony, the Milwaukee Symphony and the Indianapolis Symphony in works including the Verdi Requiem, Mozart Requiem, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, the Poulenc Stabat Mater, Chausson’s Poème de l’amour et de la mer, La damnation de Faust by Berlioz, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 and Missa Solemnis, Mahler’s Kindertotenlieder, and Handel’s Messiah; and in concert with pianist Rudolf Serkin at the Marlboro Music Festival. She has collaborated with conductors Lorin Maazel, Leonard Slatkin, Sir Charles Mackerras, Myung-Whun Chung, Jesus Lopez-Cobos, John Nelson, Nicholas McGegan, Frédéric Chaslin, David Robertson, Sir Alexander Gibson, and the late Robert Shaw; and with stage directors Colin Graham, John Cox, David Alden, Giancarlo del Monaco, Robert Wilson, and Frank Corsaro.

She presently holds the Alumni Merit Award for Distinguished Achievement in Vocal Performance from the Westminster Choir College in Princeton, NJ. In 2000, Miss Fee joined the Music Faculty of Roberts Wesleyan College in Rochester, NY as Artist-in Residence and serves as Assistant Professor of Vocal Performance.

Joining Miss Fee on the NOS stage will be her student, Steven Tompkins, tenor; Dr. Ron Bowman, baritone; and guest pianist Dr. Michael Landrum. Landrum, who performs internationally, holds a doctorate from Temple University and chairs the Department of Piano at Roberts Wesleyan College.

If you go

The Naples Opera Society’s benefit concert, “A Special Evening of Opera,” will be held at 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, at the Norris Center, located at 775 8th Ave. South. Doors open at 7 p.m.) tickets: $15 for NOS members, $20 for general public.

There is limited seating and reservations are advised. For more info, contact Dr. Ron Bowman at 239.598.6110 or visit www.naplesoperasociety.org.