On Saturday May 21, 2011, all American Hellenic Council members and members of the Southern California Greek-American community had the opportunity to showcase an exceptional performance of Opera arias under the stars in Beverly Hills.

Thanks to the generosity of our host, Corinna Tsopei-Fields, who opened her residence to the Greek-American community, our members and sponsors as well as other attendees enjoyed a wonderful evening of live music, quality Greek wine (donated by Athenee Importers) and socializing in a beautiful setting.

The event was held to thank all the people who are active in the Greek community throughout the year and who have been supportive of our organization as well as to showcase some young artists - members of the community and excel in their areas of expertise, in this particular case opera singing.

The talented artists were compiled by AHC member Christina Alexopoulos, a mezzo-soprano, who after living and performing in New York City, recently returned to her native California. All attendees were impressed by the artistic abilities of the Tenor, Ernest Alvarez as well as the other members of the team, soprano Anna Schubert and pianist William “Billy” Sovich.

The performance featured some of the most famous opera arias such as “La Donna E Mobile” from Rigoletto, “La Habanera” from Carmen and “Con Te Partiro” which is a song made famous in the pop stage by Andrea Bocceli. “It was a live performance in many respects. I loved how the performers mixed with the crowd and became one with the audience instead of the traditional stand-up singing on stage” commented one of the attendees of the performance.

The night opened up by model/actress Patricia Kara who introduced the attendees and thanked the host as well as other members of the producing team including Costas Chronopoulos and AHC Board Member Michael Sarris who was the artistic coordinator for the night.

Capri Laguna Inn

The sold-out event included notable attendees such as the Consul General of Greece in Los Angeles, Ms. Elisabeth Fotiadou, the Honorary Consul General of Cyprus in Los Angeles, Mr. Andreas Kyprianides as well as Father Rev. John Bakas.

After the event, AHC Board Member Michael Sarris, who has had experience organizing several opera events with the LA Opera, commented that “this is the first event in a series of events we are hoping to produce. Our goal with this event was to engage the community in a different level from what we have in the past with the intent deepen and expand our reach while offering something exceptional to all attendees.”

Reporting: Alexander Mizan
Photo credit: Costa Frangos, Patricia Kara, Ariana Savalas