Savannah’s newest musical experience is still weeks away from a first performance, yet it has already generated more attention than organizers had dared to expect.
“The eyes of the opera world are on Savannah,” Maria Zouves told the July meeting of the Tourism Leadership Council at the Savannah International Trade and Convention Center Thursday.
The Savannah Voice Festival is set for Aug. 3-17 at several venues in Savannah and across the river on Hutchinson Island. The festival — a combination of educational programs, shows and concerts — will be crafted by VOICExerience, a program founded by Zouves and her husband, opera legend Sherrill Milnes.
At the urging of the TLC’s Michael Owens, the Westin Savannah Harbor’s Mark Spadoni and Joe Marinelli of Visit Savannah, the couple decided to bring their unique program to Savannah.
“I had the opportunity last year to see the VOICExperience program in Orlando, where it has been for more than a decade,” Owens said. “I knew right away that it would be the perfect fit here.
“We needed something like this in Savannah.”
Together, Owens, Spadoni and Marinelli convinced Zouves — a soprano who made her Carnegie Hall debut in 1997 — and Milnes to create a program of opera, musical theatre, master classes and workshops here every August.
The Savannah VOICExperience will feature world class talent and programs, Owens said, filling a cultural niche in the area and attracting high-end visitors to town at a time when the tourism market traditionally slows down.
“In addition to offering Savannahians something we have not had, this festival will bring in a great market segment of affluent visitors who will stay longer and spend more,” he said.
“This is already producing a lot of buzz, and I expect it will get bigger and better known every year.”
Zouves, the festival’s executive director, said the program will kick off Aug. 3 at the Westin Savannah Harbor with “Death, by Aria” featuring more than 50 singers, each performing a short aria.
“We’ll split it into two segments, but it still will be hours of arias,” she said, laughing. “That’s where the ‘death’ part comes in.”
Performers will range from talented young newcomers to seasoned professionals.
The festival will wrap up Aug. 17 with “A Grand Night for Singing” at Christ Church on Johnson Square.
In between, locals and visitors alike will be treated to a musical game show, master classes, Puccini’s “La Boheme” performed with the Savannah Philharmonic, a teen workshop and showcase, an evening of sacred music and an American Music Concert.
To ensure the younger generation is well represented during the festival, Zouves and company have enrolled a group of seven Savannah 11th- and 12th-graders in Team VOICE.
In addition to performing, the musicians and singers will act as ambassadors not only by hosting guest artists and assisting audiences during the festival but also through spreading the word about festival events through social media.
Members of the team are: David Deng, Tessa Morris, Liana Mosley, Katherine and Helen Savidge and Rachel Zettler from the Savannah Arts Academy and Regan Bowers from Savannah Country Day.
“We’re going to bring opera to Savannah,” Zouves told the tourism group. “We hope you’ll be there listening and encourage others to do the same.”