Friends of Nashville Opera announce Emmy® and Tony® Award winning actress and singer Kristin Chenoweth as the Honorary Chair of the 2025 La Bella Notte gala, to be held February 8, 2025 at the 1Hotel Nashville. Ms. Chenoweth will also be the recipient of the Nashville Opera Honors BRAVO! Award in recognition of her tireless commitment to youth music education.
Prior to skyrocketing to international fame on the Broadway stage, Chenoweth studied opera, earning a Master’s degree in Opera Performance from Oklahoma City University. Her career spans film, television, voice–over and stage. In 2015, Chenoweth received a coveted star on The
Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 2009, she received an Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for her role in Pushing Daisies. In 1999, she won a Tony Award for You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown and she was nominated for her original role of Glinda the Good Witch in Wicked in 2004.
Chenoweth has been nominated for two Emmy Awards and for a People’s Choice Award for her role on Glee. Chenoweth earned a Drama Desk Award, Outer Critics Circle Award and Broadway.com Audience Choice Award for her lead role in the Roundabout Theatre Company’s On the Twentieth Century. She also earned nominations for a Tony Award and a Drama League Award for the role.
Her newest major project is the development of the musical based on the award–winning 2012 documentary The Queen of Versailles and the life of beauty queen, socialite, and TV personality Jacqueline “Jackie” Siegel. Chenoweth is starring in and producing the show through her production banner Diva Worldwide Entertainment. The project, described as “a new musical exploring the true cost of fame, fortune, and family,” has reunited her with Wicked composer, Stephen Schwartz, who wrote the music. The musical made its world premiere at Boston’s Emerson Colonial Theatre in August 2024 and will make its Broadway debut in the 2025–2026 season.
Now in its 31st year, La Bella Notte supports Nashville Opera’s education and outreach programming, including:
• Nashville Opera ON TOUR, which has brought a youth–oriented opera performance to over 800,000 students since 1996. These operas set familiar fairy tale stories to Mozart or Rossini, all while focusing the lyrics on positive messages about reading, listening, and cooperation.
• Nashville Opera On Wheels, a mobile stage that delivers on Nashville Opera’s commitment to bring opera to people across Middle Tennessee, whether in neighborhoods, retirement communities, the Nashville Zoo, or farmers’ markets.
• The HBCU Fellowship, built in conjunction with Fisk and Tennessee State Universities, builds connections and career pathways for students, both as performers and administrators.
• The Mary Ragland Emerging Artist program, which serves as a training ground for up–and– coming singers to hone their skills, participate in master classes and workshops, have one–on–one coaching sessions, and gives them the opportunity to appear in a Nashville Opera
mainstage production.
• When Marian Sang: A Celebration of the Life of Marian Anderson, a new program utilizing Pam Muñoz Ryan’s book of the same name, to share the story of the first Black female artist to perform at the Metropolitan Opera.
La Bella Notte 2025 is chaired by Jennifer Harris and Katie Marchetti. For tickets to the black–tie gala and more information, please visit LaBellaNotte.org.
Nashville Opera has been part of the cultural tapestry of Music City since 1981, creating beautiful experiences that make opera accessible to everyone, both in and out of the theater. With diverse repertoire and casting, we’re working to prove that opera can represent and be relevant to all audiences. By presenting world premieres, staging contemporary works, and sharing the beauty of classic operas, we’re opening new frontiers for this art form.
For over 40 years, Nashville Opera has inspired audiences with superb operatic productions featuring internationally renowned artists, breathtaking sets, and exquisite costumes. Each opera season includes four mainstage productions staged at both the Tennessee Performing Arts Center and the Noah Liff Opera Center; a free children’s opera tour to elementary schools across Middle Tennessee, serving 25,000 students annually; Nashville Opera ON WHEELS, which brought free performances to more than 39,637 Tennesseans in 2024; the Mary Ragland Emerging Artist Program and HBCU Fellowship for aspiring singers; and internships in education, arts administration, and production. Nashville Opera breaks down barriers by offering discounts for seniors and members of the military, as well as free tickets for college students through the OperaPASS program. Visit NashvilleOpera.org for more information.
