Heralded as "the area's most Innovative new opera organization" (Buffalo Spree, Best of WNY 2025), Sotto Voce will present a Gala Evening of operatic scenes and original short films paired with themed food offerings, on SATURDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2025 at 7PM at the UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST CHURCH OF BUFFALO (695 Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo).

Artists will perform excerpts from a variety of operas—sung in German, Italian, and French—and be featured in original short films in English by Director Alex Huddleston. Sotto Voce will present the "SHINING LIGHT OF MUSIC AWARD" to OPERA-LYTES, accepted by President Lisa Berglund, celebrating the organization's 30 year legacy of bringing operetta to Buffalo audiences. The Gala Performance will highlight the lighter side of opera, with staged excerpts from Mozart’s "Entführung aus dem Serail" and "Don Giovanni," Bizet’s "Carmen," and a special “toast” to Opera-Lytes from Johann Strauss’s "Die Fledermaus." A Gala Celebration with Cash Bar, Silent Auction Basket Raffle will follow the Performance.

Proceeds from the Gala will support Sotto Voce's March 2026 production of Mascagni’s "Cavalleria Rusticana."