Longtime Fort Worth Opera patrons know the company has navigated many artistic and administrative stops and starts, zigs and zags in the last decade. But now in its 81st season, under the guidance of general and artistic director Angela Turner Wilson, FWO seems to have found its north star again.

The company presented a sure-footed start to the 2026-27 season at a new Italian-inspired benefit dinner called Prima Voce, which translates to "first voice" (and in this case, a first look). The dinner theater-style evening, September 19 at Ridglea Country Club, not only raised money for FWO's education and community programs, but also served as a preview of its upcoming productions and a peek at the performers and personnel who make them possible.

During a cash-bar cocktail reception, guests could raise an early glass to the season's two biggest titles with themed signature cocktails: The Notorious R.B.G. (vodka, cranberry juice, elderflower liqueur, fresh lemon juice, and Prosecco) and Barber's Bourbon Smash (bourbon, fresh lemon juice, honey syrup, fresh mint, and seasonal berries).

Photo by Nena Photography

Nadeem Kahn, Melissa Kahn

Attendees nibbled passed Caprese skewers and toasted ravioli while browsing and bidding on enticing silent auction items - from a dove hunt in Argentina and a five-night stay in Colorado, to a downtown Fort Worth luxury staycation and a beautiful blown glass vase from SiNaCa Studios.

As the dining room doors opened, guests were serenaded via video by Trinidadian soprano Jeanine De Bique, who will officially open the FWO season in a special concert October 29 at TCU.

"Prima Voce is an evening we created to bring you inside the artistic life of Fort Worth Opera," Wilson said in her welcome remarks from stage. "Celebrating the extraordinary artists on our stages this '26-'27 season ... the emerging artists we are nurturing for tomorrow, and the audiences we are building for the future."

While patrons dined on arugula salad, pan-seared stuffed chicken, and Italian cream cake and mini cannoli, members of the FWO's Hattie Mae Lesley Resident Artist Program and alumni of the biennial Marguerite McCammon Voice Competition presented excerpts from the season's productions. Pianist Dr. Charlene Lotz accompanied nearly all of them.

First up were Lauren Salazar (mezzo-soprano) and maestra Stephanie Rhodes Russell (piano) in excerpts from the North Texas premiere of Derrick Wang’s courtroom comedy Scalia/Ginsburg, taking place at the Ridglea Theater on November 13 and 14. The heartfelt opera explores the unlikely friendship between U.S. Supreme Court Justices Antonin Scalia and Ruth Bader Ginsburg - and the pivotal moment that would shape the Court for years to come.

Mezzo-Soprano Lauren Salazar as Ruth Bader Ginsburg.Photo by Nena Photography

Then came Rayna Mia Campbell (soprano) and Cecil Garrison (tenor) in Macbeth, a student-centered exploration of Giuseppe Verdi’s adaptation of Shakespeare’s tragedy that will be part of FWO's Project: Opera initiative. As FWO director of education and community engagement Anthony Pound explained from stage, Project: Opera is a school residency program that affords professional teaching artists and the Hattie Mae Lesley Resident Artists the chance to collaborate directly with high school students, guiding them through operatic storytelling, music, and performance.

Following an intermission, bass-baritone Noah Mond presented a spirited "Falstaff’s aria" from The Merry Wives of Windsor that saw him hilariously dancing around the room with a bottle of wine in one hand and a glass in the other, nearly stumbling into audience members and making it a crowd participation number.

Soprano Campbell returned for a rousing aria of Puccini's La Rondine, and Garrison presented a stirring Pagliacci lament.

Salazar and Mond teased the biggest and final production of the season, Gioachino Rossini’s comic masterpiece, The Barber of Seville, the only FWO presentation at Bass Performance Hall, on April 16 and 18, 2027. The fast-paced audience favorite brims with buoyant physical comedy, infectious wit, and dazzling vocal fireworks.

Metropolitan Opera baritone and Fort Worth native Michael Adams.Photo by Nena Photography

Wilson announced that she wanted the evening to end on a joyful note. It came in the form of "Figaro's Aria (Largo al factotum)" from The Barber of Seville, sung with terrific timing, tremendous technique, and tongue-twisting theatricality by Metropolitan Opera baritone and Fort Worth native Michael Adams.

Among those enjoying the performances in the audience were FWO friends and supporters including Nadeem Kahn, Melissa Kahn, Michael Wilson, Jessica Turner Waugh, Jeffrey Waugh, Austin Madrigale, Haley Pogotis, Abby Cuccia, Ashley Lynn Bracken, Nate Woods, Jr., Page Carol Woods, Mary Russell, Katherine Polenz, Connie Beck, Frank W. Tilly, Ryan Lathan, Stan Tucker-McDermott, Carla Fay White, Michael Tucker-McDermott, Kristen Queen, James Rodriguez, Eric Laine, Amy Hardison Tully, Mitchell Manlapig, Corey Trahan, Lincoln Chin, Patricia Chin, Adele Reeder Hollander, Drew Brigati, Catherine Kethley, Jen Appleman, Louise Appleman, Nikki Slobodin, Emily Paslay, and Henley Paslay, Airin J. Barnett, Aiyanna Anderson, Daphne Hull, Kristin Vinson Wright, and many more.

The marvelous musical evening raised funds to support Fort Worth Opera’s Education & Community Engagement programs, which, the company says, reach more than 16,000 students, educators, families, and community members across North Texas each year through initiatives including Project: Opera, the Hattie Mae Lesley Resident Artist Program, touring operas for young audiences, masterclasses, and community partnerships.