GERARD FLORIANO

FOUNDER

In May of 2012, Maestro Gerard Floriano, Chair of the Music & Musical Theatre Department at SUNY Geneseo approached Dr. Christopher Dahl, then President of SUNY Geneseo, with a bold proposal: the ambitious idea of starting a professional opera company at the college. In just over a decade, thanks to Maestro Floriano’s artistic vision and with the tireless support of Dahl, FLO’s board of directors, and staff, tireless efforts, Finger Lakes Opera (FLO) has grown from a company that presented a few programs during the summer months only to one that currently presents an expanded Summer Festival and year-round engagement. When one considers the various challenges the company has had to face, it is a testament all invested parties that the company not only survived but is thriving.

After four highly successful years of performing on the campus of SUNY Geneseo, FLO's advisory council voted to pursue 501(c)(3) status and began the search for a new performing home. Canandaigua Academy answered the call and from 2017 through 2019, FLO presented three grand productions: Tosca, Die Fledermaus, and La bohème, under Floriano’s direction.

In 2018, FLO realized Maestro Floriano’s vision of starting a Young Artist Program with the goal of training the next generation of operatic stars. Since then, this program has grown from a small, pay-to-sing project into a professional training program where some of the nation’s brightest young operatic talent comes to study, perform, and grow. 

When the pandemic shut down the world in 2020, FLO quickly pivoted to a platform of programming that resulted in the 2020 Young Artists presenting four online performances. During that summer and fall, FLO also presented several online recitals featuring sopranos Elena O'Connor and Kearstin Piper Brown, mezzo-soprano Taylor Raven, baritones Jorell Williams and Jonathan Michie, and more. In addition, Floriano developed two podcast series: Great Voices of the 20th Century, where he reflected on historical operatic recordings and Behind the Curtain, which gave audiences the opportunity to hear in-depth interviews with past stage directors, focusing on the creative process. Many of the online programs and podcasts are still available for viewing on FLO’s YouTube channel. In 2023, Floriano directed a collaboration with the Rochester Oratorio Society (who helped more than double the number of chorus members) and Garth Fagan Dance (which was featured in the famous Act II dance sequence for which FLO received its first National Endowment for the Arts Award) to bring one of the grandest of all grand operas to stage – Verdi’s Aida. 

Floriano was also the impetus behind FLO commissioning its first opera, Two Corners, composed by B.E. Boykin with libretto by Jarrod Lee. Throughout this nearly three-year project, Floriano has been at the helm, working with the creative team and leading three workshops, all in preparation for this work’s world premiere performances in June 2024.

As Chair of the Department of Music & Musical Theatre at SUNY-Geneseo, Floriano received SUNY’s highest rank of Distinguished Service Professor of Music and the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Activity. Floriano lives in Penfield, NY with his wife, Joan Floriano, an accomplished performer and teacher of voice who contributed her time and talents to FLO in many capacities.