Although this weekend is the final weekend of the Natchez Opera Festival, music lovers have no shortage of events to attend.

Beginning at noon today, opera performers Bill Lewis and friends will perform a free concert at the new Natchez Community Center on Franklin Street.

And at 8 p.m. today at the Margaret Martin Performing Arts Center is the second performance of &uot;Man of La Mancha.&uot; With the theme &uot;To Dream the Impossible Dream,&uot; this powerful musical is a Broadway classic.

Performing in &uot;Man of La Mancha&uot; will be Rosemary Alvino as Aldonza, Donald Milholin as Don Quixote and Melvin Lowerey as Sancho.

This is mezzo-soprano Alvino’s first year to perform in Natchez. She has performed with the Seattle Opera, the Opera Colorado, Tulsa Opera, the Nevada Opera Theater among others. Her extensive repertoire includes Carmen in &uot;Carmen,&uot; Suzuki in &uot;Madame Butterfly,&uot; Prince Orlofsky in &uot;Die Fledermaus,&uot; and others.

Baritone Donald Milholin returns for his third year to the Natchez Opera Festival. He has portrayed King Arthur in &uot;Camelot,&uot; Father in &uot;Hansel and Gretel,&uot; and Dr. Engel in &uot;The Student Prince.&uot; Milholin has an extensive repertoire which includes productions both in the United States and Europe.

Well-known tenor Melvin Lowery will portray Sancho. He has appeared with companies in San Diego, Tulsa, Washington, Philadelphia, Denver, New York City, Hong Kong and many more. He is known for such roles as the comic characters in &uot;The Tales of Hoffman,&uot; Monostatos in &uot;The Magic Flute,&uot; the Dancing Master in &uot;Ariadne,&uot; Basilio in &uot;Marriage of Figaro,&uot; and the Witch in Hansel and Gretel.

On Saturday the opera festival will close with &uot;La Traviata&uot; at 8 p.m. at the Margaret Martin Performing Arts Center.

&uot;La Traviata,&uot; or &uot;The Lost One,&uot; by Giuseppe Verdi, is set in Paris around 1840. The story of self-sacrifice, a misunderstanding between lovers and their too late reconciliation is paired with some of the most wonderful melodies Verdi had written for this all-time classic. Performing as Violetta will be soprano Judith von Hauser. Alfredo will played by tenor Arnold Rawls, Germont will be portrayed by baritone Richard Lewis, and the part of Gastone will be played by tenor Wane Allan Behr.

Closing this year’s opera season will be a reception at historic Gloucester. This reception allows cast members to socialize with both visitors to Natchez and local residents.

For ticket information for these events contact the Natchez Opera Festival by phone at 446-6345 or 1-800-647-6724, by fax at 442-0814, e-mail at ntztktshop@bkbank.com.