Sofia Selowsky

Gioachino Rossini's delightful “La Cenerentola” plays out in modern-day Newport, RI in an updated take on the classic tale in a new production by Opera Columbus, Tri-Cities Opera, and Annapolis Opera.  

Well-aware of the Peter Shaffer implications of programming MOZART'S REQUIEM with a Salieri symphony, Charlotte Symphony flipped the script, revealing a happy-go-lucky Salieri and a fearsome Mozart.

Ars Lyrica Houston presents its first full-length Baroque opera production on Friday, November 16 at 7:30 pm & Sunday, November 18 at 2:30 pm in Zilkha Hall at the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts. The cast for Ars Lyrica's production of this early Handel masterpiece includes: Sofia Selowsky as Agrippina, John Holiday as Nero, Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen as Ottone, Camille Ortiz as Poppea, and Timothy Jones as Claudio. Conductor and artistic director Matthew Dirst describes the opera as "Handel's first operatic masterpiece, the work that forged his reputation as a theatrical genius." 

Ars Lyrica Houston, the Grammy-nominated early music ensemble, announces its 2018/19 season: Out of the Box: Celebrating Ambition & Innovation. Ars Lyrica Houston takes on its first full-length Baroque opera with Handel's Agrippina plus the complete "Brandenburg" Concertos by J. S. Bach. Artistic Director Matthew Dirst has created a program "that highlights composers and works that are exceptional, definitive, unusual, even infamous." With Bach's six concertos appearing in pairs throughout the season, individual programs explore distinct ways of thinking about the general theme, from unexpected musical gifts to singular collections and composers.

Des Moines Metro Opera's (DMMO) General and Artistic Director, Michael Egel, is pleased to announce the full casting for the Company's 46th Festival Season, which runs from June 22 through July 15, 2018, and offers 17 performances of four different operas.

Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra's Baroque Conversations series features the highly anticipated US premiere of a newly-discovered setting of Pergolesi's Salve Regina, led by guest conductor Riccardo Minasi, hailed as “an outstanding musician” (Guardian), on Thursday, March 1, 2018, at Zipper Hall in downtown Los Angeles.  The program also includes Pergolesi's Stabat Mater, a setting of a 13th-century meditation considered among the composer's most notable sacred works, with rising artists soprano Elizabeth Sutphen and mezzo-soprano Sofia Selowsky.  The all-string program includes 16 members of LACO's critically acclaimed string section headed by Tereza Stanislav as acting concertmaster.  A complimentary wine reception for all ticket holders begins at 6 pm. 

Houston Grand Opera ( HGO ) presents Richard Strauss's chilling one - act drama, Elektra, January 19 February 2, the first HGO performances in 25 years. The Sir David McVicar production stars internationally acclaimed soprano Christine Goerke, who owns the title role as one of the most fearless and formidable dramatic sopranos of the day ( New York Times ).

Houston Grand Opera will open its 63rd season with a new production of Verdi's most romantic opera, La traviata, October 20 November 11 in the new HGO Resilience Theater at the George R. Brown Convention Center in downtown Houston.

The American premiere of The Trial has opened at the Opera Theatre of St. Louis. This is a very major event in opera. Franz Kafka's nightmare tale of Joseph K, trapped in an enigmatic trial for his life, has fascinated readers since it appeared in 1925. Composer Philip Glass read the novel as a youth and even then he yearned to write an opera based on it. But Glass kept that idea 'in his pocket' for sixty years. It was not until he received a commission from the Music Theatre Wales, the Royal Opera, Theatre Magdeburg and the Scottish Opera that Glass was able to fulfill that dream. The London premiere of The Trial opened in 2014.

Houston Grand Opera expands its commitment to broadening the audience for opera with a 2017-18 season that includes the first presentations of Leonard Bernstein's classic musical West Side Story by a major American opera house and the world premiere of composer Ricky Ian Gordon and librettist Royce Vavrek's holiday opera The House without a Christmas Tree. HGO will present its first performances in a quarter century of two iconic works: Richard Strauss's revenge-filled Elektra with virtuoso sopranoChristine Goerke in the tempestuous title role and 2016 Richard Tucker Award-winner and HGO Studio alumna Tamara Wilson in her role debut as Chrysothemis, under the baton of HGO Artistic and Music Director Patrick Summers; and Bellini's grand-scale tragedy Norma showcasing the debut of stellar dramatic soprano Liudmyla Monastyrska in the notoriously difficult title role, with 2015 Tucker winner and HGO Studio alumna Jamie Barton as Adalgisa.

Houston, January 13, 2016—Houston Grand Opera (HGO) will present the world premiere of The Root of the Wind Is Water, a chamber opera by composer David Hanlon and librettist Stephanie Fleischmann, directed by Matthew Ozawa, on May 13 at 7 p.m. at the Wortham Theater Center and on May 15 at 7 p.m. at The Grand 1894 Opera House in Galveston. Presented under the auspices of HGOco, the company's community collaboration and education initiative, The Root of the Wind Is Water explores the impact of hurricanes on the Texas Gulf Coast through the eyes of the residents who call the region home. The opera will be HGO's 61st world premiere. 

Ars Lyrica Houston, the Grammy nominated early music ensemble, announces a 2016/17 season that mixes beloved masterworks of the Baroque with rare gems from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. Fables & Follies opens on September 9 with an encore visit to the world of King Louis XIV, with Marc­Antoine Charpentier's comic chamber opera Les Plaisirs de Versailles. Handel's late masterpiece Jephtha will be offered twice, on October 15 and 16, and will feature a stellar cast of soloists plus the award-­winning Moores School Concert Chorale from the University of Houston. On December 31 a festive program rings in the New Year with cantatas J.S. Bach wrote specifically for this holiday. Bachanalia also includes Ars Lyrica's annual holiday gala and silent auction following the program.

Houston Grand Opera (HGO) presents the world premiere of PRINCE OF PLAYERS by distinguished American composer Carlisle Floyd on March 5, 11, and 13, 2016. A chamber opera in two acts, PRINCE OF PLAYERS is a high-spirited period piece that examines the fluidity of sexuality and gender roles. Scroll down for a first look at the cast onstage!

Houston, January 13, 2016—Houston Grand Opera (HGO) will present the world premiere of The Root of the Wind Is Water, a chamber opera by composer David Hanlon and librettist Stephanie Fleischmann, directed by Matthew Ozawa, on May 13 at 7 p.m. at the Wortham Theater Center and on May 15 at 7 p.m. at The Grand 1894 Opera House in Galveston. Presented under the auspices of HGOco, the company's community collaboration and education initiative, The Root of the Wind Is Water explores the impact of hurricanes on the Texas Gulf Coast through the eyes of the residents who call the region home. The opera will be HGO's 61st world premiere. 

Another treat in the midst of cold weather for Houstonians- Portman & Wright's THE LITTLE PRINCE, the second opera in HGO's holiday series. The two act opera, sung entirely in English, is based on French literary giant Antoine de Saint-Exupery's fantastical novella of the same name. A pilot, hopelessly stranded in the desert, makes the acquaintance of a Little Prince and, in their journey to safety, the two meet a cast of colorful characters and spark up an unlikely friendship.

Houston, August 17, 2015—Houston Grand Opera's (HGO) 2015–16 season showcases the vibrant and diverse artistic mix that marks HGO as a leading 21st-century American opera company: Wagner's Siegfried, the third installment of La Fura dels Baus's imaginative Ring cycle featuring a new generation of Wagnerians; the world premiere of Prince of Players by eminent American composer Carlisle Floyd, the Lynn Wyatt Great Artist for 2015–16; Dvoák's fairy tale rarity Rusalka; a holiday revival of family favorite The Little Prince from the award-winning composer Rachel Portman and librettist Nicholas Wright; a new production of The Marriage of Figaro; a new-to-Houston Eugene Onegin; a beloved core production, Tosca; and the Houston debut of Broadway sensation Rob Ashford's take on the classic musical Carousel. Through its community collaboration program HGOco, the company will present two additional world premieres: O Columbia, a chamber opera by composer Gregory Spears and librettist Royce Vavrek that examines the past, present, and future of the American spirit of exploration; and The Root of the Wind is Water, a chamber opera by composer David Hanlon and librettist Stephanie Fleischmann about the impact of hurricanes on the Texas Gulf coast.

Houston, March 12, 2015—Houston Grand Opera (HGO) will present its highly anticipated La Fura dels Baus staging of Wagner's Die Walküre with an all-star cast and Stephen Sondheim's thrilling Sweeney Todd in April, after notching critical and sales successes with its winter productions of Puccini's Madame Butterfly and Mozart's The Magic Flute. Butterfly's six performances averaged a total capacity of 102% (including resale of returned seats) while Flute's five performances averaged 104% capacity.

After a worldwide search, Houston Grand Opera has chosen seven new members for the 2015–16 HGO Studioprogram. One of the most respected and highly competitive young artist programs in the world, the HGO Studio provides comprehensivecareer development to young singers, pianist/coaches, and conductors who have demonstrated potential to make major contributions to thefield of opera. The HGO Studio received applications from 500 artists; of those, about 275 were heard in Houston, New York, Philadelphia,Cincinnati, and San Francisco. For singers, the audition process culminates in HGO's annual Eleanor McCollum Competition Concert of Arias, held this year on February 5.

Houston Grand Opera's 2014–15 season, the company's 60th anniversary season, includes the world premiere of A Christmas Carol by Iain Bell—the company's 55th new commission —from award-winning Dickens authority Simon Callow; the continuation of HGO's first Ring cycle, with the American premiere of La Fura dels Baus's groundbreaking take on Die Walküre; the American premieres of Sir Nicholas Hytner's The Magic Flute and Lee Blakeley's Sweeney Todd; a 60th Anniversary Gala Concert featuring mezzo-soprano (and HGO Studio alumna) Joyce DiDonato; and a host of career-shaping role debuts that speak to Patrick Summers's gift for casting. Together with the company's first presentation of John Cox'sOtello, and the returns of Göran Järvefelt's beloved Così fan tutte and Michael Grandage's hit staging of Madame Butterfly, these rich offerings serve once again to illustrate some of the ways that HGO—still the only opera company with two Grammys, two Emmys, and a Tony—epitomizes “one model of what a forward-looking opera company could be” (Greg Sandow, Arts Journal).

Houston Grand Opera capped a financially and artistically successful 2013–14 season by presenting Mieczyslaw Weinberg's The Passenger —the Polish-Jewish composer's long-suppressed Holocaust opera—to wide acclaim at New York's Park Avenue Armory as part of the Lincoln Center Festival, July 10–13. Earlier this year, HGO gave the American premiere of the work in Houston with the same cast. There was special praise for the production and performances, conducted by HGO Artistic and Music Director Patrick Summers. New York magazine described David Pountney's staging as “a multi-story set so vivid you can practically smell the machine oil and coal smoke,” while the Financial Times said: “The production, imported from Houston, is imposing in every way.” The New York Times called the cast “flawless,” adding: “The conductor, Patrick Summers, drew a surging, textured, richly detailed performance of this challenging score (lasting three hours) from the inspired musicians of the Houston Grand Opera.” WQXR's Operavore summed up the import of the performances: “The Passenger shows how a Holocaust opera can hold the stage while examining important, complex issues—and could certainly point the way for future composers to deal with such important but delicate subject matter.”