The great Tony Bennett famously sang of the loss of his heart in San Francisco.

In the case of the opera world’s latest craze, tenor Michael Fabiano, the story is similar, but the location is closer to home. It seems that Michael Fabiano’s heart is frequently abandoned in Bonita Springs.

“It’s tough to say where my ‘home’ is: I’m on the road so much now,” jokes the jet-setting Fabiano. “However, Bonita is home for me; I’ve spent a lot of my time there.”

A native of New Jersey, Michael Fabiano and his parents, Anthony and Carol Fabiano, reside in Bonita. His grandmother, Marie Fabiano, lives in Bentley Village.

Local opera lovers and would-be opera enthusiasts are about to become the beneficiaries of Fabiano’s choice of adopted hometowns. He will share the stage with legendary Metropolitan Opera bass-baritone Samuel Ramey — as well as rising stars Ola Rafalo and Gustavo Feulien — in Gulfshore Opera’s “Legends of Opera Gala” on Sunday, February 21, at First Presbyterian Church in Bonita Springs.

Admission to the event starts at the budget-friendly price of only $25 per ticket.

“Samuel Ramey and Michael Fabiano will perform the Act One scene of Gounod’s ‘Faust,’ says Gulfshore Opera Artistic Director Steffanie Pearce. “This is one of Ramey’s most famous roles, Mephistopheles, and Michael is singing the role of Faust all over the world.”

To say that Michael Fabiano’s parents have found great delight in his success is an understatement worthy of its own operatic libretto:

“After high school, I recall him listening to a recording of Jussi Bjorling singing the ‘Cujus Animan’ aria from the Rossini ‘Stabat Mater,'” recalls Anthony Fabiano. “He was matching the great tenor note for note — including the incredible high D-flat near the end of the aria. This was before he started studying voice. I was absolutely stunned.”

The subsequent years have revealed even more high notes for the 31-year-old Fabiano and his perpetually proud parents. In 2014, Michael Fabiano received the Metropolitan Opera’s Beverly Sills Artist Award.

He was also named the winner of the 2014 Richard Tucker Award in honor of the late Brooklyn-born tenor. Often referred to as the “Heisman Trophy of Opera,” the Tucker Award denotes an American singer at the threshold of a major international career.

Michael Fabiano is the first person ever to win both awards in the same year.

Last year, Fabiano lent his voice to a glorious interpretation of the role of Rodolfo in “La Bohème” at The Met.

More recently, he received rave reviews for his Royal Opera House debut as Lensky in Tchaikovsky’s “Eugene Onegin” in London.

“Michael Fabiano has entered the pinnacle of his world-class career just this year,” says Pearce. “If he continues on this meteoric trajectory, he will be up there with the legends. He is already being compared to Corelli, for good reason.”

Even world-renowned opera singer Renee Fleming, who has worked with Fabiano on several occasions, has weighed in on the powerful tenor: “Michael Fabiano possesses the rare ‘star quality’ and charisma so needed in our field. He is the complete package.”

However, Michael Fabiano seems to shun the fanfare and accolades in favor of an emphasis on the importance of the work.

“I’m a visionary. My focus is on how I can touch as many lives as possible with what I do,” he says. “We see this in popular music. I believe that an opera singer has the ability to do that too. I believe it’s just a matter of positioning and the right message.”

As for the art form itself: “Opera is the culmination of all types of art: dance, music, acting, costuming. It’s everything you get in a Broadway show but with one very big advantage: it comes from an unamplified presentation of voice.

“The unamplified voice has a drastic impact on people when they hear it for the first time. It touches them in their bones. That’s one of the joys of opera: it elicits feelings that people don’t necessarily have in their daily life.”

Of course, supporting Pearce and Gulfshore Opera has become a Fabiano family affair.

“When I found out Anthony Fabiano was on the board of Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia, I knew he had the ideal background to serve as chairman of Gulfshore Opera’s board,” says Pearce. “As the former CEO of several companies, he brings a wealth of worldly business savvy to the table.”

For his part, Anthony Fabiano provides a refreshingly simple spin on the timeless allure of opera: “Let’s face it, most opera is about ‘real life’ and what could be more meaningful and exciting to people?”

With a career moving faster than Superman or his speeding bullet, goal-setter Michael Fabiano is a man with a long-term plan: “I ultimately want my country to see that I have made a very concerted effort at changing the lives of a lot of children, and that I have been able to swing the pendulum in favor of the arts. That the classical arts are worth having — in a national discussion — and in a much bigger way than what we see today.”

The only thing left to say is: Welcome home, Michael Fabiano.

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Gulfshore Opera’s Second Annual Gala Concert, Legends of Opera
When: 4 p.m. Feb. 21
Where: Gala Concert- First Presbyterian Church, 9751 Bonita Beach Road SE, Bonita Springs
Gala and Ticketed Dinner: Bonita Bay Club, 26660 Country Club Drive, Bonita Springs