Ailyn Perez Stars in LIVE FROM LINCOLN CENTER's Broadcast of 2012 Richard Tucker Gala Tonight

Soprano Ailyn Pérez, winner of the 2012 Richard Tucker Award, was fresh from a string of European appearances, including her Bolshoi Theater debut and performances at the Hamburg State Opera, when she lit up the stage at New York's Avery Fisher Hall at the Richard Tucker Music Foundation's annual gala on November 11. The gala was filmed for national broadcast in the U.S. as part of the Emmy Award-winning Live From Lincoln Center series on PBS and will air tonight, December 13. Live from Lincoln Center: The Richard Tucker Opera Gala, which is being hosted by singer and actress Audra McDonald, will include a feature on Pérez, backstage access to the artists, and selections from the musical performance.

Not one to rest on her laurels, Pérez flew to Florida immediately after the gala to continue rehearsing for La bohème. The production opened the Florida Grand Opera season just six days later, on November 17, to rave reviews.

Pérez will return to Hamburg State Opera to sing the role of Violetta in a new production of La traviata (Feb 17-March 19) by cutting-edge German director Johannes Erath, whose recent stagings include Massenet's Cendrillon in Bern, Peter Eötvös's Angels in America for Oper Frankfurt, and Orfeo ed Euridice and Aida at Cologne Opera. Last season, Pérez stepped in for a performance as Violetta at Covent Garden, a role she performed there earlier in the season, opposite her husband, tenor Stephen Costello, on two days' notice.