Get to Know the Sarasota Opera: Michael Sakir

Michael Sakir is the assistant conductor that will be helping to bring both Otello and Carmen to life this season at the Sarasota Opera House. Sakir is a dynamic and innovative musician whose collaborations with living composers have yielded pieces that challenge conceptions and conventions about age and contemporary relevance in classical music.

Dining Diva: Where are you from?

Michael Sakir: North Bay, Santa Rosa.

DD: What is your favorite food from home?

MS: I love adventurous California cuisine and places that use local ingredients. I am half Lebanese so I am also partial to Middle Eastern cuisine.

DD: Did you always want to be a musician?

MS: Yes, I always knew that I wanted to be a conductor and I have been playing the piano since I was eight years old.

DD: What are your favorite places in Sarasota?

MS: I love the pizza at Epicure.

DD: Where would you like to travel that you have not been?

MS: Florence and Rome.

DD: What would you do if you were not a conductor?

MS: I would be a chef. I love to cook. I think it’s great that Marcella Hazan (famous Italian chef, teacher and author) retired to Longboat Key and ended up writing another cookbook. 

DD: What kind of music do you like to listen to other than opera?

MS: To be honest, when I am not working I cherish the silence. I use cooking and yoga as meditation.