A Metropolitan Opera baritone who grew up in Fort Worth returned home this month to sing Figaro's aria in front of the very community that helped shape his career, as Fort Worth Opera used a benefit dinner to pull back the curtain on its 81st season. Michael Adams performed the showpiece from Gioachino Rossini's The Barber of Seville during the Prima Voce dinner, held September 19 at Ridglea Country Club, where the company previewed the productions and performers audiences will see over the coming months.
The evening was equal parts fundraiser and sneak preview, according to a report from fortworth.culturemap.com, which detailed a night that raised money for Fort Worth Opera's education and community programs while giving donors an early look at the 2026-27 lineup. Guests mingled at a cash-bar cocktail reception and bid on silent auction items that ranged from a dove hunt in Argentina to a five-night stay in Colorado, the outlet reported. General and Artistic Director Angela Turner Wilson said Prima Voce was created to bring guests inside the company's artistic life, according to the same report.
A Season Built Around Homegrown and International Talent
Adams, who the outlet described as a Fort Worth native now singing on the Metropolitan Opera stage, wasn't the only voice on the program. Hattie Mae Lesley Resident Artist Program members and alumni of the company's Marguerite McCammon Voice Competition also presented excerpts from the season's productions, with pianist Charlene Lotz accompanying nearly all of the performers. The McCammon competition itself has deep roots in the organization, established in 1969 as a biennial event that awards $15,000 in prizes to unmanaged opera singers age 21 and older from around the world, according to Focus Daily News.
Among the performers, Noah Mond presented Falstaff's aria from The Merry Wives of Windsor, Rayna Mia Campbell sang an aria from La Rondine, and Cecil Garrison performed a Pagliacci lament, per the CultureMap account. Campbell and Garrison also performed excerpts from Macbeth, described in the coverage as a student-centered exploration of Giuseppe Verdi's adaptation of Shakespeare's tragedy. Lauren Salazar and pianist Stephanie Rhodes Russell offered excerpts from Scalia/Ginsburg, Derrick Wang's courtroom comedy that explores the real-life friendship between Justices Antonin Scalia and Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
The Lineup Ahead, From TCU to Bass Hall
Fort Worth Opera's 81st season opens next month, with Trinidadian soprano Jeanine De Bique set to headline a special concert at TCU on October 29. De Bique brings serious international credentials to the opening: she earned the 2022 Opus Klassik and Edison Klassiek awards for her debut solo album Mirrors, according to her own artist biography posted at jeaninedebique.com.
Scalia/Ginsburg follows on November 13 and 14 at Ridglea Theater, continuing a run of national popularity for the one-act comic opera. The piece premiered in 2015 at the Castleton Festival and was cited by Opera America as one of North America's top five most-produced operas, as reported by the Arizona Daily Star. The season's mainstage finale, The Barber of Seville, arrives at Bass Performance Hall on April 16 and 18, 2027 — a fitting home given the venue's own history. Bass Hall is a 2,056-seat downtown facility built entirely through private philanthropy that opened in 1998, according to Downtown Fort Worth, Inc.
Education Programs Reach Thousands Across North Texas
The fundraising side of Prima Voce underscores how central education work has become to the company's mission. Fort Worth Opera says its education and community engagement programs reach more than 16,000 students, educators, families, and community members across North Texas each year. Those programs include Project: Opera, a school residency initiative that guides students through operatic storytelling, music, and performance by pairing professional teaching artists and Hattie Mae Lesley Resident Artists with high school students, along with the Hattie Mae Lesley Resident Artist Program itself, touring operas for young audiences, masterclasses, and community partnerships. Anthony Pound serves as the company's director of education and community engagement.
That programming sits inside a broader financial push the organization launched roughly a year ago. In September 2025, board chair Katherine Polenz launched Match the Momentum, a multi-year fundraising campaign aimed at bolstering community outreach and digital storytelling ahead of the company's 80th and 81st seasons, according to a statement posted by Fort Worth Opera. The company also expanded its community programming this past July by establishing a dedicated Family Series offering subscriber discounts and specialized family packages aimed at younger audiences, per reporting from The Business Press.
An 81-Year Legacy Behind the Season
Fort Worth Opera enters this season carrying the weight of a long institutional history. Founded in 1946 by Eloise MacDonald Snyder, Betty Berry Spain, and Jeanne Axtell Walker, the company is the oldest continuously operating opera company in Texas and one of the oldest in the United States. Over its eight decades, the organization presented the final operatic stage appearance of soprano Lily Pons in 1962 and hosted multiple early career role debuts for soprano Beverly Sills starting in 1963, milestones the company highlights on its own historical timeline.
Angela Turner Wilson has led the company as General and Artistic Director since December 2022, after serving as chair of TCU's Vocal Arts Division. Wilson's own performance résumé includes singing at a 1998 White House State Dinner and appearances with major companies including New York City Opera and Washington National Opera before she moved into arts administration. That TCU connection extends beyond leadership: Fort Worth Opera maintains an artist partnership with the university's School of Music that integrates TCU Artist Diploma students into resident artist cover and chorus roles on the mainstage, giving graduate-level vocalists professional experience alongside their coursework.
