New Jersey Opera Theater will present its second annual Celebrate Opera Gala on Oct. 14.

The evening, which will begin at 6 p.m. at the Hyatt Regency hotel in Princeton, will be a celebration of opera and a toast to the success of New Jersey Opera Theater's (NJOT) 2006 season, according to a theater press release.

NJOT is a regional opera company that seeks to promote interest in opera, build a strong and diverse audience base for the art form and foster the development of emerging artists, according to the press release.

International opera stars Sharon Sweet, a soprano, and Allan Glassman, a tenor, will join other artists to entertain guests at the gala with arias and ensembles from favorite operas, including excerpts from NJOT's upcoming 2007 season.

The gala will offer a rare preview of the duo, who will next appear with NJOT in the March production of Giacomo Puccini's "Turandot" at the McCarter Theatre in Princeton and the State Theatre in New Brunswick.

Sweet has won international critical acclaim for such roles as Aida, Norma and Turandot. Additionally, she has collaborated with musicians such as Giuseppe Sinopoli, James Levine, Christoph Eschenbach, Zubin Mehta, Sir Colin Davis, Kurt Masur and the late Sir Georg Solti, according to the press release.

A frequent performer at The Metropolitan Opera in New York City, Glassman has performed at opera houses around the world.

Other performers scheduled the evening of the gala include Amy Shoremount-Obra, soprano; Emily Langford Johnson, mezzo-soprano; and James Kee, baritone - all of whom are making their NJOT debuts.

Tenor Chad Freeburg will also perform and was last heard with NJOT in a February performance as Fenton in "Verdi's Falstaff," according to the press release.

Freeburg will join Shoremount-Obra, Johnson, and Kee to perform highlights from the upcoming season, including Mozart's "Die Zauberflte," Gilbert and Sullivan's "The Pirates of Penzance" and Gounod's "Roméo et Juliette."

"This is truly going to be a very special evening," Scott Altman, NJOT's artistic director. "Not often do you have the opportunity to spend the evening with artists of this caliber in such an intimate setting."

One of the highlights of the gala will be the prelude reception, during which guests have the unique opportunity to meet and mingle with the evening's artists, according to the press release.

Individual tickets cost $200 and $500. Tickets are available by calling NJOT at (609) 799-7700. For more information about NJOT, visit www.NJOT.org.