HONESDALE, PA — The Cooperage Project is proud to present e lucevan le Stelle (“The Stars are Shining”), a captivating evening of Italian opera featuring local favorite Melanie Henley Heyn and acclaimed Italian tenor Marco Ferulli, on Friday, May 22 at The Cooperage in Honesdale. Doors open at 7:00 PM, with music beginning at 7:30 PM. Tickets are $22 online or $25 cash at the door.

This unique performance brings together international artistry and hometown pride in a concert of beloved Italian opera arias and songs. Audiences can look forward to music by celebrated composers such as Verdi, Puccini, and Tosti, alongside favorites made famous by Andrea Bocelli, Frank Sinatra, Celine Dion, and Sarah Brightman.

Melanie Henley Heyn, a graduate of Honesdale High School, has gone on to perform throughout the United States and around the world. She now returns home to share the stage with Marco Ferulli, a distinguished tenor and violinist from the renowned Ferulli family of musicians in Lecce, Italy. Ferulli, who holds five Master’s degrees in music, musicology, and philosophy, has earned numerous honors as an operatic tenor, violinist, and educator. He is scheduled to perform in Florence this June, with additional engagements throughout Italy this fall.

The artists were brought together through Melanie’s longtime piano teacher, Marianne Kuiper Milks, a Wayne County resident and accomplished pianist and recorder player originally from the Netherlands. Their collaboration continues this month in Italy, where Melanie will travel to Lecce to join Marco for a May performance at Lo Spazio d’Arte, a newly opened cultural venue in the city’s ancient Centro Storico dedicated to music, art, theater, film, and more. The space is owned and operated by Dr. Carl J. Milks, Marianne Kuiper Milks, and Marco Ferulli, who serves as Artistic Director, as a gift to the community of Lecce.

Adding another exciting local connection, Wayne County’s own Lindsay Barrett George and Phyllis Chekenian, President of the Wayne County Arts Alliance, will each present weeklong workshops at Lo Spazio d’Arte this September—further strengthening the creative ties between Wayne County and Italy.

This special evening at The Cooperage celebrates not only extraordinary music, but the power of friendship, mentorship, and global community connections rooted right here in Wayne County.

For tickets and more information, visit thecooperageproject.org/happenings.