Introduction.

Many reasons make residents of Greater Estero feel happy with their choice to live here. Its prime location near numerous attractions and destinations, close proximity to the Gulf for fishing and boating enthusiasts, attractive architectural style, top-quality healthcare facilities, overall safety, the strong reputation of FGCU nearby, and many more reasons all contribute to this feeling.

In an earlier article this year, Engage Estero drew attention to the importance of music as an enhancement to our health and wellbeing¹.  Music helps regulate emotions, reduces symptoms, fosters communication, and enhances people’s quality of life. Evidence from neuroscience, psychology, and clinical trials strongly supports the integration of this approach into the treatment of various conditions.  However, anyone who attends a concert can be sure to leave feeling refreshed and uplifted by the experience. In our locality, we are blessed with a wide range of musicality.

• Ryleigh Plank, who was on the Voice, is 20 years old from Fort Myers, Florida. She revealed that singing helped her immensely with her mental health struggles. It comes as no surprise that her performance was so power-packed considering her backstory: Interesting, given the comment above.
• Ben Allen, lead singer of Ben Allen Band, was a semifinalist on The Voice season 20. The biggest and best-known country act in Southwest Florida, Ben Allen Band, will keep the party going with dynamic country dance songs.
• There are many concerts at the Hertz Arena covering artists like Jordan Davis, Bert Kreischer, Ana Gabriel, and many others. 
• For those seeking a more classical genre, we have the Gulfshore Opera and the Bower School of Music and the Arts, both with a full season of exciting music.
• The link to their 2025-26 programs is:
  • https://gulfshoreopera.org/calendar/
  • https://issuu.com/floridagulfcoastuniversity/docs/bsma_season_brochure_2025-26

Gulfshore Opera.

Gulfshore Opera (GO) began its journey in June 2014 with the vision of bringing high-quality opera to Southwest Florida in a collaborative, inclusive environment. Founded by Steffanie Pearce, the company quickly established itself as a regional cultural force, staging concerts and full opera productions across Collier, Lee, and Charlotte counties. It moved its offices to Estero in 2021.

It is fair to say that Gulfshore Opera has transcended expectations by bringing full-scale grand opera to Southwest Florida’s premier venues, uniting communities through breathtaking performances that were once unimaginable in the region.

This coming season, Gulfshore Opera’s feature presentations include “Carmen,” a searing depiction of a woman who craves love but creates obsession and jealousy, which is one of the most popular operas ever written. Bizet‘s Spanish-inflected score is bursting with passionate melodies and famous numbers such as Carmen’s seductive ‘Habanera’ and Escamillo’s ‘Toreador song’.

Also featured with many other excellent events is the Opera with a jazz undertone, “Porgy and Bess.” Porgy and Bess is an English-language opera by American composer George Gershwin, with a libretto written by author DuBose Heyward and lyricist Ira Gershwin.

The story of Porgy, a disabled black street beggar living in the slums of Charleston, deals with his attempts to rescue Bess from the clutches of Crown, her violent and possessive lover, and Sportin’ Life, her drug dealer. Some of the songs in the opera, such as “Summertime”, became popular and are frequently recorded. In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, the trend has been toward productions with greater fidelity to Gershwin’s original intentions.

FGCU’s Bower School of Music and the Arts.

FGCU’s Bower School of Music and the Arts program for the 2025-26 academic year is even more extensive and diverse than in previous years. If you haven’t visited the U. Tobe Recital Hall, one of the best acoustically designed concert halls at any U.S. university, you have missed a treat. The Director of FGCU’s Bower School is Dr. Krzysztof Biernacki.

Their Nisita series of events, to which world-famous musicians are invited, is superb.  The Nisita Concert Series is a ticketed concert (only $15 for non-university personnel).

The recent concert on Saturday, October 4^, featured Judy Christy, oboe, Paul Votapek, Clarinet, and Michael Baroon, Piano.

Judy has been the principal oboist of the Naples Philharmonic Orchestra since 1996.

Paul has an impressive list of accomplishments and has been with the Naples Philharmonic since 1988 and serving as an adjunct faculty member at FGCU.

Dr. Baron is a world-renowned pianist. He has played extensively around the world and is a regular jurist on regional, national, and international piano competitions. Dr. Baron serves as the Myra and Van Williams Distinguished Professor of Music and Head of Keyboard Studies at FGCU’s Bower School of Music.

The afternoon concert was an incredible showcase of their musical talents, highlighted by one of the rare compositions written for these three instruments by Edouard Destenay (1850-1924), which was sublime and would have graced any concert hall in the world! Congratulations!

Additionally, the student ensembles perform in venues both on and off campus throughout Southwest Florida. Most concerts in the Student Ensemble Series are free and do not require reservations. It is no exaggeration to state that FGCU Bower School students possess extraordinary skills, and most are already highly accomplished stars on both local and national levels, as well as internationally.

The students thrive on the competitions they attend, often coming away with the top prize. They need your support and attendance at the concerts that are part of the 2025-26 program, which allows them to play before a critical audience.

Don’t Miss Out on this Coming Season!

References:

1. The Value of Music in a Patient’s Medical Therapy. June 2025, Allan Bowditch Engage Estero. https://esterotoday.com/music-therapy/
2. Dopamine modulates the reward experiences elicited by music, supporting its role in lifting mood. Laura Ferreri, Ernest Mas-Herrero, Robert J Zatorre, Pablo Ripollés, Alba Gomez-Andres, Helena Alicart, Guillem Olivé, Josep Marco-Pallarés, Rosa M Antonijoan, Marta Valle, Jordi Riba, Antoni Rodriguez-Fornells, Jan 22nd https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6397525/

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