First Coast Opera—Fanfare!

First Coast Opera's 2025/26 season begins with Fanfare! On Friday, October 10, 2025, the opera hosts a fundraiser and a celebration of the upcoming season. Doors open at 6:00 p.m. and dinner begins at 6:30 p.m.

The opera's General and Artistic Director, Curtis Tucker, hosts the evening, and Chef Norberto Jaramillo of La Cocina at the Celler Upstairs caters a multi-course dinner. To highlight the operas for the upcoming season, members of the University of Florida in Gainesville's opera department perform musical excerpts. 

Admission: 

• $150.00 per person. Students are $50.00 per person.
• Tickets can be purchased on their website.

When: Friday, October 10, 2025; doors open at 6:00 p.m. with dinner at 6:30 p.m.

Where: Celebration Hall, Anastasia Catholic Church, 5205 A1A S, St. Augustine, Florida 32080

About First Coast Opera

In 2000, Barbara Norris and her husband, Anthony Fast, produced a concert called "An Evening of Opera." The well-received event led to the formation of First Coast Opera, which produced a series of concerts, operettas, and staged opera productions through May of 2008. When Barbara, a soprano, and her husband moved to Georgia, First Coast Opera continued with cabarets and staged productions. In 2014, the board named Curtis Tucker as the Artistic Director of First Coast Opera, and the organization has since expanded programming to include tribute concerts, more staged productions, and outreach to area schools. 

First Coast Opera collaborates with several arts organizations, including Flagler College, Stetson University Opera, the St. Augustine Community Chorus, Lightner Museum, and Romanza Festival of the Arts. Maestro Tucker has produced 16 staged productions with First Coast Opera since 2014. The opera has consistently highlighted musicians from Northeast Florida and has included many local singers in the choruses of several operas.  

Photos: The cover photos are a scene from First Coast Opera's production of La Bohème, and a photo of mezzo-soprano Sarah Nordin as Carmen. She will perform in the company's production of Carmen, opening on December 31, 2025.