A Night at the Popera

April 25, 2026 Jason Shrum

The Musical Mashup that We all Needed

An evening of beautiful music happened as The Vinyl Lounge played host to what was dubbed “A Night at the Popera”. Four classically trained opera singers gathered for a genre-bending, theatrical live show. Powerful women with formidable voices brought pop, folk, synth-pop, hyperpop, and pop-punk to the stage and mashed it up with definitive sounds that you don’t normally hear together. What happened was a gorgeous moment in time. Meghan Pulles, Arily Michelle, Sunshine Scott and Cassandra Pinataro electrified the space with a magnificent showcase of unbridled force. Armed with their voices and the will to be heard these women grasped the attention of their onlookers to deliver messages of courage, femineity and individuality. A Night at the Popera grew out of music but created and curated a likeminded community that thrived in the mantras of these fabulous musicians.

In recent articles I have been talking about saying “yes” more. I have found my own mental status heightened through stepping out of normal routines. I hope that you can find your peace and if you need a little help, start by supporting live music and independent venues and I guarantee that you will find your people. Music is the great equalizer and our inevitable healer. People coming together to support something rather than to stand on opposite sides and argue divisively. This night was exactly that. A bonding of spirits with art as our medicine.

Meghan Pulles began the evening with a piece from The Phantom of the Opera in which the audience was given a lyric sheet so that we might sing along with the singer/songwriter and her tenor partner DorianBalis. Nashville-based instrumentalists in saxophone player Cam Gallagher and violinist Steven Bowman also accompanied our first performer. Meghan sings with a truthful tenderness that is engaging to the ear, and her stunning voice seeps into the hearts and minds of those lucky enough to hear her poetic lines. She is not grandiose in her delivery, instead it comes from a depth of raw emotion that is natural and unforced. Meghan put together an impeccable setlist that had her not only singing with an alluring disposition, but she wowed us with her capabilities on the keys and acoustic guitar.

Arily Michele graced the florally lined stage with her husband laying down a harmonic foundation on bass guitar. Arily’s ability to float between synth-pop and musical drama is effortless and flows smoothly as if the two styles always belonged together. She stands with elegance behind her Roland keyboard, but she is not hiding, rather she uses it as a weapon that works in tandem with her vocal prowess. She is hypnotic in her delivery, and it is easy to get lost in the forest of imagery that she paints on stage. There is ease in her presentation and just when you have sunk into euphoria and drifted into the solace, she snaps you back into the fray with symphonious falsetto vocal registers that tingle the spine.

Sunshine Scott (yes, that’s her given name) had the show-woman-ship of Sabrina Carpenter and added a heavy dance element to her time under the lights. She was donned with a large fabric heart across her chest which read like a metaphor for letting her feelings be known. The energy that came from this infectious performer was spell bounding. Scott had a full band behind her as well, dressed in red sequence. Her set could’ve played the mainstage at Coachella, but instead we had the phenomenal stylings of this remarkable songstress all to ourselves in this intimate space. She describes her personal genre as “Fairy-Rock” which is apropos as she plays with the ideas of fantasy and whimsy. At one point, she asked that we all turn on our cell phone flashlights and illuminate her as she glided from the stage to sit on the bar towards the back of the room. There was fun and plenty of flare, but at the heart of it all, it is her voice that captivates you.

Our final performance came in the form of Cassandra (Pinataro) who decided to fashion a pseudo-wedding outfit with the declaration that this would be her last performance under her current name as she is soon to be married. Her operatic chops were on full display, matching the tone of the entire gala (she can span 4-octaves). She started out her portion of the gig from a seated position upon a simple metal chair. That quickly escalated into a more complex choreography that brought two other dancers on stage to join her. Her charisma is ethereal. When she sings, there is a comfort that is exhausted in her breath and a warmness that caresses your entire being. She needs no other instrumentation to accompany her, in fact, she is so mighty in her abiities that she doesn’t even need a microphone. She provided us with a full array of vocal gymnastics that made the onlooker dizzy with joy.

I hope that “A Night at the Popera” was not just a one-off. Nashville, and the world for that matter, need more events like this. Too often we stay in our lane and stick to the patterns that make us “feel safe”. I say put yourself out there more and revel in the ability to be different and express yourself. This goes for both performers and connoisseurs of art and music. Thank you so much to these incredible women and to everyone that helped put forth this fantastic event. Please keep doing what you are doing. We will be listening.