Opera at Florham begins new season

Madison, N.J. — Opera at Florham introduces its 27th cabaret season on Sunday, Sept. 20 at 3 p.m. with a special kickoff, “Music for a Sunday Afternoon” in the library’s Orangerie on Fairleigh Dickinson University’s College at Florham in Madison, N.J. The public is invited to this afternoon of music, featuring selections from opera and theater by lyric mezzo-soprano Denise Mihalik and pianist John Pivarnik, with commentaries by Maestro Robert W. Butts. Light refreshments follow. This event is free to guild members, with a fee of $5 for non-members. Reservations should be made by calling 973-443-8620. Local favorite and Madison resident Denise Mihalik has appeared in choral productions and recitals with the West Side Opera, in New York City, at Westminster Choir College in Princeton and at the Chatham United Methodist Church. She has given private voice instruction at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, at Meredith College, in Raleigh, N.C., and continues as a voice instructor to the present day. Local audiences know John Pivarnik for his mid-day concerts in Morristown, and also as organist and choirmaster of Christ Church, Short Hills. Maestro Butts is music director and conductor of the Baroque Orchestra of New Jersey and the New Jersey Concert Opera. The first cabaret of the 2010 season, “Scenes from La Boheme” will be held on Oct. 31, at 8 p.m. “A Thanksgiving Harvest” follows on Sunday, Nov. 22, at 3 p.m. Both are to be held in the beautiful and historic Lenfell Hall, Hennessy Hall (The Mansion), once home to the Twombly/Vanderbilt family. Future cabarets are scheduled for Feb. 14 and March 13, 2010. Cabaret series tickets are available at $110, with children and students under 22 at $40. Single ticket sales are $35. Reservations are necessary. Call the Opera at Florham Office, 973-443-8620 for more information or to reserve.