Opera San Luis Obispo, scores of musical artists, and an enthusiastic audience said goodbye to 2025 at the Performing Arts Center SLO on New Year’s Eve.
Between a patriotic opening (the “Star Spangled Banner” conducted by OperaSLO Young Performer Fiona Piazza) and the traditional “Auld Lang Syne” (with everyone joining in), the OperaSLO Grand Orchestra accompanied a host of featured singers in a wide range of old and new music.
From Wagner’s “Ride of the Valkyries”—with eight valkyries!—to selections from Broadway shows such as The Sound of Music, Fiddler on the Roof, and Les Misérables, the “Super Gala” provided something for everyone in attendance to enjoy.
Individual highlights included Dominic Salvati with “Ah! Mes Amis” from Donizetti’s Daughter of the Regiment, Jennifer Freye with “Du bist der Lenz” from Wagner’s Die Walkűre, James Brescia with “My Name Is John Wellington Wells” from Gilbert & Sullivan’s The Sorcerer, Lissette Garrido with Tesori & Scanlan’s “Girl in 14G,” and Kaitrin Cunningham with “Oom-Pah-Pah” from Bart’s Oliver.
The evening provided an opportunity to hear voices representing several local performing groups, including the Cuesta Concord Chorus, Central Coast Gilbert & Sullivan, Canzona, Singing for Hope, the SLO Master Chorale, St. Stephen’s Church, the Cuesta Chamber Choir, Applause Children’s Theater, and OperaSLO’s Young Performers and Chorus.
Conductors Cassandra Tarantino (“Floret Silva” from Orff’s Carmina Burana, among others) and Jennifer Martin (“When the Foeman Bares His Steel” from Gilbert & Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance, among others) added their expert touches to the evening in addition to the leadership provided by OperaSLO’s own general and artistic director, Brian Asher Alhadeff.
My takeaway, and my toast, for 2026: “Here’s to a new year full of opportunities like this for our local performing artists to share their time and talents with all of us.”