Aaron Blake News

The University of Washington School of Drama, under the leadership of Executive Director Todd London, is announcing several new faculty appointments.

Cincinnati Opera releases the live audio recording of the world premiere production of Gregory Spears and Greg Pierce's ravishing new opera, Fellow Travelers, directed by Kevin Newbury and featuring the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra conducted by Mark Gibson (out September 15 (digital) and September 29 (physical) on Fanfare Cincinnati).

Two of opera's rising young American stars open the 2017-18 concert season of The George London Foundation for Singers with a duo recital on Sunday, October 29, 2017, at 4:00 pm.

Cincinnati Opera releases the live audio recording of the world premiere production of Gregory Spears and Greg Pierce's ravishing new opera, Fellow Travelers, directed by Kevin Newbury and featuring the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra conducted by Mark Gibson (out September 15 (digital) and September 29 (physical) on Fanfare Cincinnati).

Cincinnati Opera releases the live audio recording of the world premiere production of Gregory Spears and Greg Pierce's ravishing new opera, Fellow Travelers, directed by Kevin Newbury and featuring the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra conducted by Mark Gibson (out September 15 (digital) and September 29 (physical) on Fanfare Cincinnati).

American Composers Orchestra (ACO) announces its complete 2017-2018 season, Dreamscapes, under the leadership of Artistic Director Derek Bermel, Music Director George Manahan, and President Edward Yim, featuring ten world, U.S., and New York premieres by a diverse set of composers. ACO continues its concerts at Carnegie Hall's Zankel Hall (December 8, 2017 and April 6, 2018) while expanding its presence in New York to include performances at Jazz at Lincoln Center (November 7, 2017) and as part of the 2018 PROTOTYPE Festival (January 12-14, 2018). ACO continues to take its commitment to fostering new work beyond the stage in its annual Underwood New Music Readings (June 21 and 22, 2018) for emerging composers, now in its 27th year, and through EarShot, the National Orchestra Composition Discovery Network, which brings the Readings experience to orchestras across the country.

The concept, a collaboration between Komische Oper Berlin and London-based performance group 1927, (Suzanne Andrade and Paul Barritt), was utterly unique, and Cincinnati Opera's production values were top notch.

New York City Opera concludes the season with the eagerly anticipated New York premiere of Peter Eotvos's Angels in America, based on the play by Tony Kushner.

Can an opera's libretto be true to its literary source without being a carbon copy of it? It not only can—it has to be; otherwise, a work like Peter Eotvos's ANGELS IN AMERICA would end up being as long as the four operas of Wagner's Ring Cycle without saying anything new. I knew that Eotvos's work, which had its New York premiere at New York City Opera last weekend, directed by Sam Helfrich, clocked in at around 2 ½ hours, compared to the seven hours of Tony Kushner's two-part epic. How would it compress all those verbal parries, the humor, the politics, the theatricality, and still be ANGELS?

The George London Foundation for Singers has been honoring, supporting, and presenting the finest young opera singers in the U.S. and Canada since 1971.

In its 2016 - 2017 season, New York City Opera presented the New York staged premiere of Rachmaninoff's Aleko, the New York premiere of Tobin Stokes's Fallujah, 10 sold-out performances of Bernstein's Candide, the modern-day revival of Respighi's La Campana Sommersa, and the American premiere of Antonio Literes's Baroque rarity Los Elementos. This June, New York City Opera concludes the season with the eagerly anticipated New York premiere of Peter Eotvos's Angels in America, based on the play by Tony Kushner.

Utah Opera and Salt Lake magazine partner for the 3rd annual Libretti & Libations, where art influences life - for at least a drink (or two). Talented mixologists from choice Salt Lake City and Park City restaurants curate artisanal cocktails inspired by the season's opera productions. Until May 21, 2017, eight participating restaurants will offer expertly-crafted libations inspired by Utah Opera's production of "Don Giovanni" as a way of infusing food and beverage with the experience of opera. Visit www.utahopera.org/libations for more information.

In May 2017, Utah Opera will present Mozart's “Don Giovanni,” a tale of love, seduction, and murder as seen through the stylized lens of a 1950s “film noir” cinematic approach. This production will be performed five times at the Janet Quinney Lawson Capitol Theatre on May 13, 15, 17, 19 at 7:30 PM and May 21 at 2 PM. Tickets, priced from $21-$92, are available for purchase through www.utahopera.org or by calling (801) 533-6683.

Many Young Men of Twenty, the poignant play by the great John B. Keane, opens at the Everyman this Thursday 20th April, and runs until Saturday 29th April.

The Everyman Theatre Company are delighted to present the John B. Keane play “Many Young Men of Twenty” at the Everyman Theatre, from 20th April to 29th April, at 8.00pm.

Annette Warren will make a long-awaited return to New York at the age of 94, with a special one-night-only engagement at Feinstein's/54 Below on Thursday, March 30 at 7:00 PM. 'I Ain't Done Yet' traces her illustrious 70-year career in songs and reminiscences from her beginning in Cleveland, through her successes in New York, London and Los Angeles. Warren will be joined on stage by Grammy and two-time Emmy winner John McDaniel at piano; and Warren's protege, rising opera star Aaron Blake, who makes his Metropolitan Opera debut earlier that week in La Traviata.

Soprano Amber Wagner, a 2010 George London Award Winner, and baritone Reginald Smith, Jr., who won his George London Award in 2015, make their New York recital debuts at the final program in the George London Foundation Recital Series, and the final event in the foundation's season, on Sunday, April 2, 2017, at 4:00 pm. Alan Darling is the recital's pianist; a reception with the artists follows the concert.

Annette Warren, the "secret" singing voice of Ava Gardner and Lucille Ball in such films as the MGM classic "Show Boat," and a nightclub, TV and recording star whose career spans the past 70 years, will make a long-awaited return to New York at the age of 94, with a special performance of her new one-woman show, "I Ain't Done Yet" at Feinstein's/54 Below on Thursday, March 30 at 7:00 PM.

This March, Feinstein's/54 Below, Broadway's Supper Club & Private Event Destination, presents some of the brightest stars from Broadway, cabaret, jazz, and beyond. Scroll down for details!

Tenor Paul Appleby, the 2011 George London Award winner who, it was recently announced, will be in the cast of the world premiere of John Adams's Girls of the Golden West with San Francisco Opera next season, teams up with mezzo-soprano and 2015 George London Award winner Sarah Mesko and pianist Ken Noda for the season's second event in the George London Foundation Recital Series at The Morgan Library & Museum on Sunday, March 5, 2017, at 4:00 pm.