PAOLA PRESTINI

OPERA America has announced grants to five opera companies to support the commissioning of new works by women composers as part of OPERA America's Opera Grants for Women Composers program. The program, supported generously by the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation, promotes the development of new works by women and raises the visibility of women writing for the operatic medium....

If we needed any further proof about how opera continues to evolve--as in “what’s an operatic experience?”--a concert at New York’s United Nations Headquarters featuring a live-and-in-person version of Paola Prestini‘s and Magos Herrera’s CON ALMA album celebrated International Women’s Day. The album--and event--were subtitled “An Operatic Tableau on Isolation.”...

OPERA America announces its latest support of women composers with Commissioning Grants to seven opera companies across the country through its Opera Grants for Women Composers program. ...

The popular idea of a 'Liederabend' – an evening of song – goes back to Schubertiads and the flowering of German Romantic poetry and song in the 1800s. These musical salons provided the artists and ruling-class intelligentsia of their day opportunity to co-mingle ideas, music, and personal passions....

Whether he’s writing about soldiers in World War I (SILENT NIGHT with Kevin Puts) or immigrants landing on Ellis Island (A NATION OF OTHERS with Paul Moravec), setting a ‘penny dreadful’-inspired story (ELIZABETH CREE with Puts) or looking inside a mad genius of technology [THE (R)EVOLUTION OF STEVE JOBS with Mason Bates], Mark Campbell brings his unique vision of the world to whatever he does. He gave us an inkling of the depth and breadth of his skills in the concert for the New York Festival ...

OPERA America is pleased to announce the three pairs of protégés and mentors selected for the organization's Mentorship Program for Women, now in its third year. The Mentorship Program for Women provides a unique opportunity for promising opera company administrators to be paired with established industry leaders who can help them identify barriers to advancement and develop plans for professional growth. ...

It may surprise you to learn that Stephen King didn't write 'The Shining' and Sister Helen Prejean didn't write 'Dead Man Walking.' Even more, you may be startled to learn that Herman Melville didn't write 'Moby Dick' and Louisa May Alcott didn't have a hand in 'Little Women.' Well, of course they did--except when it came to turning the works into operas. Then, respectively, Mark Campbell and Terrence McNally took over, as did Gene Scheer and Mark Adamo....

Mezzo-Soprano Eve Gigliotti stars in a reading of Untitled (inspired by Film Stills), a series of four operatic monodramas exploring the stages of transformation and identity in a woman's life....

'I am very optimistic about opera in America,' says OPERA America President/CEO Marc A. Scorca. 'When I entered the industry decades ago, new American operas were rarely commissioned or performed. Today, the flow of creativity from American composers, librettists, directors and designers has generated an American opera repertoire that spans the gamut of styles and subject matter.'...

The Metropolitan Opera presents the company premiere of Philip Glass's modern masterpiece Akhnaten on November 8, 2019, with performances continuing through December 7....

Two American opera singers noted for their theatricality – one on the rise, the other an international star – headline the second George London Foundation recital of the season. Anthony Dean Griffey, the renowned tenor whose searing interpretation of the title role of Britten's Peter Grimes, among others, has brought him worldwide acclaim, and Amy Owens, a “scene-stealing” (Broadway World) “radiant soprano” (Opera News) who won an award at the 2018 George London Awards competition, perform the s...