Maestro Victor DeRenzi, who spent 44 years leading Sarasota Opera, is taking on a new role at Marie Selby Botanical Gardens.

Selby Gardens announced Tuesday, July 14, that DeRenzi will serve as honorary curator for its Spring 2027 season. The garden said the role will include new programming that blends music, nature and the visual arts at its Downtown Sarasota campus on Sarasota Bay. The collaboration marks Selby Gardens' first partnership centered on a musician and conductor rather than a visual artist.

A Sarasota arts institution

DeRenzi, 77, holds the record as the longest-serving artistic director of a performing arts organization. He led Sarasota Opera from 1982 until his departure in May 2026, overseeing more than 1,500 performances of 218 productions in nine languages and personally conducting nearly 900 of them, according to Sarasota Opera.

He is also the only conductor to have performed every note composed by Giuseppe Verdi, completing the 27-year "Verdi Cycle" in 2016.

His honors include being named a Knight of the Order of the Star of Italy in 2016, receiving a Sarasota Mayor's Citation in 2007 and earning the Sarasota Arts Alliance Leadership Award in 2016.

In a June 7 guest column in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, DeRenzi hinted at future Sarasota projects without providing details, writing that his commitment to the arts and "to the people of our community" would remain part of his future.

Music meets nature at Selby Gardens

Selby Gardens operates under a "Living Museum" model, pairing rotating horticultural displays with works by renowned artists. Previous exhibitions have featured Andy Warhol, Marc Chagall and Paul Gauguin.

The DeRenzi collaboration will explore how botanical environments have influenced generations of artists and musicians, according to the garden's announcement.

Planning a visit

The 15-acre Downtown Sarasota campus at 1534 Mound St. is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. General admission is $28 for adults, $12 for children ages 5 to 17, and free for children 4 and younger. More information is available at Selby Gardens' website.

Selby Gardens is also hosting a photography exhibition featuring Lynn Goldsmith and singer-songwriter Patti Smith through Sunday, Sept. 13.