LAKEPORT – Four members of the prestigious San Francisco Opera scene will make an appearance in Lake County in a program entitled “Opera to Pops – With a Latin Flavor” on Sunday, March 8, at 3 p.m. at Lakeport's Soper-Reese theater.

The concert is sponsored by Clear Lake Performing Arts.

Originator of the event is native son William “Bill” Pickersgill who was raised in Lake County and graduated from Clear Lake High School before embarking upon a musical career that led him to a tenured position as a baritone and bass with the San Francisco Opera Chorus.

In the interim he studied and performed in Austria, Germany and New York. He has appeared in a number of CLPA operatic concerts over the past two decades which has resulted in a substantial local following.

Pickersgill will be accompanied by tenor Jimmy Kansau and soprano Amy Giovannetti as well as pianist Cesar Cancino.

The "Latin Flavor" starts with Mr. Kansau who is a native of Venezuela and has sung leading roles in numerous U.S. venues, as well as in Europe where he appeared as a guest artist for the Internazionale Institutto d'opera di Roma.

Since settling in the Bay Area he has sung with the San Francisco Opera Guild, Napa's Jarvis Conservatory, the Livermore Valley Opera and also appeared with the Santa Cruz Symphony.

Soprano Amy Giovannetti studied music at Millersville University in Pennsylvania and participated in student programs in Salzburg and Graz in Austria.

After graduation she continued her solo work in the Philadelphia area before moving to California where she began performing with several opera companies, including the Livermore Valley Opera, the Townsend Opera in Modesto, the San Francisco Pocket Opera and Opera Fresca in Mendocino.

"Opera to Pops" will be the last Soper-Reese program before the facility closes for additional improvements. It is, however, a perfect venue for the kind of "up close and personal" performances presented by Pickersgill and friends.

The singers will be supported by an artist with an extensive musical background; Cesar Cancino has been a solo pianist, musical director and conductor since his graduation from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and has accompanied such noted musicians as Joan Baez, Liliane Montevecchi, Thelma Houston and many others in performances throughout North America, Europe and Australia.

Tickets for the March 8 performance may be obtained in advance from "Wild About Books" on Olympic Drive in Clearlake, Catfish Books in the Willow Tree Plaza in Lakeport, the box office of the Soper-Reese or at the Main Street Gallery of the Lake County Arts Council in downtown Lakeport.

All tickets will be $15. For further information call 279-0877.

{mos_sb_discuss:2}