An Afternoon of Opera and American Classics at Crawford Mansion in Rye Brook

Join Soprano, Savannah Bisset; Mezzo Soprano, Cara Collins (photographed) and Christopher Cooley, pianist, for an afternoon of Opera and American classics, on Sunday, April 3, at 3:00 pm at Crawford Mansion, located at 122 North Ridge Street, in Rye Brook. Advanced tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for students and seniors. At the door, tickets are $20 for adults $15 for students and seniors. Doors open at 2:00 pm. Program highlights will include selections from Bizet, Gounod, Massenet, Mozart, Offenbach, Puccini, Saint-Säens, and Verdi. The program of America Classics will include selections from Rodgers & Hammerstein, Sondheim, and Weill.

Music at the Mansion has a mission to help raise money for Crawford Park by hosting numerous events and showcasing phenomenal artists from the area. Shows are held every two months. The venue’s intimate atmosphere and acoustics provides a great viewing and listening experience for audience members.

Mezzo-soprano Cara Collins is a senior at the State University of New York, Purchase College Conservatory of Music, where she studies under the direction of Dr. Sherry Overholt. Recently she has performed the role of Elizabeth Proctor in Robert Ward’s The Crucible. She has also performed as Marcellina in Le nozze di Figaro, Mutter and Sandmännchen in Hänsel und Gretel, and Hippolyta in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Cara will play the role of Ottavia in L’incoronazione di Poppea in the Conservatory’s Spring production.

Soprano, Savannah Bisset, made her New York debut as Marguerite in André Grétry Richard Coeur-de-lion which received a “New York Times” and Opera News Review. Bisset has performed with the “NY Opera Exchange”, “LOFT Opera” and “New York Lyric Opera Theatre” singing the role of Mozart’s Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, as well as with the “Cantanti Project” performing Marguerite from Meyerbeer’s Les Huguenots, and Ophélie in Thomas’s Hamlet. Recent engagements have included recital performances in Canada and the United States. Virginias “Opera on the James” singing the role of Pamina in “The Magic Flute” and Countess Ceprano in “Rigoletto” while covering Gilda. Ms. Bisset opened the world premiere as Sofie in Raphaël Lucas award-winning opera “Confession”. Other roles performed include Die Erste Dame and Pamina in Mozart’s “Die Zauberflöte”, Tirésias in “Les mamelles de Tirésias” which won the esteemed award from the National Opera Association. Bisset was a winner of the “Riverside Opera Competition” which was televised on “The Manhattan Classical Opera & Concert Series”, and a semi finalist in the Marcello Giordani Competition.

Christopher Cooley has traveled the world sharing his talents as an accomplished composer, arranger, and orchestrator. He has played with University of Texas Symphony, the Chamber Orchestra of Florida, and Musica Bella Orchestra of New York. Cooley possesses degrees from the University of Texas-Austin, Florida State University and holds a doctorate from the Manhattan School of Music.

Crawford Park is a 36 acre preserve located in Rye Brook, NY. Originally the estate of the Crawford family, the grounds and mansion were donated to the Town of Rye in 1971. The park contains an early 20th century mansion that was renovated in 2015 and makes a lovely backdrop for opera and classical performance. The grounds include many mature trees, an expansive lawn, a playground, a large picnic pavilion and sunken garden. Friends of Crawford Park was established in 1996 and is a nonprofit organization dedicated the beautification of the park grounds and preservation of the Crawford’s legacy. Concerts take place in the historic Crawford mansion and happen approximately bimonthly.

For tickets and more information, visit www.musicatthemansion.org. You may also send an email to music@friendsofcrawfordpark.org.