By A Treasure Coast essay by Paul Janensch
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wqcs/local-wqcs-947488.mp3
Fort Pierce, FL – Treasure Coast opera lovers will have an opportunity to see and hear a world-renowned soprano who is a part-time resident of Vero Beach. She is Deborah Voigt, whose latest role is in Puccini's "Girl of the Golden West" at both the Met in New York and the Lyric Opera in Chicago. Soon she will perform for Vero Beach Opera. More on that shortly. Voigt has a close connection with Vero. In a program supported by the Deborah Voigt/Vero Beach Opera Foundation, she mentors a young soprano for a year. That Voigt has a condo in Vero Beach is public knowledge, but details about her life in Vero are unavailable because she and her friends with Vero Beach Opera don't want her privacy invaded. However, Voigt has spoken freely about being dismissed from a leading operatic role because she could not fit into a costume. She underwent gastric bypass surgery and lost more than 100 pounds. Voigt and tenor Marcello Giordani will perform in concert at 7 p.m. Wednesday, February 2nd, at the Vero Beach High School Performing Arts Center. Each will conduct a public master class in the days before that. For more information, go to verobeachopera.org. Fortunately, the trimmed-down diva still has a big voice. For 88.9 FM, this is Paul Janensch.
Treasure Coast essayist Paul Janensch was a newspaper editor and taught journalism at Quinnipiac University in Connecticut.