The Opera Cowgirls

Tampa Theatre and St. Pete Opera are proud to welcome the Opera Cowgirls LIVE on stage at 7:30pm Thursday, April 20.

Grand Ole Opry meets grand opera in a marvelous mashup of opera, bluegrass, and country! The critically-acclaimed Opera Cowgirls blend operatic melodies and voices with the country flavor of their instruments to transform familiar operatic pieces into toe-tapping tunes.

The Opera Cowgirls started out by accident after mezzo-soprano Caitlin McKechney, a bartender in Brooklyn at the time, was asked to open for a rock show by the lead singer of the band. “You know I sing opera, right?” the question. “Yeah, it’ll be cool,” the answer. The opening riff to Carmen’s “Habanera” started playing, and the boisterous crowd went quiet and turned to listen as she made her way around the room. Once the aria ended, the audience erupted in cheers, hoots and hollers louder than any “polite” opera house Caitlin had ever sung for. And thus, the Opera Cowgirls were born!

Individually, the Opera Cowgirls have performed as soloists with The Metropolitan Opera, New York City Opera, Opera Philadelphia, Nashville Opera, Opera Memphis, Florida Grand Opera, Sarasota Opera, St. Pete Opera, and many others. Together, the incredible roster of opera-singing instrumentalists includes – in addition to Caitlin on guitar and banjolele – soprano Maria Lindsey on dulcimer, soprano Jessica Sandidge on mandolin, and soprano Sarah Beckham-Turner on cello.

Tickets are $35 plus applicable taxes and fees ($35 at the Box Office & $38.50 total online).