Kaitlyn McMonigle understands the importance of the Harold S. Schwartz Scholarship for aspiring opera singers.
She earned the honor in 2010.
“I know what this scholarship means because it helped me pursue my dreams,” McMonigle said during her last visit in The Villages. “It’s good to give something back to the Opera Club.”
McMonigle will do just that on Saturday at 3 and 7 p.m. in the Sharon L. Morse Performing Arts Center. She will appear in a benefit for the scholarship program sponsored by the Opera Club of The Villages.
The annual concert is called “Three Tenors Plus One” and also features Maestro Bill Doherty, Todd Wilander, and Marcel d’Entremont.
The Opera Club, pioneered by the late Oscar Feliu, has raised $380,000 dollars in scholarship money.
“We want to help as many young people as we can,” said Gerri Piscitelli, president of the Opera Club. “These young people have a special gift, and we will always be there for them.”
McMonigle, a mezzo soprano, has completed her Master of Music in Vocal Performance from Indiana University. She has an undergraduate degree from Florida State University, and has appeared in stage productions throughout the country.
Marcel d’Entremont comes from Nova Scotia, Canada. The tenor, in his mid-20s, has a Masters Degree from the University of Toronto. He placed first in the National Music Festival of Canada competition in 2014, and has performed on stages throughout Canada.
He made his international debut a couple of years ago at the famed Palace of Versailles in France.
Todd Wilander won the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and has earned critical praise as one of this country’s most talented young tenors.
The Opera News wrote of his “clear and sweet lyrical tone,” while the New York Times described one performance as a, “brave (and) vocally assured portrayal.”
Maestro Bill Doherty is known as a pianist, conductor and composer. Doherty has also mastered the art of singing and will once again lend his tenor vocals for an Opera Club benefit.
Doherty, a major musical force in The Villages, is head of the Central Florida Lyric Opera and also the St. Timothy Catholic Church Choir.
