Alvise Casellati is president and music director of “Opera Italiana is in the Air,” a new concept for free, outdoor opera concerts in select U.S. cities. With the series underway in New York’s Central Park, Casellati is bringing a performance to Miami’s Regatta Park this April, casting Miami professionals in plumb first roles.

The repertoire will focus on two world famous operas: Verdi’s “Rigoletto” and Puccini’s “Tosca” in an event organized by the Consulate General of Italy in Miami and in partnership with the City of Miami. Casellati himself is a Maestro in violin, a conductor – under his direction that actor John Malkovich made a musical Italian debut – who studied at Juilliard School of Music and a lawyer with degrees from University of Padova and a masters from Columbia University. Casellati stopped by Miami last week, when we had the opportunity ask him a few questions.