David T. Little News

On the heels of a successful opening weekend and rave reviews for live productions of Rossini's Otello and Toshio Hosokawa's The Raven, Opera Philadelphia's Festival O continues this week with the first Opera on Film series, featuring more than 30 cinematic operas presented in 12 screenings at the Philadelphia Film Center.

This bold new work with a libretto by legendary poet  Anne Waldman and story, screenplay, and direction by Michael Joseph McQuilken blends opera and rock into an alchemical exploration of magic, mystery, regret, and redemption.  

Third Coast Percussion, a GRAMMY Award-winning quartet of classically trained percussionists, has announced its 2022-23 Chicago concert season.

FringeArts has announced the full roster of programming for the 26th Annual Philadelphia Fringe Festival, a city-wide celebration of progressive, world-class art that expands the imagination and boldly defies expectations. The Festival will take place on September 8 through October 2.

Single tickets for Opera Philadelphia's 2022–2023 Season go on sale Tuesday, July 19, when opera fans can curate their experience with a wide array of options, starting with the much-anticipated return of the company's season-opening Festival O22, which takes the stage after a two-year hiatus, expanding into new spaces and genres.

Columbia University School of the Arts presents an expanded festival of new plays written by Columbia MFA Playwriting Students. The esteemed faculty who have nurtured these students, including Tony©, Pulitzer, and Obie Award winners such as David Henry Hwang, Lynn Nottage, Charles Mee, and Rogelio Martinez invite you to experience these innovative new playwrights.

Columbia University School of the Arts will present an expanded festival of new plays written by Columbia MFA Playwriting Students.

The 64th Annual GRAMMY Awards featured a tribute to Stephen Sondheim, a win for Barlow and Bear's 'Unofficial Bridgerton Musical,' Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett for their 'Love For Sale' Cole Porter duets album, Olivia Rodrigo, and more. Check out the full list of winners now!

Following a two-year, pandemic-induced hiatus, the annual 12-day gathering for opera lovers returns in September with its fourth iteration, O22, featuring live opera performances at multiple venues in Philadelphia as well as a series of film screenings and a panel discussion that explores whether the industry's recent foray into cinematic production was a temporary blip or a game-changer for the art form.

Debuting in 2017,  Opera Philadelphia’s annual, season-opening Festival O immediately garnered audience and  critical acclaim, proving to be “a hotbed of operatic innovation” (New York Times) and  “one of the most enjoyable additions to the fall calendar in years” (Washington Post).  Following a two-year, pandemic-induced hiatus, the annual 12-day gathering for opera lovers returns in September with its fourth iteration, O22, featuring live opera performances at  multiple venues in Philadelphia as well as a series of film screenings and a panel discussion that  explores whether the industry’s recent foray into cinematic production was a temporary blip or a  game-changer for the art form. 

Internationally acclaimed choreographer and “punk ballerina” Karole Armitage presents A Pandemic Notebook, a collection of world premieres with her company Armitage Gone! Dance, March 16–19, at New York Live Arts.

The Charlotte Symphony will make its debut at the Sandra Levine Theatre in the Sarah Belk Gambrell Center for the Arts and Civic Engagement at Queens University of Charlotte with a program showcasing the unique healing power of music on Sunday, April 3, 2022, at 3:00 p.m.

Internationally acclaimed choreographer and “punk ballerina” Karole Armitage presents A Pandemic Notebook, a collection of world premieres with her company Armitage Gone! Dance, March 16–19, at New York Live Arts.

Lyric Opera of Chicago will present the acclaimed chamber opera by the award-winning team of composer Missy Mazzoli and librettist Royce Vavrek: Proving Up, performed at the Goodman’s Owen Theatre, January 22–30, 2022.

Reflecting its deep commitment and connection to the veteran community, The Atlanta Opera will honor veterans in November with the release of two works centered on Tom Cipullo's Glory Denied, a distinctly American saga about the nation's longest-held prisoner of war, who returns from the jungles of Southeast Asia to a suburban home he barely recognizes.

American Lyric Theater has announced its return to live performances with a workshop performance of The Opposable Thumb by composer Jorge Sosa and librettist Julian Crouch. The performance, part of the company's popular InsightALT series, will take place Friday, October 1, 2021 at 7pm at The DiMenna Center for Classical Music, 450 W. 37th Street.

Verdi’s Il Trovatore can be seen live online on Sunday, October 3 at 2:00 pm or on Wednesday, October 6 at 7:30 pm live streamed directly from the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. Streamed live, they will not be able to be re-visited. Access to these performances is $30.00, available by clicking on the link below.   LINK https://www.laopera.org/performances/2122-season-page/il-trovatore-3/

This year, 6 composers and 3 librettists have been selected to receive fellowships, including composers Gabrielle Herbst, J.E. Hernández, Raquel Acevedo Klein, Paul Pinto, Tidtaya Sinutoke and Ania Vu, and librettists Jeesun Choi, Isabella Dawis, and Troy Defour.

The Opposable Thumb was commissioned by American Lyric Theater under the auspices of the company's nationally acclaimed Composer Librettist Development Program. Based on various true accounts of the last two hundred years, this fascinating work questions whether mankind is superior to the animals that are contained behind the bars of a zoo's cages, or just another ape with an opposable thumb, and a trigger pulling finger.

Pittsburgh Opera will be rebroadcasting the livestreams of all four operas from its 2020-21 season, free on its YouTube channel, between August 26th and September 2nd.