UALR will present “Viva Verdi!”, a celebration of the great Italian opera composer of the 19th century, at a benefit concert Feb. 21 featuring Edward Crafts, a former bass-baritone from the Metropolitan Opera and London’s Royal Opera, and soprano Susan Brummell Belcher, a veteran of the Chicago Lyric Opera.

Crafts and Belcher, both members of the UALR music faculty, will join fellow faculty members Paul Vogler, Kira Keating, and Heather Crafts in arias and ensembles from Giuseppe Verdi’s best-known operas.

“Viva Verdi!” will be presented at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 21, at the Stella Boyle Smith Concert Hall in UALR’s Fine Arts Building. A champagne reception with the artists will follow at the adjacent Bailey Alumni Center.

Selections from “Rigoletto,” “La Traviata,” “Un Ballo in Maschera,” “Don Carlo,” and “Nabucco” will be performed. Dr. Bevan Keating will conduct the UALR Concert Choir in several familiar choruses. Matthew Tatus and Linda Winter will perform as assisting artists.

Crafts’ career includes performances at the Metropolitan Opera and many leading European opera stages – London, Vienna, Rome, Monte Carlo, Budapest, and Warsaw. He appeared in the world premiere of Leonard Bernstein’s “A Quiet Place,” which he subsequently recorded with the composer. He also performed in the North American premieres of Wagner’s “Das Liebesverbot,” Prokoviev’s “Maddelena,” and Zemlinsky’s “Eine Florentinische.”

Belcher has appeared with the Chicago Lyric Opera, the Opera Company of Philadelphia, and Opera Midwest, among many others. Locally, she recently sang in the Rep’s production of “Les Miserables” and will be heard as Countess Malcolm in the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra’s production of Sondheim’s “A Little Night Music” this spring.

Tickets, which include the reception, are $75, of which $60 is a tax-deductible contribution, and will support orchestral accompaniment for opera and choral performances on UALR’s Vocal Arts Series. UALR students are admitted free, but must reserve tickets in advance. Call the UALR Department of Music at 501.569.8993 for tickets.