Graciela Rivera year she made her operatic debut as Rosina in "The Barber of Seville" by Gioachino Rossini at the New Orleans Opera. In December 1951, she became the first Puerto Rican to sing a lead role at the New York Metropolitan Opera as Lucia in the production of Lucia di Lammermoor. She earned accolades for her performance from critics around the world. In 1953, Rivera was proclaimed "Citizen of the Year" by the City of New York. In 1954 Rivera was featured as a guest singer in Name That Tune, and later that year, at an instance of Your Show of
Sarasota Opera Petrolini, President of the Club dei 27. Starting this fall, Sarasota Opera will launch a new venture entitled "Sarasota Firsts" in which the company will present operas never previously produced on the Sarasota Opera House stage. For the 2016/2017 season, Sarasota Opera will present three operas in association with this new series which will be "Don Pasquale" by "Gaetano Donizetti", "L'italiana in Algeri" by "Gioachino Rossini", and "Dialogues of the Carmelites" by "Francis Poulenc". The season will also include "Madama Butterfly" by "Giacomo Puccini" and "L'amore dei tre re" by "Italo Montemezzi". The series includes presentations of neglected works of