Tribute to Greg Trupiano

Greg Trupiano

(December 13, 1955 – February 18, 2020)

It is hard to imagine Sarasota Opera without Greg Trupiano. He was an integral part of our company for 33 years and a beloved and cherished friend to many of us. For those of us who work behind the scenes, as well as many who knew him through his interactions with our audience, guilds, and community, he was an important and visible part of our company.

You may have seen him in the front of the theater, sometimes hawking our pre-performance talks, or just greeting our audience. But for most of his time at Sarasota Opera, he was the man who made things work. He was Victor DeRenzi’s right hand: the person who set up auditions, dealt with the artists and their managers, and put together the extraordinarily complex schedule of rehearsals. He had just about every aspect of the company at his fingertips and very often the answer to a question was: “Ask Greg.”

Beyond the mechanics of the job, however, was a breadth of knowledge of opera and the art of putting on a performance. He was a valued second pair of eyes for our stage directors. As important, however, is the guidance that he offered to our artists. He was always available to meet for a cup of coffee to give career advice, provide feedback, and sometimes just be a shoulder to cry on.

Besides Sarasota Opera, his impact on the opera industry was great. Earlier in his career he worked at San Diego Opera, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, and New York City Opera. He’d tell anyone who asked, that his greatest operatic passion was for new work, and through his relationship with American Opera Projects, he worked with and gave feedback to many composers, librettists, and directors.

Greg was a native New Yorker and a fiercely proud Brooklynite. For years, in the off-season, he was a tour guide and knew things about his native city that surprised many who thought they knew the city well.

Perhaps his greatest interest was Walt Whitman. He identified closely with three aspects of the great American poet: his connection with Brooklyn, his interest in opera, and his identity as a gay man. Because of this close connection, Greg, and his partner of 38 years Lon Black, started the Walt Whitman Project, an interdisciplinary arts organization that promoted the poet through readings and other events. We think Greg was happiest when talking about Whitman and reading his poetry. As recently as 2019, Greg led a poetry reading at Sarasota’s Bookstore1 in honor of the bicentenary of Whitman’s birth.

Greg’s presence was felt in every aspect of Sarasota Opera. He would have wanted the show to continue, above all. That experience, however, will be much poorer for many of us, without Greg as part of the company, and our lives.

“I hear not the volumes of sound merely, I am moved by the exquisite meanings, I listen to the different voices winding in and out, striving, contending with fiery vehemence to excel each other in emotion; so do not think the performers know themselves—but now I think I begin to know them. ” – Walt Whitman