A Valentine’s Event

Sunday | February 15, 2025

Don't miss Opera Orlando's annual Valentine's event at the home of Audrey & John Ruggieri with lunch served at 1 p.m. and musical program at 2 p.m. (desserts to follow). This year's concert features HBO star and renowned soprano Sarah Joy Miller, internationally acclaimed tenor from Il Divo David Miller alongside Opera Orlando’s own Gabriel Preisser with violinist Andreas Volmer and pianist Nathan Cicero presenting selections from Verdi’s La traviata.

 This event is completely and graciously underwritten by Audrey and John Ruggieri. 100% of your ticket price goes as a contribution to Opera Orlando. Many thanks to Audrey and John!

Sarah Joy Miller, praised by The New York Times as “vivacious and fearless” is widely acknowledged as one of the industry’s foremost emerging talents. Ms. Miller first began turning heads at her New York City Opera and BAM débuts to great critical acclaim singing the title role of Anna Nicole Smith in the Royal Opera House commissioned opera Anna Nicole by Mark-Anthony Turnage. Recently, Ms. Miller returned to The Metropolitan Opera for their production of Orfeo et Eurydice and performed the title role of Thaïs for the Maryland Lyric Opera. 2020 engagements were to include performing the role of Violetta in La traviata with Inland Northwest Opera and Carmina Burana with New Choral Society.

Operatic highlights include her début at Michigan Opera Theater singing Gilda in Rigoletto, with subsequent returns as Leïla Les pêcheurs de perles, a role début as Marguerite in Faust, and Roxanne in David DiChiera and Bernard Uzan’s Cyrano; Musetta in La bohème at New York’s Symphony Space; Micaëla in Carmen with New York Lyric Opera; Mabel in The Pirates of Penzance and Violetta in La traviata with Palm Beach Opera; and Juliette in Roméo et Juliette at Opera Grand Rapids, Opera Carolina, Opera Tampa, and Lyric Opera Baltimore. Additionally, Ms. Miller joined the esteemed roster of The Metropolitan Opera for their productions of Rigoletto, Thaïs, L’elisir d’amore, Gianni Schicchi, and Adriana Lecouvreur in which she performed the role of Mlle. Jouvenot in her mainstage début.

Ms. Miller is frequently a guest artist on domestic and international concert stages including the Bolshoi Theater; Slovak Sinfonietta; the Chicagoland Pops Orchestra; the New York Choral Society; the Marcello Giordani Foundation; the Sergio Franchi Music Foundation; in Verona, Italy in collaboration with the Veronalirica Associazione; and is a frequent soloist with the St. Bart’s Music Festival. Concert engagements include performances of Carmina Burana with Dallas Symphony Orchestra; a “Puccini to Pop” concert with Tulsa Opera; Eternal Light: A Requiem with Distinguished Concerts International New York; and selections from Faust at St. Bart’s Music Festival. An advocate of bridging the gap between opera and musical theatre, Ms. Miller made her professional operatic début singing Mimì in Baz Luhrmann’s acclaimed Broadway production of Puccini’s La bohème and went on to reprise the role at the Ahmanson Theater in Los Angeles.

Ms. Miller’s musical collaborations and accomplishments reach well beyond the traditional scope of opera. Signed to Decca Records as part of the trio Three Graces, Ms. Miller recorded an album featuring contributions by the finest producers and songwriters in the pop music industry including Walter Afanasieff (Mariah Carey, Celine Dion), Desmond Child (Bon Jovi, Ricky Martin) and Guy Roche (Christina Aguilera, Michael Bolton). She co-wrote two of the album’s original tracks – “I Wish” and “Don't Let Me Forget” and recorded a Music video of “Requiem” for Panasonic.

David Miller is one of the most recognized and successful young American singers in the world, fueled by his fame as an acclaimed tenor in Il Divo, the international operatic pop group created by pop impresario Simon Cowell. The quartet's multiplatinum albums have launched him into international superstardom and allowed him to once again showcase his smooth operatic tenor voice. Previously, Miller has worked with some the top opera companies in the world through numerous starring roles with the Los Angeles Opera, Pacific Opera, Australian Opera and Baz Luhrmann's Tony-award winning Broadway version of Puccini's La Boheme. He performed for President Bill Clinton at the White House; TV appearances include The Oprah Winfrey Show, Late Night with David Letterman and The Today Show. The concert combines Miller's stellar vocals with the award-winning instrumentals of the Chicagoland Pops Orchestra.

Mr. Miller has also performed with the Flemish Opera as Cassio in Otello and also debuted in Trieste with Manon under Daniel Oren. In the United States he sang his first Hoffmann in The Tales of Hoffmann in Hartford, Connecticut and appeared in the role of Percy in Donizetti's Anna Bolena in Pittsburgh with John Mauceri on the podium. Other roles in Pittsburgh have included the Duke in Rigoletto, Alfredo in La traviata, and Romeo in Roméo et Juliette.

David Miller received his Master's Degree in Opera Theatre and a Bachelor of Music degree from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. Miller was a member of the Pittsburgh Opera Center, and he first came to attention after his highly acclaimed Washington Opera debut in March 1997 as Alfredo in La traviata.

Pianist Nathan Cicero is an energetic and engaging performer, who thrives on working collaboratively with other musicians.  As a pianist, conductor, coach, and educator, he is known for his down-to-earth, congenial style, and pursuit of unique and nuanced musical experiences.  

Most recently, Nathan returned to Opera Saratoga, serving as world premiere music director and pianist for Clarice Assad’s opera The Selfish Giant.  Additionally, he has served on music staff for productions with Gulfshore Opera, Pensacola Opera, Sarasota Opera, and Chicago Summer Opera. Formerly a resident of Minnesota, he has collaborated with many Twin Cities arts organizations, including Skylark Opera Theatre, St. Croix Valley Opera, The Schubert Club, and the Source Song Festival.

Nathan holds a Master of Music degree in Vocal Accompanying from the Peabody Conservatory, where he studied with Eileen Cornett. A native of Wisconsin, Nathan earned his Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Wisconsin- Eau Claire.

Andreas Volmer moved from Germany to Orlando in 2013. His passion is chamber music: Back in Germany, he played first violin in a string quartet that performed on a regular basis, covering a repertoire from Haydn and Mozart to Debussy, Bartok, and Shostakovich. With his quartet ensemble, he took part in several chamber music master classes with members of the LaSalle Quartet, Buchberger Quartet, Carmina Quartet, and Auryn Quartet, in Germany, Austria and Italy. In Orlando, he made his public debut as a chamber musician with a piano trio recital at the Timucua Arts Foundation in the summer of 2017. He is a core member of the Alterity Chamber Orchestra, founding member of the Fernwood Quartet, is regularly performing with the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra, and has performed in multiple projects with Opera Orlando and Orlando Ballet.