Perry Lorenzo worked at the Seattle Opera for nearly 20 years before passing away on December 19th after a seven-month battle with Lung Cancer. He was the director of the education department of the Opera and never stopped reaching out to the community through his work at the Opera.
My experience with the Seattle Opera has forever been thanks to Perry's influence and guidance. I met Perry in 2006 when I attended a lecture he was giving on the Seattle University campus. I caught his eye on his way in with my blue blazer and black fedora. He stopped in the aisle and asked if I was a student. "I am," I replied. "Whose class are you here with?" he asked me. "I'm not here with a class. I've been trying to get to these lectures but I had a class at this time last quarter so now I'm here." Immediately his eyes began to sparkle with excitement that a college student was legitimately interested in Opera without any prompting. From then on, Perry and I maintained contact off and on while I got more and more involved with the Opera.
I volunteered with Perry and the rest of the fantastic eduction team several times. I also had the opportunity to intern as an Observational Assistant to the Director during the Young Artist Program's "Falstaff" in 2007 with Director Peter Kazaras. I was given such amazing opportunities to learn all about the world of Opera and how the Seattle Opera operates and Perry Lorenzo was the man who made it happen for me. Without his mentorship I never would have even had the drive to make broadwayhour.com into what it is today.
Perry, you have played an enormous part in making me the man I am today and you will live on in our hearts and memories forever.
In memory of Perry Lorenzo and with the deepest gratitude,
Andrew J. Perez
More at http://seattleopera.blogspot.com/
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