{"id":253100,"date":"2026-04-30T22:32:32","date_gmt":"2026-04-30T22:32:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/253100\/"},"modified":"2026-04-30T22:32:32","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T22:32:32","slug":"fgo-joins-opera-and-pro-sports-in-a-miami-crossover","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/253100\/","title":{"rendered":"FGO joins opera and pro sports in a Miami crossover"},"content":{"rendered":"

Opera lives in formal concert halls steeped in centuries old repertoire, while sports thrives on stadium noise, locker room, and competitive intensity.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, May 6, at the Adrienne Arsht Center in Miami, the two worlds will share a stage.<\/p>\n

Florida Grand Opera is partnering with AllStar Encore, a project founded by former baseball player, attorney, and opera singer Adam Unger, for a one-night performance that brings together opera tenor Jonathan Tetelman, former New York Yankee and guitarist Bernie Williams, music icon Willy Chirino, and the Pro Players Group, NFL alumni who traded the locker room for the vocal arena.<\/p>\n

Miami audiences will see an extension of what Williams and Tetelman performed together at Carnegie Hall in Ungar\u2019s AllStar Encore this past January. The tested pairing will now be expanded for a Miami audience, blending operatic arias with Williams\u2019 own compositions and guitar work.<\/p>\n

The Williams-Teteleman performance is expected to hew closely to the Carnegie Hall selections which include Williams backing up Tetelman on the aria \u201cE lucevan le stelle,\u201d from Giacomo Puccini\u2019s opera \u201cTosca,\u201d along with \u201cLa donna \u00e8 mobile,\u201d from Guiseppi Verdi\u2019s \u201cRigoletto.\u201d<\/p>\n

Williams, who played 16 seasons with the New York Yankees before turning fully toward music, has built a second career as a guitarist and composer. For him, the connection between disciplines is less surprising than it might appear.<\/p>\n

\"The The Pro Players Group members have traded their jerseys for the microphone. From left to right, standing Nathan Palmer, Cam Newton, Keshun Freeman, Olrick Johnson, Bryan Scott. Seated are Demarcus Williams and Stephen Pierce. (Photo by Skyler Pierce, courtesy of FGO) <\/p>\n

He learned guitar at 8 years old, attending a performing arts high school in his native Puerto Rico before pursuing baseball. Once retired his efforts focused on serious guitar work, study and performance. He earned a bachelor\u2019s of music degree in 2016 from the Manhattan School of Music. \u201cI always thought of music as an integral part of my life,\u201d he says, noting a step-by-step progression into performance. \u201cIt just happened organically.\u201d Williams composes original works, and his 2009 contemporary jazz album \u201cMoving Forward\u201d was nominated for a Latin Grammy.\u201d<\/p>\n

When approached by Unger to partner with tenor Tetelman, Williams was in. \u201cI thought it was a great opportunity,\u201d he says. This, despite not intimately knowing the opera repertoire, though his studies gave him a classical music grounding.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have the same attitude about both disciplines,\u201d Williams says. The focus must be on hard work, practice, learning the fundamentals and doing the work.<\/p>\n

Unger also discovered another partnership based in like mindedness with Maria Todaro, general director of Florida Grand Opera.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was the first person in opera who really believed in my idea,\u201d says Ungar, who has been pondering for a decade about matching musically inclined athletes with vocal artists. With Todaro\u2019s enthusiasm and input the idea crystalized. \u201cNow a serious opera company wanted to do it,\u201d Unger says.<\/p>\n

Todaro believes the mix of sports and opera makes sense.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not a very different language,\u201d just a different expression. And both unite people, she says. \u201cWe have a similar mission of communication.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Maria Maria Todaro, Florida Grand Opera General Director, has been at the helm of the organization since 2023. (Photo by Lewis Valdes, courtesy of FGO) <\/p>\n

For Opera & AllStars, Todaro said she seized the chance to build wellness initiatives into the artistic foundation. \u201cThere is a second, deeper layer.\u201d<\/p>\n

The other draw of the night, is the Pro Players Group, an inspirational choir of former NFL players who perform gospel, soul, Pop, and R&B. They launched in 2024.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt happened organically, the guys collectively started the group,\u201d says Cam Newton, best known as a safety with the Atlanta Falcons and the Carolina Panthers, and a co-founder of Pro Players. \u201cIt is not unheard of for players \u2013 many of whom grew up in the church \u2013 to sing in the locker room.\u201d<\/p>\n

Co-founder Olrick Johnson, a former linebacker with the New York Jets and New England Patriots, says \u201cour main thing is to let people know you can have more than one gift.\u201d<\/p>\n

Todaro hopes those who have never been to the opera come away enthused, comparing it to when someone first tastes an unfamiliar dish. \u201cJust have a little bite,\u201d she said. \u201cThen have another.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you go:<\/p>\n

WHAT: Opera & AllStars<\/p>\n

WHEN: 8 p.m. Wednesday, May 6<\/p>\n

WHERE: Knight Concert Hall at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, 1300 Biscayne Blvd., Miami<\/p>\n

COST: $135, $120, $95, $75, $50 and $25<\/p>\n

INFORMATION: (800) 741-1010 or https:\/\/fgo.org\/season25-26\/opera-and-all-stars\/<\/a><\/p>\n

ArtburstMiami.com is a nonprofit media source for the arts featuring fresh and original stories by writers dedicated to theater, dance, visual arts, film, music, and more. Don\u2019t miss a story at www.artburstmiami.com.<\/p>\n


\n \"Profile
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Amy Reyes edits the education team plus arts, entertainment, food and race & culture.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Opera lives in formal concert halls steeped in centuries old repertoire, while sports thrives on stadium noise, locker…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":253101,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[225,227,226],"class_list":["post-253100","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-hialeah","tag-hialeah","tag-hialeah-headlines","tag-hialeah-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253100","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=253100"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253100\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/253101"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=253100"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=253100"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=253100"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}