Sarasota Opera toasts to a new season with Food & Wine Festival

The historic Sarasota Opera House provided the backdrop for its annual Food & Wine Festival Sept. 21, where Sarasota and Manatee restaurants served up their finest fare. Supporting the Sarasota Youth Opera, the proceeds are used for education and programming for one of the nation's top youth opera programs.

About 450 tickets were purchased for an afternoon of sampling delicious food, wine, coffee and libations — all carefully chosen and thoughtfully organized by top area restaurateurs. Socializing was the main activity, and the youth opera delighted guests with two performances.

With her attention to even the tiniest of detail, event planner Mary Kenealy and her team were thrilled that the newest level of VIP tickets offered were immediately sold out. Upper-tier tickets include an earlier admission into the event, which was set up on the backstage, giving guests a peek at how enormous the opera house truly is.

"This event is a signature kickoff to our season and introduces people to the opera who might not otherwise know about our youth program," said longtime supporter, Peter Kretzmer. "Opening our doors for a more casual event makes the opera accessible and gives a great sense of what we are all about while supporting our youth."

Under the direction of General Manager Richard Russell, the Sarasota Opera's mission and vision are to produce impassioned opera performances true to the vision of the composer, to entertain, enrich, educate, and inspire a life-long love of opera in our diverse and growing communities.