Spanish & Italian Songs
with curated bites
Ashley Bell, soprano
Michaela Larsen, mezzo soprano
accompanied by
Paolo Bartolani, piano
at
Borghese Vineyard
17150 Middle Rd, Cutchogue, NY 11935
Sunday, December 21st, 2025, at 5:00pm
Spanish & Italian Songs with Curated Bites at Borghese Vineyard is a new event that combines operatic music paired with a selection of small, carefully chosen food items with Borghese wines. This is an event designed to highlight the best flavor combinations between food, wine and music.
Curated Bites will be not just any appetizers, but carefully chosen and prepared small dishes that are designed to complement the selected music.
It’s an intimate indoor concert featuring two exceptional opera singers, performing music by Garcia Lorca, Fernando Obradors, Francesco Santoliquido and Giacomo Puccini while the audience are seated at the table. The purpose of this event is to provide a delightful multisensory experience, allowing attendees to explore music, wine and food pairings and enhance their appreciation.
Program
Fernando Obradors: Classical Spanish Songs
Con Amores, la mi madre
Del Cabello más sutil
Chiquitita la novia
Joaquín Rodrigo
De los Alamos Vengo
Ernesto Lecuona
Maria La O
García Lorca: Canciones Españolas Antiguas
Anda Jaleo
Zorongo
Enrique Granados
Iban al Pinar
Fernando Obradors
El Vito
Ashley Bell, Soprano
Paolo Bartolani, piano
Intermission with
Curated Bites at the tables
Francesco Santoliquido: I Canti della Sera
L'Assiolo canta
Tristezza Crepuscolare
Giacomo Puccini: Italian Songs
A te
Storiella d'Amore
Sole e Amore
E l'Uccellino
Canto d'Anime
Michaela Larsen, mezzo soprano
Paolo Bartolani, piano
Fernando Obradors: Classical Spanish Songs
Con Amores, la mi madre
Del Cabello más sutil
Chiquitita la novia
Joaquín Rodrigo
De los Alamos Vengo
Ernesto Lecuona
Maria La O
García Lorca: Canciones Españolas Antiguas
Anda Jaleo
Zorongo
Enrique Granados
Iban al Pinar
Fernando Obradors
El Vito
Ashley Bell, Soprano
Paolo Bartolani, piano
Intermission with
Curated Bites at the tables
Francesco Santoliquido: I Canti della Sera
L'Assiolo canta
Tristezza Crepuscolare
Giacomo Puccini: Italian Songs
A te
Storiella d'Amore
Sole e Amore
E l'Uccellino
Canto d'Anime
Michaela Larsen, mezzo soprano
Paolo Bartolani, piano
This is a production of
Rites of Spring Music Festival
in collaboration with
Stony Brook University Opera
hosted at
Borghese Vineyard
Rites of Spring Music Festival
in collaboration with
Stony Brook University Opera
hosted at
Borghese Vineyard
This project is made possible in part with funds from t the
Suffolk County Office of Cultural Affairs and the Statewide Community Regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature and administered by Huntington Arts Council
Ashley Galvani Bell, soprano
Hailed by OPERA NEWS as “delightful”, Ashley Galvani Bell performed as a soloist in the United States, Italy, Spain, France, Denmark and Russia. This season included her debut in DENMARK with Operaen i Midten as the title role in KLARA, her debut as Leonora in Il Trovatore with Boheme Opera New Jersey, her debut as Micaela in Carmen with Bay Street Theatre & reprising her signature role of Cio Cio San in Madama Butterfly, which she has performed throughout the US, in both New Jersey and California. 2024 included singing with New York City Opera in both a 100 year Puccini Anniversary concert and a dance production of Klara directed by acclaimed Broadway choreographer Richard Stafford, returning to ABAO Bilbao covering both Mimi and Musetta in La Bohème, singing the title role in Pedro Halffter's Penelope's Dream at the Ateneo de Madrid & in Logroño, singing Cio Cio San at Bay Street Theatre and Mimi at McCallum Theatre in Palm Desert, California, and joining Teatro de la Maestranza for La Bella Susona. Highlights of 2o22- 2023 included her debut with ABAO Bilbao Opera as Fiordiligi in Cosi Fan Tutte where ProOpera highlighted her "superabundance of talent", her debut with Teatro Perez Galdos in Gran Canaria, Spain as the title role of Klara, singing Cio Cio San in Madama Butterfly with both Bohème Opera New Jersey and Daytona Beach Symphony Society, her debut in Milan, Italy as soprano soloist in Exultate Jubilate with Orchestra UNIMI, Violetta in La Traviata, the title role in the world premiere of Penelope's Dream as well as Soprano soloist in Zemlinsky's Lyrische Symphonie all with Spain's festival Musica en Villafranca, and her successful debut with Seville's Teatro de la Maestranza as Violetta in La Traviata. Other notable performances have included her Carnegie Hall debut as soprano soloist in Hadyn’s “Nelson” Mass and Schubert’s Mass in C with MidAmerica Productions. Ashley is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Yale University, a winner of Yale’s Browne Irish Performing Arts Award and speaks five languages fluently.
www.ashleygalvanibell.com
Michaela Larsen, mezzo soprano
Heralded by the Brooklyn Discovery, as “visually and vocally another bright ray,” Michaela Larsen’s voice is “plangent [and] coupled with excellent stagecraft”. Originally from Michigan, she completed her undergraduate degree in Music Education at Michigan State University–all while learning the operatic craft through roles such as: Adele, Strauss’s Die Fledermaus; Eurydice, Offenbach’s Orpheus in the Underworld; Vitellia, Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito.
In 2021, Mrs. Larsen relocated to New York to pursue a Master’s in Vocal Performance, and is currently completing her Doctorate–both degrees from Stony Brook University. Recent credits include: Cherubino (Le nozze di Figaro) Sunnyside Opera in Tampa, FL, Stony Brook Opera Theatre, and Vienna Summer Music Festival; Hermia (Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream), Chicago Summer Opera; Sāvitri (Gustav Holst’s Sāvitri); Venus (John Blow’s Venus and Adonis) and Nancy (Benjamin Britten’s Albert Herring) with Stony Brook Opera Theatre.
Mrs. Larsen appears frequently with the New York Philharmonic and the Metropolitan Opera–Recent performances include: Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, United States premiere of Aaron Zigman’s Èmigré, and Mahler’s 2nd Symphony. Her Metropolitan Opera debut was in Verdi Requiem in September 2023, and she will return in the 2024-25 season in Beethoven’s Fidelio.
Jerome Boxer, baritone
Jerome Boxer is a 20-year-old baritone hailing from New York City. He is currently pursuing his Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance at Boston University, under the tutelage of James Demler. This past summer Jerome performed as Masetto in Mozart’s “Don Giovanni” in Vienna with the Vienna Opera Academy. He’s returning from a semester abroad at the Royal College of Music where he studied with New Zealand bass-baritone Jonathan Lemalu.
Paolo Bartolani, pianist
Founder & Artistic Director of Rites of Spring Music Festival
Paolo Bartolani is a pianist, musicologist and music manager, working in both classical and contemporary music. He founded the Rites of Spring Music Fest in 2016 to promote classical and contemporary music on the North Fork of Long Island, and to combine music, history and the natural environment. The festival currently is a non-profit organization 501c3 and he is the Artistic Director and Responsible for developing the festival’s program.
Hailed by OPERA NEWS as “delightful”, Ashley Galvani Bell performed as a soloist in the United States, Italy, Spain, France, Denmark and Russia. This season included her debut in DENMARK with Operaen i Midten as the title role in KLARA, her debut as Leonora in Il Trovatore with Boheme Opera New Jersey, her debut as Micaela in Carmen with Bay Street Theatre & reprising her signature role of Cio Cio San in Madama Butterfly, which she has performed throughout the US, in both New Jersey and California. 2024 included singing with New York City Opera in both a 100 year Puccini Anniversary concert and a dance production of Klara directed by acclaimed Broadway choreographer Richard Stafford, returning to ABAO Bilbao covering both Mimi and Musetta in La Bohème, singing the title role in Pedro Halffter's Penelope's Dream at the Ateneo de Madrid & in Logroño, singing Cio Cio San at Bay Street Theatre and Mimi at McCallum Theatre in Palm Desert, California, and joining Teatro de la Maestranza for La Bella Susona. Highlights of 2o22- 2023 included her debut with ABAO Bilbao Opera as Fiordiligi in Cosi Fan Tutte where ProOpera highlighted her "superabundance of talent", her debut with Teatro Perez Galdos in Gran Canaria, Spain as the title role of Klara, singing Cio Cio San in Madama Butterfly with both Bohème Opera New Jersey and Daytona Beach Symphony Society, her debut in Milan, Italy as soprano soloist in Exultate Jubilate with Orchestra UNIMI, Violetta in La Traviata, the title role in the world premiere of Penelope's Dream as well as Soprano soloist in Zemlinsky's Lyrische Symphonie all with Spain's festival Musica en Villafranca, and her successful debut with Seville's Teatro de la Maestranza as Violetta in La Traviata. Other notable performances have included her Carnegie Hall debut as soprano soloist in Hadyn’s “Nelson” Mass and Schubert’s Mass in C with MidAmerica Productions. Ashley is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Yale University, a winner of Yale’s Browne Irish Performing Arts Award and speaks five languages fluently.
www.ashleygalvanibell.com
Michaela Larsen, mezzo soprano
Heralded by the Brooklyn Discovery, as “visually and vocally another bright ray,” Michaela Larsen’s voice is “plangent [and] coupled with excellent stagecraft”. Originally from Michigan, she completed her undergraduate degree in Music Education at Michigan State University–all while learning the operatic craft through roles such as: Adele, Strauss’s Die Fledermaus; Eurydice, Offenbach’s Orpheus in the Underworld; Vitellia, Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito.
In 2021, Mrs. Larsen relocated to New York to pursue a Master’s in Vocal Performance, and is currently completing her Doctorate–both degrees from Stony Brook University. Recent credits include: Cherubino (Le nozze di Figaro) Sunnyside Opera in Tampa, FL, Stony Brook Opera Theatre, and Vienna Summer Music Festival; Hermia (Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream), Chicago Summer Opera; Sāvitri (Gustav Holst’s Sāvitri); Venus (John Blow’s Venus and Adonis) and Nancy (Benjamin Britten’s Albert Herring) with Stony Brook Opera Theatre.
Mrs. Larsen appears frequently with the New York Philharmonic and the Metropolitan Opera–Recent performances include: Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, United States premiere of Aaron Zigman’s Èmigré, and Mahler’s 2nd Symphony. Her Metropolitan Opera debut was in Verdi Requiem in September 2023, and she will return in the 2024-25 season in Beethoven’s Fidelio.
Jerome Boxer, baritone
Jerome Boxer is a 20-year-old baritone hailing from New York City. He is currently pursuing his Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance at Boston University, under the tutelage of James Demler. This past summer Jerome performed as Masetto in Mozart’s “Don Giovanni” in Vienna with the Vienna Opera Academy. He’s returning from a semester abroad at the Royal College of Music where he studied with New Zealand bass-baritone Jonathan Lemalu.
Paolo Bartolani, pianist
Founder & Artistic Director of Rites of Spring Music Festival
Paolo Bartolani is a pianist, musicologist and music manager, working in both classical and contemporary music. He founded the Rites of Spring Music Fest in 2016 to promote classical and contemporary music on the North Fork of Long Island, and to combine music, history and the natural environment. The festival currently is a non-profit organization 501c3 and he is the Artistic Director and Responsible for developing the festival’s program.
