When Gideon Solomon Dabi and Alyssa Nicole Martin met as castmates in June 2021 in a production of Gioachino Rossini’s “La Cenerentola” neither imagined they were finding lifetime love. The opera was part of the Northern Lights Music Festival, based in Aurora, Minn. Martin played the lead role of Angelina, while Dabi was cast as the valet Dandini.
After more than a year of Covid restrictions, “the experience of singing in a production was surreal after being so isolated,” Martin said. “I was just trying to get by as an artist and not looking for love.”
Dabi agreed: “Alyssa was a colleague, but we quickly became friends.”
Both were in town for the summer for the show. At the time, Martin lived in Atlanta and worked as a freelance performing artist. Dabi, a voice coach and a freelance performing artist, rented an apartment on Manhattan’s Upper West Side.
Their first real conversation unfolded over a cast dinner at BoomTown Woodfire Bar & Grill in Eveleth, Minn. “As we chatted, it was obvious that Gideon was extremely funny and that we shared the same sense of humor and weird references to ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm,’” Martin said.
“Alyssa was very witty,” Dabi added. “She would get almost angry whenever I beat her with a good joke.”
The friendship they developed over the next several weeks and didn’t cross into romantic territory. When they returned home, they kept in touch through texts and phone calls.
“We used to talk about everything from opera and our jobs to what we ate for lunch that day,” Dabi said. “After a few months, the calls became more frequent and personal, and I began to have romantic feelings for her.”
“The more I got to know Gideon, the more I liked him,” Martin said. “He became the first person I shared anything with.”
By spring, both said they had “fallen for each other.”
They didn’t meet in person again until May 2022, when Dabi invited Martin to New York to see Puccini’s “La Bohème” at the Metropolitan Opera.
“I took a long shot at asking Alyssa and hoped she would agree,” he said.
Martin said, “It was a spur of the moment decision, but my gut told me to definitely say yes.”
She stayed at his apartment, and they had what she described as “an incredible three-day date.”
The weekend kicked off with dinner at Asset, a pan-Asian restaurant in Dabi’s neighborhood, followed by the opera. On the way back to his apartment, he stopped Martin on the street and leaned in for a kiss. “I don’t remember what we were talking about, but I definitely remember the kiss,” she said.
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After Martin returned to Atlanta on Sunday evening, it was obvious to both that their relationship was more than a fling. “We proceeded to act as a couple from then on,” Dabi said.
Dabi, 46, grew up in Highland Park, N.J. He sings in opera and classical music concerts and is a private voice instructor in New York. He has a bachelor’s degree in music from Rutgers University and a master’s degree and doctorate in music from the Manhattan School of Music.
Martin, 36, is from Stokesdale, N.C. She is the brand and partnership marketing director working remotely for the Atlanta-based physical therapy company PT Solutions. She earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music from the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University Bloomington.
Over the next two years, Dabi and Martin traded off flying to see each other once a month.
Martin, well versed on Dabi’s sports obsession, was excited to take him to Atlanta Braves games, and in New York, the two frequented the Metropolitan Museum of Art, operas and classical music concerts. Binge watching shows remains a shared interest, with “Antiques Roadshow” ranking high on their most-loved list.
In December 2024, Dabi proposed with a round diamond solitaire ring during a walk in Manhattan’s Riverside Park. “Alyssa was convinced I was going to propose on New Year’s Eve,” he said. “I threw her off by doing it the day before.”
The following April, Martin moved into Dabi’s apartment, which continues to be their home.
The couple married June 5, before 70 guests at Shell’s Loft Fort Greene, an event space in Brooklyn. Cantor David Mintz, a close friend of Dabi’s who was ordained by Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, officiated.
Music was prominent in their celebration. Mozart’s “Piano Concerto No. 9 in E-flat Major” was played during the processional.
Later that evening, a D.J. played pop hits from the last four decades, closing the night with Frank Sinatra’s “Theme From New York, New York.”
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