The tragedy of “Otello” — Giuseppe Verdi’s opera based on Shakespeare’s tale of a general whose mind and soul are poisoned by a treacherous aide-de-camp, will soon be brought to vivid life by Vashon Opera.

The production, to be performed on September 20 and 22 at Vashon Center for the Arts, will boast a cast of world-class singers that includes a regular at the Metropolitan Opera, as well as regional and local opera luminaries.

It’s a chance for islanders to revisit the timeless Shakespearean story, made even more dramatic by Verdi’s soaring music.

The opera’s principal singers are sublime, said Allison Pohl, the artistic director of Vashon Opera.

“These are much more than great opera singers,” she said. “They are experts in the specific art form that is singing Verdi.”

Welding the baton for “Otello” will be James Brown, Vashon Opera’s longtime conductor and stage director who has now also been named as the opera company’s general director.

In the title role, two-time Grammy winner Errin Brooks will return to Vashon after wowing island opera-goers with his turn as Bacchus in “Ariadne of Naxos,” produced by Vashon Opera in 2022.

Brooks, a tenor of immense power and velvety musicality, has performed a variety of roles with the Metropolitan Opera, including covering the title character in “Otello.” At the Met, he has also covered Calaf in “Turandot,” and with the Port Angeles Symphony, made his role and company debut as Rodolfo in “La bohème.”

Brooks, in an interview, said he was delighted to return to Vashon and will give his all to the production.

“Whether it is Vashon, the Met, Utah Festival Opera, or Royal Opera Covent Garden, you will always get my absolute best,” Brooks said. “Vashon has welcomed me with open arms and the state of Washington has been so good to me. My first time on the West Coast was in this town, working with this company [on] “Ariadne auf Naxos.”

Brooks believes that Otello is one of the most relatable of Shakespeare’s characters.

“Whether it is love, joy, jealousy, despair, anger or wrath, he goes through all the basic human emotions,” Brooks said. “Otello is demanding both physically and vocally, so if you are unable to see the different looks on my face showing my emotions, you’ll hear the contrast of emotions in my voice.”

Brooks said that in the opera world, the role of Otello is difficult to cast — “because not many tenors develop different vocal colors and dimensions.” He said he considers himself fortunate to perform the powerful role “with one of the best-hidden gems in America — Vashon Opera.”

Singing opposite Brooks, in the role of Desdemona, will be a local legend — Jennifer Krikawa, Vashon’s Opera’s founder.

She returns to the stage after dazzling audiences in an array of principal roles in the company throughout the years. Krikawa also recently performed Musetta in “La Bohème” with the Port Angeles Symphony.

Her career, before helming Vashon Opera, included singing in opera companies including New York City Opera, Virginia Opera, Connecticut Opera, Sarasota Opera, Opera North, Augusta Opera, Annapolis Opera, Central City Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, and Israel Vocal Arts Institute.

Krikawa led as artistic director of Vashon Opera for 14 years and will now support the company as an advisor and artist for its 15th all-Verdi season, which will launch with “Falstaff” in May of 2025.

For the willowy soprano, the chance to perform Desdemona has been a long-held dream that is finally coming true.

“When I was in graduate school at The New England Conservatory of Music, I wrote a paper on the third act of “Otello,” and I listened to it over and over again, enraptured by the beauty and how Verdi uses chromatics to elevate emotion,” Krikawa said, lauding Verdi’s “very visceral style.”

She described the arc of Desdemona’s character as filled with whipsawed emotions.

“The first duet is so loving and this is what she expects her life to be like,” Krikawa said. “Then when [Otello’s] mood turns, she is emotionally frozen with shock and just not sure what to do.” In the fourth act, Desdemona, accepting her fate, sings a song she learned in her childhood, “The Willow Song.”

Krikawa quoted the tragic lyrics that she will sing as Desdemona meets her fate: “He was born for his glory and I was born to love him and die.”

Krikawa said she is relishing her new role as an artist and artistic advisor with the company, after having so long been at the helm of Vashon Opera, and is excited to work with the other principal singers, the chorus, and musicians of “Otello”— all of whom she described as having incredible talents.

And she said she is thrilled that Brown and Pohl have taken over leadership positions in Vashon Opera.

“It is fantastic that Vashon Opera exists and continues into the future,” Krikawa said. “I am happy to support the transition. I believe in every organization there needs to be succession so it can have the chance to serve its community forever.”

Other principal singers

Standing between the characters of Otello and Desdemona will be Canadian baritone Chad Armstrong, embodying the villainous role of Iago, whose jealousy over the general’s fame metastasizes into a merciless plot against the Moor.

Armstrong’s heroic baritone, said Pohl, “is at home in Verdi’s masterpieces,” citing his portrayal of Rigoletto with the Annapolis Opera — a performance that The Baltimore Sun called masterful.

Pohl said she is also excited to welcome tenor Brendan Tuohy back to Vashon in the pivotal role of Cassio in “Otello.”

His prior performances on Vashon included his turn as the brutish Stanley in “A Streetcar Named Desire,” opposite Krikawa’s Blanche, as well as principal roles in “The Merry Widow,” “Dialogues of the Carmelites,” and many more. Touhy most recently sang Don José in Bizet’s “Carmen,” with Union Avenue Opera in St. Louis.

Other returning artists in the cast of “Otello” include Soon Cho as Emilia, and Zachary Lenox, as Montano. Singers making their Vashon debuts in the production include Nick Stevens, as Roderigo, and Dan Gibbs, as Lodovico.

The ambitious production, helmed, directed, and conducted by Jim Brown, includes projected film as a backdrop, not only to depict storm and sea in 15th-century Cyprus and Venice but also as a glimpse inside the tormented mind of Otello himself.

For more information about the production, and to purchase tickets, visit vashonopera.org.