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SAVANNAH VOICE FESTIVAL ANNOUNCE THE PRODUCTION OF “FEAST”, ALONG WITH FREE MASTERCLASSES AS PART OF THE NINTH SEASON

SAVANNAH, GA. – July 28, 2021 – The Savannah VOICE Festival’s (SVF) and VOICExperience are slated to offer several educational and outreach initiatives to the Savannah Community as part of its 2021 LIVE Season IX.

At the ninth season of the Savannah VOICE Festival, participants can look forward to attending festival staples “LIVE” and in-person. SVF Co-Founder/Artistic Director Sherrill Milnes and SVF Co-Founder/Executive Director Maria Zouves look to bring back live performances and experiences for the organization’s educational and outreach programs, while keeping participates safe and socially distanced. The Savannah VOICE Festival will include 18 LIVE events scheduled for Aug. 8-22, 2021.

“We are more than thankful for the 8th season of the Savannah VOICE Festival and the efforts the Sherrill and Maria took to keeping our performers and participants safe and at home,” said SVF and VOICExperience’s education and outreach coordinator, Chad Sonka. “Our students and composers have worked tirelessly for almost two years to be able to perform for a live, and socially distanced, audience.”

As part of its mission to serve the community, Savannah VOICE Festival and its sister organization, the VOICExperience Foundation, offer three free Master Classes throughout the first two weeks of the festival. Look forward to a LIVE educational incentive taught by Opera Assistant Conductor and VOICE Faculty member Howard Watkins, Opera Director Fabrizio Melano & Psychotherapist Laura Melano Flanagan, and SVF’s Artistic Director and legendary operatic baritone, Sherill Milnes.Outreach and educational events in schools, retirement homes and for local charities, free teen workshops and masterclasses are always offered at SVF for area artists and partnerships with local arts organizations have always been a vital part of their mission to serve the community.

The Savannah VOICE Festival and VOICExperience’s most imaginative, educational initiatives of last year finally will be presented LIVE! Michael Ching, SVF’s composer in residents commissioned to compose an original opera, “FEAST” for our “Stay-At-Home” Season 8 festival. Both the synopsis and plot for this opera were conceived by students of Esther F. Garrison School of Visual and Performing Arts and Windsor Forest High School. Over the summer of 2020, Sonka and Ching facilitated Zoom workshops with students to create and write some of the music and textual material for the 2020 production of “A Royal Feast”. Continuing to work with them throughout the school year to prepare for the LIVE production of this years performance, “FEAST”. “FEAST” tells the story of what happens to Cinderella in after her wedding to Prince Charming. This sequel to Rossini’s “La Cenerentola” is a magical event with a special message for the whole family.

For more information about SVF, Educational and Outreach Initiatives or VOICE-a-Grams, please visit www.savannahvoicefestival.org.

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Savannah VOICE Festival is a 501(c) 3 tax exempt nonprofit arts organization in the state of Georgia. The Festival brings classical vocal excellence to the Savannah area through a two-week celebration of concerts, events and educational presentations during the month of August and throughout the year. Focusing on arts awareness and audience development in the performing arts, it offers music from opera, musical theatre and popular song. Donations are tax-deductible.

VOICExperience Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization whose mission is to pass on the traditions of great singing and develop new audiences for opera. Under the umbrella of The Sherrill Milnes VOICE Programs, VOICExperience continues its dedication to the quality, integrity and perpetuation of the vocal arts through life-changing intensives, performances, and community-enriching outreach events in New York, Georgia (with its sister organization, the Savannah VOICE Festival), Florida and Illinois. For more information, please visit www.VOICExperienceFoundation.org.

The Savannah VOICE Festival is supported in part by the Georgia Council for the Arts through the appropriations from the Georgia General Assembly. GCA is a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts.

For media inquiries, please contact Kristyn Fielding at 229-393-6457 or kristyn@lesleyfrancispr.com, Lesley Francis at 912-429-3950 or lesley@lesleyfrancispr.com, or the team at 912-417-LFPR (5377.