Page 15 - Year in Review 2019-2020 - Mercy Foundation North

Sydney Mancasola and the North State Symphony light up the stage at the Cascade Theater.
Opera Star Returns Home to Thrill a Cascade Theatre Crowd and Benefit Palliative Care Services
Sydney Mancasola, a world-class soprano who splits her time between the UnitedStates and Europe, visited her hometown in January and delivered a thrilling performance at the Cascade Theatre to benefit Mercy Medical Center Redding’s Palliative Care Services.
“Considering everything Redding has been through in the last few years, I felt compelled to give back,” the Redding native said in advance of the Jan. 9 perfor-
mance. Sydney was joined on stage by her partner, the bass singer Barnaby Rea. She added to the warm homecoming feeling by inviting to the stage longtime
friends tenor Dash Waterbury and violinist Michael Eby. Waterbury, a Redding musician, is the son of Robert Waterbury, Sydney’s first vocal
instructor, and Eby’s mother, Sheri, started giving Sydney violin lessons when she was 2. The North State Symphony completed the ensemble.
Sydney’s performance drew raves from the large audience. One supporter shared, “I took two guests with me who only listen to
country and ‘don’t do opera.’ Well, after the concert, their jaws literally dropped. They were so impressed.”
The benefit performance raised $65,000 for Mercy’s Palliative Care Services. Palliative care serves as a bridge
between physicians, specialists, and caregivers, and the patients, and their families, under their care.
Mercy’s palliative care team works with patients of all ages, often as soon as a serious, chronic
or life-limiting illness is diagnosed. The goal is to accompany each patient on the
journey from the moment of diagnosis and throughout their treatment,
focusing on the emotional, spiritu- al, mental, and physical needs of the patient and his or
her loved ones. 
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