Audiences enjoy summer concerts at Cooper River Park. Photo by Steven Humes

(PENNSAUKEN, NJ) -- Opera Philadelphia brings its multitalented singers, orchestra, and chorus to South Jersey on Thursday, July 13, at 8:00pm for a family-friendly night of opera conducted by Collingswood's Elizabeth Braden. The free concert at Cooper River Park in Pennsauken begins with some of opera's most beloved and popular songs and concludes with a full performance of Gian Carlo Menotti's magical holiday classic Amahl and the Night Visitors, about a little shepherd boy who encounters the Three Kings on their way to Bethlehem.

Dubbed Opera Philadelphia's Christmas in July, the free, 90-minute concert will feature nearly 40 musicians and singers and is part of a special 2023 Twilight Concert Series lineup to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Cooper River Park.

Amahl and the Night Visitors is a family-friendly opera and has been enduringly popular since its premiere in 1951. Commissioned by NBC as the first opera written for television, the opera debuted on December 24, 1951, becoming the first network television Christmas special to become an annual tradition. Composer Gian Carlo Menotti drew inspiration for the opera from Hieronymus Bosch’s The Adoration of the Magi, which hangs in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and from his childhood in Italy where gifts were brought at Christmas by the Three Kings instead of Santa Claus.

Amahl and the Night Visitors tells the story of Amahl, a shepherd boy who has a propensity to tell tall tales, and his mother. Amahl’s most recent story is about a star with a tail that moves across the sky like a chariot on fire. When three splendid strangers knock on the door and ask to rest in their tiny home, Amahl is thrilled and fascinated. When the visitors describe the miraculous child they are seeking, both Amahl and his mother are moved to give reverence to the child as well. Their humble faith conjures a miracle.

Ethan Monberg, 12, a Chestnut Hill, Pa. resident and rising 8th grader at Springside Chestnut Hill Academy, stars as Amahl. A member of and soloist with the Philadelphia Boys Choir, as well as a member of the Philadelphia Vocal Conservatory, Ethan is an avid singer, pianist, and composer. He performed in the children’s chorus this season for Opera Philadelphia’s Carmina Burana and La bohème.

Maren Montalbano, photo by Plate 3 Photography

Willingboro soprano Maren Montalbano also stars as Amahl’s mother. a Grammy Award-winning mezzo-soprano, she has appeared on over 30 commercial recordings and performs regularly with The Crossing, Trio Eos, and Opera Philadelphia. Philadelphia tenor Cory O’Niell Walker sings Kaspar, with Philadelphia bass Michael Miller as Melchior, Jenkintown bass John David Miles as Balthazar, and South Philly baritone Mark Hosseini as the Page. They are joined by 12 singers from the Opera Philadelphia Chorus and 18 musicians of the Opera Philadelphia Orchestra.

Opera Philadelphia’s Christmas in July is part of Camden County’s ambitious series of free summer concerts, with shows by local and national artists including Hanson, UB40, Sheila E, Pink Martini, Aimee Mann, and Ruben Studdard, at three different locations. For more information, click here.

Opera Philadelphia, the only American finalist for both the 2016 International Opera Award for Best Opera Company and the 2020 International Opera Award for Best Festival, is “the very model of a modern opera company” (Washington Post). Committed to developing opera for the 21st century, the company is recognized as “a hotbed of operatic innovation” (New York Times).