Join fellow art enthusiasts to celebrate the start of the Austin Opera season, at the home of FOTO Co-Chair Stephanie Pace and Robert Smith. Austin Opera Resident Star Audrey Ballish, and Director of Jazz Studies, Director of Jazz Orchestra, and Associate Professor of Jazz Studies and Jazz Saxophone at the UT Butler College of Music, Diego Rivera, will be performing live!! The jazz performance is generously sponsored by the Harvard Club of Austin and Cal Alumni Club of Austin.
Tickets are $25, and include light bites, wine, bubbly and a signature cocktail. Reserve your spot today.
Audrey Ballish is a soprano based in Austin, Texas. In 2021, she won the Tulsa District and received an Encouragement Award at the Midwest Region of Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. Her notable stage credits include Younger Alyce in Glory Denied, Soprano 1 in Hydrogen Jukebox with Boston Conservatory Opera, Susanna and Barbarina in Le nozze di Figaro with Bay View Music Festival, Suor Genovieffa in Suor Angelica with Berlin Opera Academy, and Lisette in La Rondine at Oklahoma City University. Audrey holds a Master of Music in Opera Performance from Boston Conservatory at Berklee and a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance and a Bachelor of Music in Music Theater from Oklahoma City University. She is in her second season with Austin Opera performing in Long Center productions and community events as part of the Resident Stars program.
Diego Rivera is a world-class musician, composer, arranger and educator. Rivera is the Director of Jazz Studies and Director of the Jazz Orchestra at the Butler School of Music at the University of Texas. He is known for his muscular tone and unique blend of straight-ahead jazz fused with music inspired by his Chicano background and heritage. Rivera boasts 6 critically-acclaimed albums, with his newest album “With Just A Word” having debuted this year in the top 10 on the jazz charts. For 25 years, Rivera has performed concerts at the most prestigious venues and festivals across the United States, Canada, Europe, and Asia. Rivera has also toured nationally and internationally with GRAMMY-Award winning vocalist, Kurt Elling, JUNO-Award winning Canadian Jazz Vocalist, Sophie Milman, The SEIKO Summer Jazz Faculty, The Ulysses Owens Jr. Big Band, and The Rodney Whitaker Quintet.