arts & entertainment

Individually, they are international opera singers. Together, Mary Anne Kruger and Amy Cofield are the Space Coast Divas. On Sunday, January 21 at 7:00 PM, they will perform arias and duets from some of Hollywood’s biggest films, in a free concert presented by the Space Coast Symphony Orchestra at First Presbyterian Church of Vero Beach, 520 Royal Palm Boulevard, 32960. 

Hollywood Loves Opera will feature the works of Puccini, Verdi, Bizet, Mozart, Wagner and other master composers of the form. Sopranos Kruger and Cofield will perform a range of works during Hollywood Loves Opera, many in the bel canto (beautiful singing) style born out of the eighteenth-century Italian opera and particularly suited for sopranos. The evocative music from such films as Shawshank Redemption, Pretty Woman, The Fifth Element, Driving Miss Daisy, Philadelphia, Room With a View and many more will be expressed through the soaring voices of the Space Coast Divas. Jean Black will provide piano accompaniment. Ms. Kruger has spent most of her career in Europe singing over 40 roles such as Madama Butterfly and Salome. Ms. Cofield has likewise performed in the U.S., Europe and Asia, often being sought for Violetta, the lead role in Verdi’s La Traviata. While the concert is free, a $25 donation is suggested. For more information about Hollywood Loves Opera, call toll free to 855-252-7276 or visit SpaceCoastSymphony.org.   

The character “Red” (Morgan Freeman) from the film, The Shawshank Redemption (1994), describes “The Letter Duet” from The Marriage of Figaro being broadcast into the prison yard.

           “I have no idea to this day what those two Italian ladies were singing about. Truth is, I don’t want to know. Some things are best left unsaid. I like to think they were singing about something so beautiful it can’t be expressed in words and makes your heart ache because of it. I tell you, those voices soared higher and farther than anybody in a gray place dares to dream. It was like some beautiful bird flapped into our drab little cage and made those walls dissolve away. And for the briefest of moments, every last man in Shawshank felt free.”

Space Coast Symphony Orchestra Conductor and Artistic Director, Aaron T. Collins knows Hollywood Loves Opera will showcase opera in a way that is accessible for both newcomers and lovers of the form. The program will include songs by history’s most beloved opera composers and from Hollywood’s most famous films.

“The truth is that Hollywood loves the beauty, drama and intensity of opera– and has used it for emotional impact almost as long as film has had sound,” said Collins. This concert by the Space Coast Divas is filled to the brim with the music of deep human emotions. Prepare to be wowed. Every time we have presented them in concert, Amy Cofield and Mary Anne Kruger have mesmerized the audience.”  

Concertgoers aged 18 and under or with a college ID are admitted free to every SCSO concert. For more information about the Space Coast Symphony 2023-24 season or the Symphony for Everyone ticket program, visit SpaceCoastSymphony.org or call toll-free (855) 252-7276.

ABOUT THE SINGERS — American soprano Mary Anne Kruger graduated with a Master of Music degree from Indiana University where she studied voice with world-renowned voice teacher Margaret Harshaw. She then went to Germany where she established an impressive repertoire of over 40 major operatic and concert roles.  Her repertoire spans in vocal range from Pamina (Die Zauberflöte) to Salome, and in stylistic range from Poppea (L’Incornazione di Poppea) to Anne Trulove (The Rake’s Progress), as well as some world and German premieres. Among innumerable accolades, Opernwelt called her Contessa (“Le Nozze di Figaro”) “dazzling”, and Orfeus International declared her Salome to be “worthy of the greatest houses.” She built her repertoire primarily as a member of the Hessisches Staatstheater Darmstadt, but she has performed in over 20 European theaters.

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Soprano, Amy Cofield, has performed to critical acclaim across the U.S. and in Italy, France, Croatia, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, Austria, England, Santo Domingo, Guam, Taiwan and Japan. Highly regarded for her technical facility, beauty of interpretation and an arresting presence, her operatic roles have included Minnie (Girl of the Golden West), Violetta, Cleopatra, Credits include performances with Houston Grand Opera where she covered Renee Fleming’s Traviata, New York City Opera, Fort Worth Opera, Lyric Opera San Antonio, Pro Cantus Lyric Opera (TX), Indiana Opera North, Annapolis Chamber Orchestra and Chorale, Teatro Lirico D’Europa, Knoxville Opera, Nevada Opera, Greensboro Light Opera, Opera Roanoke and Opera Orlando.

In concert repertoire, Ms. Cofield has appeared with Festival Chamber Music in recital at Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall and with The Masterwork Chorus (NJ) at Carnegie Hall, the U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis Chorale and Chamber Orchestra, Tucson Masterworks Chorale, Southern Nevada Musical Arts Society, Garden State Philharmonic, Fort Wayne Philharmonic, Virginia Symphony, Virginia Arts Festival, Norfolk Chamber Consort, Opera Camerata of Washington, Washington and Lee University, Tulsa Symphony, Roanoke Symphony Orchestra, Brevard Symphony Orchestra and Space Coast Symphony Orchestra.

Amy’s recent performances included solos with Space Coast Symphony Orchestra for Handel’s Messiah, Brevard Symphony Orchestra for their Sounds of the Season annual holiday concert, Roanoke Symphony Orchestra for Mozart’s Requiem, Opera Roanoke for Verdi’s Requiem, Annapolis Chorale and Chamber Orchestra for Brahms’ Requiem.

ABOUT THE SPACE COAST SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA— The SCSO is a lively and passionate Central Florida orchestra comprised of professional musicians, music educators and mentored amateurs of exceptional ability. The Orchestra was formed by Conductor and Artistic Director Aaron T. Collins with a two-fold mission: to provide mentoring and performance opportunities for Florida’s finest young musicians as well as to provide professional concerts at genuinely affordable prices. The ultimate goal of the organization is to help ensure the symphonic tradition for the enjoyment of future generations.

Aaron T. Collins is garnering recognition for his achievements. LEAD Brevard named the ambitious Collins one of their “4 under 40” Young Professionals, the youngest-ever recipient of the honor.   Collins is a past recipient of the Richard A. Stark Award for cultural leadership from the Cultural Council of Indian River County and was dubbed “the electric conductor” in a 2024 profile by Vero Beach magazine. 

School-aged children 18 years and under are admitted free of charge, as are college students with a valid ID.  In keeping with their mission, the symphony provides a unique Symphony for Everyone ticketing program, a “pay-what-you-can” option designed to provide substantially discounted admission to any Space Coast Symphony concert. Relying on a non-traditional orchestra model and a slim budget, the Space Coast Symphony Orchestra is one of only a handful of U.S. orchestras to perform year-round. The nonprofit organization also maintains the Space Coast Symphony JAZZ Orchestra and the Space Coast Symphony Wind Orchestra, with several free performances each year. More information about the Space Coast Symphony Orchestra’s upcoming concerts, ticket sales, venues, directions and sponsorship opportunities is available at SpaceCoastSymphony.org by calling toll free (855) 252-7276.