Sarasota Opera Winter Opera Festival in February and March, usually offering four fully staged operas with the Sarasota Opera Orchestra. The repertoire includes standard works as well as lesser known operas. In March 2008, the Sarasota Opera House reopened after a $20 million renovation with Verdi's "Rigoletto", and in the same year, the company added its first fully staged fall production, Rossini's "The Barber of Seville" bringing the number of operas presented in a season to five. For the most part, the Fall operas have been popular favourites, but in 2012, it presented Daron Hagen's world premiere opera, "Little Nemo in Slumberland".
Frederick Douglass: The Lion Who Wrote History Lion Who Wrote History" has also been reviewed by "Kirkus Reviews", "Publishers Weekly", "The New York Times", and Common Sense Media. Frederick Douglass: The Lion Who Wrote History Frederick Douglass: The Lion Who Wrote History is a 2017 picture book biography by Walter Dean Myers about the life of Frederick Douglass. "BookList", in a starred review, wrote "Focused, informative writing and strong, effective illustrations combine to make this the go-to Frederick Douglass biography for younger students." and the "School Library Journal" wrote "Although this title is similar in scope to Doreen Rappaport's "Frederick's Journey", the two books complement each other.