Random opera performance leaves MIA passengers smiling
From The Miami Herald
Burt Silver had just arrived at Miami International Airport after a two-and-a-half-hour flight from Lake Bluff, Illinois.
Harry Kleiser and Hillary Bassett had ordered sushi and a mojito at a café while waiting for their flight home to Washington D.C.
It was a normal Wednesday afternoon at MIA.
Until Daniel Shirley came along.
“Libiamo,” or “Let’s drink” in Italian, he belted out in his best tenor opera voice.
Within seconds, he was joined by six professional opera singers like himself, and together they treated passengers at Gate D30 in the North Terminal to a surprise performance of Libiamo ne’lieti calici, part of Giuseppe Verdi’s opera, La Traviata.
“It put a smile on my face,” said Silver, 74, of Coral Gables. “It was an unbelievable experience.”
The two-minute opera performance is part of Random Acts of Culture, a John S. and James L. Knight Foundation initiative that organizes such cultural performances at eight cities, including Miami.
About the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
Knight Foundation supports transformational ideas that promote quality journalism, advance media innovation, engage communities and foster the arts. We believe that democracy thrives when people and communities are informed and engaged. For more, visit www.knightfoundation.org.