Solstice at St. Mathias coming soon

Tickets are now on sale for "Summer Solstice at St. Mathias," an event to be staged by the Lakes Area Music Festival June 24 on the Farm at St. Mathias.

Proceeds from the event will support the Music Mentors Project, an educational program of the festival that brings professionals into central Minnesota schools to work with young musicians in the lakes area.

The event will include a gourmet dinner and entertainment by opera superstars performing familiar arias and ensembles from operas by Mozart, Rossini, Verdi, Bizet and more. The quartet of singers will include soprano Karin Wolverton; mezzo-soprano Victoria Vargas, from Minnesota Opera; tenor Mackenzie Whitney of the Academy of Vocal Arts; and baritone and festival associate director John Taylor Ward from the Parisian ensemble Les Arts Florissants.

The event will begin with a social at 6 p.m., with dinner and music beginning at 7 p.m.

A silent auction featuring opportunities to socialize with professional musicians from the festival roster will be open throughout the night.

Tickets for the event are $75 per person or $65 if purchased by June 15. A table of eight can be reserved for $520. Go to www.lakesareamusic.org/summersolstice for more information or advance tickets.

The Lakes Area Music Festival created the Music Mentors Project to provide local youth with the opportunity to learn from, and be inspired by, professional musicians from the Minnesota Orchestra and Minnesota Opera. Throughout the 2015-16 school year, this program reached more than 2,500 elementary and high school students through performances, coaching and private instruction. All proceeds raised at this event will support continued development of the project in the upcoming school year.

Summer Solstice kicks off the summer events of the Lakes Area Music Festival. The annual season will run July 31 through Aug. 21; three full weeks of concerts, educational programs and social opportunities. A prelude series of concerts will take place in communities around the area earlier in July.

1/3: Baritone and Lakes Area Music Festival associate director John Taylor Ward from the Parisian ensemble Les Arts Florissants will be among the performers June 24 for the Summer Solstice at St. Mathias. (Submitted)

2/3: Whitney Mackenzie

3/3: Soprano Karin Wolverton will be among the performers June 24 for the Summer Solstice at St. Mathias, an event to be staged by the Lakes Area Music Festival on the Farm at St. Mathias. (Submitted)