Dona D. Vaughn News

Opera Maine will present live opera again this summer at Merrill Auditorium, with two performances July 28 and 30. 

Opera Maine has announced the postponement of its 26th summer season out of concern for public health during the current COVID-19 pandemic.

Opera Maine has launched a virtual behind-the-scenes program, Opera in ME. Hosted by baritone Robert Mellon, this weekly online series posted every Tuesday at 5 p.m. introduces audiences to different aspects of opera from unique perspectives. This free series is designed to bring original, educational, and entertaining content to a diverse online audience and promote the mission of Maine's only professional opera company.

 To celebrate its 25th Anniversary--and the magic of opera--Opera Maine presents its first-ever production of Mozart's The Magic Flute. The magnificent music and captivating story create a fantasy world, where a prince and a bird catcher set out on a trial-filled journey to rescue a beautiful princess.  Armed with a magic flute and enchanted bells, they confront bewildering forces of good and evil and discover enlightenment and the power of love.  The twisting tale has enthralled young and old alike since the opera's premiere in 1791, less than three months before Mozart's death. 

Palm Beach Opera presents Johann Strauss II's high-spirited opera "Die Fledermaus" in a colorful production at Kravis Center for the Performing Arts for one weekend only, March 22-24.

Tickets go on sale today for Opera Maine's 25th Anniversary mainstage production of W.A. Mozart's The Magic Flute presented at Merrill Auditorium on Wednesday, July 24 and Friday, July 26, 2019. Ticket prices start at $34. To celebrate the 25th Anniversary, a grant from Wells Fargo will allow the first 300 registrants, age 25 and under, to attend for free. 

Opera Maine is proud to present a new production of Mozart's masterpiece The Marriage of Figaro, a comic satire often described as 'the perfect opera.' Mozart's sublime music in The Marriage of Figaro has delighted audiences since 1786, and the captivating plot, with its dynamic characters and themes of social and sexual tension, is sure to excite today's audiences. The Marriage of Figaro will be performed at Merrill Auditorium on Wednesday, July 25 and Friday, July 27 at 7:30 p.m.  

Opera Maine is pleased to announce that it has received a $2,500 grant from Macy's to launch a new initiative, "Opera for All!" With this grant, Macy's will underwrite opera tickets for those who might otherwise be unable to attend a professional opera performance. Macy's support will provide 100 tickets to nonprofit agencies throughout the state to distribute to young Mainers ages 13 to 18, veterans, members of our immigrant communities, and others. The tickets are for Opera Maine's mainstage performance of The Marriage of Figaro this summer.

More than 400 opera aficionados and performers – including opera stars Alice Coote, Jennifer Rowley and Laurent Naouri – were among those who attended the 13th Annual OPERA NEWS Awards at The Plaza Hotel last night.

There is a real pleasure in enjoying amazing voices telling a story in a language you do not know, and be able to understand the emotion conveyed by singers of exceptional skill. Opera Birmingham provided such wonder in 'Romeo and Juliet.'

The 2018 Alan M. and Joan Taub Ades Vocal Competition takes place at Manhattan School of Music (MSM) on Thursday, March 29 at 4:00 pm. Each year, the Competition showcases MSM voice student finalists who exhibit outstanding talent and strong potential for careers in opera. The winner will receive up to $40,000 in prize money to be used to support his or her professional development.

OPERA America, the national service organization for opera and the nation's leading champion for American opera, is pleased to announce that seven members have been elected to the organization's Board of Directors. Elections took place during OPERA America's recent Annual Business Meeting, held during Opera Conference 2017 in Dallas.

The York Theatre Company presents the 1972 musical Berlin to Broadway with Kurt Weill:  A Musical Voyage, music by Kurt Weill, text and format by Gene Lerner, lyrics by Maxwell Anderson, Marc Blitzstein, Bertolt Brecht, Jacques Deval, Michael Feingold, Ira Gershwin, Paul Green, Langston Hughes, Alan Jay Lerner, Ogden Nash, George Tabori, and Arnold Weinstein, the second of three shows in the Winter 2017 Musicals in Mufti Series.

 OPERA America, the national service organization for opera and the nation's leading champion for American opera, is pleased to announce that Timothy O'Leary, general director of Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, has been elected the new chairman of OPERA America's board of directors. He has been involved with OPERA America since 2006, when he participated in Leadership Advance, one of the organization's professional development programs. He joined OPERA America's board in 2011. O'Leary was elected chairman at OPERA America's recent annual business meeting — held during Opera Conference 2016 in Montreal — where eight new members were also elected to the board and three current members were re-elected to three-year terms. 

The Manhattan School of Music Opera Theater will be presenting Ernest Bloch's Macbeth on Wednesday, December 10 and Friday, December 12 at 7:30 pm.; and on Sunday, December 14 at 2:30 p.m. in the School's Borden Auditorium. Bloch's only opera, composed when the composer was in his early 20's, is set to a libretto by the composer's friend, the poet Edmond Fleg, after Shakespeare's play.

Thomas Hampson will be at Manhattan School of Music today, March 19th to give a vocal master class. This master class, a free event and open to the public, takes place at 4:00 p.m. in the School's Greenfield Recital Hall, and will be streamed live by going to http://dl.msmnyc.edu/live. The master class will be given in collaboration with MSM's world renowned Distance Learning and Recording Arts Department, headed by Christianne Orto, Dean of Distance Learning and Recording Arts at Manhattan School of Music.

Thomas Hampson will be at Manhattan School of Music on Wednesday, March 19th to give a vocal master class. This master class, a free event and open to the public, takes place at 4:00 p.m. in the School's Greenfield Recital Hall, and will be streamed live by going to http://dl.msmnyc.edu/live. The master class will be given in collaboration with MSM's world renowned Distance Learning and Recording Arts Department, headed by Christianne Orto, Dean of Distance Learning and Recording Arts at Manhattan School of Music.

PORTopera has quite an interesting inception story, dating back to the 1970s when Bruce Hangen, at that time Music Director for the Portland Symphony dreamed of forming an opera company in Maine. In 1985, Hangen accepted the Music Director position for the Omaha Symphony in Nebraska. This did not end his dreams of creating a summer season back in Maine and finally in 1994 the Portland State Theater became available. The time had come for Hangen and a group of friends and supporters created the company, then known as Portland Opera Repertory Theatre. The first production of the company was in July 1995 at the State Theater with Bizet's 'Carmen.' The overwhelming response led to another summer season in '96 with Puccini's 'Madama Butterfly.' In the second season the company also introduced PORTopera's Young Artists Program to help the careers of emerging young singers.