Filmed on September 30, 2020 at a masked and socially-distanced concert in Dilworth Park next to Philadelphia City Hall, the program includes chorus performances like “Belle nuit” (Barcarolle) from Offenbach’s The Tales of Hoffman, “L’amour est un oiseau rebelle” (Habanera) from Bizet’s Carmen, and “Libiamo ne’ lieti calici” (Libiamo) from Verdi’s La traviata. With a running theme of “love in all its forms,” the series includes selections from Broadway favorites West Side Story, Camelot, A Little Night Music, The Music Man, My Fair Lady, Godspell, and Waitress, as well as arias from the operas Rigoletto, Don Giovanni, The Barber of Seville, Porgy & Bess, and Der Rosenkavalier.

Singers on the program are altos Marissa Chalker, Joanna Gates, and Megan McFadden; sopranos Lauren Cook, Natalie Dewey, Aimee Pilgermayer, Evelyn Santiago, and Julie Snyder; tenors Corey Don Bonar, A. Edward Maddison, Toffer Mihalka, and Daniel Taylor; and basses Mark Malachesky, John David Miles, Frank Mitchell, and Scott Purcell.

The Opera Philadelphia Chorus is an all-professional ensemble made up of singers from the greater Philadelphia region. The talented chorus members come from many of the nation’s finest music programs, including graduates of Indiana University, Eastman School of Music, Temple University, Peabody Conservatory, and Westminster Choir College.

LOVE in the Park was filmed and edited by Dave Tavani with audio by George Blood.