Anton Coppola, the company's 89-year-old principal conductor, will conduct two productions next season; Gounod's Romeo et Juliette and Verdi's Il Trovatore.

On Feb. 17, he will lead a concert version of his opera Sacco and Vanzetti, which Opera Tampa premiered in 2001. The schedule also includes a touring company in Mozart's Don Giovanni. Performers have not yet been confirmed for any of the productions.

According to the St. Petersburg Times, Judith Lisi, president of the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, recently announced Coppola's retirement, but the announcement turned out to be based on a misunderstanding. At a rehearsal for La Fanciulla del West, according to the Times, Coppola said, "As Mark Twain said, all rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated."