Nashville Opera CEO John Hoomes has served as artistic director since 1995, long enough to remember the dramatic La Bella Notte when Opera Association past president Bill Whetsell joined tenor Richard Drews onstage in a duet from Georges Bizet’s Les pêcheurs de perles.

Nfocus chronicled that operatic moment at Vanderbilt’s bygone Stadium Club. Now, 30 years later, locals look forward to the 32nd La Bella Notte, to be held Feb. 28 at the Omni Nashville Hotel. Set against a backdrop fit for Gioachino Rossini’s The Barber of Seville, “A Night in Andalusia” will celebrate John Hoomes’ tenure and the creative tradition and future of Nashville Opera.