Fernando Varela will keep the legacy of Oscar Feliu alive when he replaces the late, beloved Villages singer in the “Three Tenors Plus One” fundraiser for the Opera Club of The Villages.
It will be held at the Sharon L. Morse Performing Arts Center on Feb. 5. Tickets go on sale Dec. 5 at Villages Box Offices.
Also, the Opera Club will announce tonight a music award in honor of Feliu, who died unexpectedly, Nov. 9, while on a hunting and fishing trip in Friendship, N.Y.
“In honor of Oscar, we will award a $3,000 prize annually to a graduating senior of the Villages High School, who intends to study music,” said Gerri Piscitelli, president of the Opera Club. Varela, currently on a European tour and expected to soon release an album, is a rising international star
The Opera Club was scheduled to present a performance of Mozart’s “The Impresario” at Thursday night in the Eisenhower Recreation Center and a tribute to Feliu will be held before it begins.
“The meeting will start with a moment of silence for Oscar, then Theo Tyrell will sing the Ave Maria,” Piscitelli said. “Angelo Pierro, a longtime friend of Oscar, will share some of the good times they had when The Villages was taking shape.”
Feliu appeared last February, at St. Timothy’s Church. Laurie Arnold was the “Plus One,” joining Oscar, Devin Eatmon, and Si Young Chang. Maestro Bill Doherty accompanied on piano. Below is a video of Feliu singing with Arnold on “The Prayer.”
“We had the performance videotaped, since it was the 20th Anniversary of the Opera Club,” Piscitelli said. “Oscar meant so much to arts and music in The Villages. He was everything.”
Feliu was proud of performing in “The Three Tenors…” to raise funds for the Opera Club’s Harold S. Schwartz Music Scholarship Program. Over the years, Feliu helped raise more than $200,000 for the program. He was also a founder of the Opera Club.
Feliu was the only performer to sing at every “Three Tenors…” benefit in the Opera Club’s history.
“I want to thank you for your support for opera in the Villages and helping with the scholarships,” Feliu said at the February 2015 concert. “Because of your support, we can help send, young talented people to school.”
In addition to Varela, this February’s “Three Tenors Plus One” will feature: tenors Davide La Verde, from Milan, Fabio Valenti, from Bergamo, Italy, with Renee Lawless, of television and Broadway, as the Plus One, Piscitelli said.
She added Maestro Bill Doherty, a close friend of Feliu and head of the Central Florida Lyric Opera Company, will accompany on his Concert Grand Piano, now permanently on the stage of the Sharon.
Tonight’s Central Florida Lyric Opera performance of a“The Impresario,” will feature Elise Curran, Samantha Geraci-Yee, Theo Tyrell, Sam Reynolds and Andrew Struhar. It is directed by Elise Curran and will be sung in English.
