A former James Brown diva and a Metropolitan Opera star believe there are still songs to sing at the Augusta Opera.

When the opera cancelled the rest of its 2008-09 season and let its staff go earlier this year, few believed the financially embattled organization would ever stage another production. But Augustans Kelly Jarrell, a longtime member of James Brown's Bittersweets, and Sandra Walker, a retired opera singer who performed nine seasons at the Met, weren't ready or willing to accept the end of opera in Augusta.

The two women, both members of the Augusta Opera Guild, have banded together to develop a plan to keep the Augusta Opera name alive and active.

The first performance of the new-model Augusta Opera will be Sept. 24. The performance -- A Night of Bel Canto at the Partridge Inn -- will feature a greatest hits package of opera arias presented by a trio of highly respected singers.

Performers will include the Metropolitan Opera's Fredrick Berchinal, LaQuita Mitchell from the San Francisco Opera, and Tonya Currier, from the Chicago Lyric Opera. The singers will be accompanied by Gary Di Pasquasio, recently named the Augusta Opera's new artistic director.

"We knew we had to have someone in that position," said Ms. Jarrell, who is acting as Augusta Opera's interim managing director. "I could not go out into the community and tell people that we were going to do great things without having something, some sort of product. Having an artistic director means we can come up with that product. We can have something to take to those corporate sponsors."

Ms. Jarrell said it was important that the first performance, albeit small in scale, be an event worthy of the Augusta Opera name. She said enlisting Ms. Walker was essential.

Ms. Walker called on contacts from the opera community to line up high-caliber performers. It helped that all live within 125 miles of Augusta, and two, Ms. Currier and Ms. Mitchell, call it home.

"This is a performance," Ms. Walker said. "Yes, it is a limited performance, but it is a performance -- very legitimate. We didn't want to just put anything out there that we could attach our name to. We wanted to do something significant."

Ms. Walker said it is important that the opera begin to rebuild modestly. She said each event, the bel canto and perhaps a series of house concerts to follow, are designed to be a foundation from which partnerships and more ambitious productions can be built.

"We need to do this hand-to-mouth right now," she said. "That means events like this. We just aren't ready to do full-fledged operas. We wanted to do the Opera at St. Paul's concert, but we just don't have the funds. We need to be patient."

Ms. Jarrell said the Augusta Opera, now in its 35th year, will continue under a banner of both fiscal and artistic responsibility.

"That's just the bottom line," she said. "It will continue, and it will continue as a business. We feel compelled to make sure that happens and to make sure the right people are in place to ensure that it can."