Francesca Zambello News

Tonight's episode of Richard Skipper Celebrates... will feature Anastasia Barzee! Hosted by Richard Skipper, the virtual event will stream live through Richard Skipper Celebrates on Facebook and YouTube. Tune in on August 31, 5 PM ET/2PM PT.

This Monday, Richard Skipper Celebrates Anastasia Barzee! Streaming LIVE through Richard Skipper Celebrates on Facebook and Youtube. 

The Chinese-produced opera film Carmen will be shown at the National Center for the Performing Arts (NCPA) on August 16.

Aptly taking its theme as innovation, MARLIa??s pioneering six-week program offered a career-building curriculum for the 21st-century musician, combining teaching and mentorship from the Academya??s outstanding faculty artists with musical, technological and entrepreneurial challenges and a diverse array of artistic and educational video content.

In anticipation of reopening its doors and resuming mainstage performances, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts has announced the updated 2021 seasons of the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) and Washington National Opera (WNO) along with the new seasons of theater, ballet and dance, and Performances for Young Audiences.

Peninsula Players Theatre has made the difficult decision to cancel its autumn performance of Richard Dresser's a?oeRounding Third.a??  

San Francisco's acclaimed Merola Opera Program announced plans to debut online coaching and instruction for the young artists selected for the 2020 program, and a public series of master chats with performing arts luminaries, who will share their artistic and career experiences with the artists unable to take part in this year's training program and Summer Festival, which were canceled due to COVID-19.

The Glimmerglass Festival, the Central New York opera and music theater festival, will kick off its revised summer programming with a Virtual Town Hall to discuss how the opera industry and arts organizations can work toward a more inclusive environment for Black artists, technicians and staff members.

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing arts released its upcoming schedule for digital programming.

The Glimmerglass Festival, the central New York opera and music theater festival, will not host any live performances in summer 2020 due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Recently, Los Angeles Opera has had to announce the cancellation of the final performance of Roberto Devereux on the main stage as well as both performances of Angel's Bone, which was to have been presented in partnership with Beth Morrison Projects at the Broad Stage. At present, the governor's closure order for Los Angeles remains in place through April 19, and the opera has not yet canceled additional performances. Noting that they are vigilantly watching for updates that would affect the remaining May and June performances, the company is still holding out hope. The priority is, of course, the safety of patrons and company members, so they're taking it one day at a time.

Washington National Opera has released a statement on the AGMA report related to Placido Domingo.

Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater has announced the company for August Wilson's Seven Guitars. Tazewell Thompson (Arena's Jubilee) will direct this Tony Award-nominated play. Set in 1940s Pittsburgh, seven lives are interconnected when old friend and blues singer Floyd Barton vows to turn his life around after a surprise windfall leaves him hopeful for a second chance.

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. 

Washington National Opera's (WNO) 2020-2021 season offers an ambitious mix of sweeping political epics and intimate stories of interpersonal relationships, centered on human pursuits of justice, power, and love. Led by General Director Timothy O'Leary and Artistic Director Francesca Zambello, WNO announces the six mainstage titles in the 2020-2021 season: Fidelio, Nixon in China, Boris Godunov, Rigoletto, Così fan tutte, and La bohème.

Lyric Opera of Kansas City General Director and CEO Deborah Sandler today announced the company's 2020-2021 season. It features four mainstage productions, including The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess and The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs, both of which are being performed on a Lyric Opera of Kansas City stage for the first time. Two all-time favorites known for incomparable melodies - Verdi's beloved La traviata and Bizet's passionate Carmen - round out the extraordinarily diverse season. The Kansas City Symphony Orchestra will accompany all performances at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. Find biographies of the casts and creative teams at Lyric Opera of Kansas City and find high-resolution photos here.

The International Opera Awards today announced the finalists for its 2020 Awards [Wednesday 5 February 2020]. The annual red-carpet event - which celebrates achievement in opera around the globe over the 2019 calendar year - recognises excellence in a wide range of categories that cover performance, design and direction as well as education and outreach.

At the University of Arizona's Centennial Hall. on January 28, 2020, the Tucson Desert Song Festival presented Thomas Hampson, baritone, with Lara Downes, piano, and the Beyond Liberty Players: Stephen Buck, synthesizer; Judy Kang, violin; Jesus Morales, cello; and Alex Laing, clarinet; The show libretto was based on an original work by Royce Vavrek which first appeared in a Francesca Zambello production at the 2018 Glimmerglass Festival in upstate New York

LA Opera President and CEO Christopher Koelsch today announced the company's 35th season, which will include six mainstage productions a?" one of them a company premiere and five productions new to Los Angeles a?" and two concerts presented at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, with additional performances presented in other venues through the company's Off Grand and Connects initiatives.

The Atlanta Opera has announced its 41st season. True to the vision of Tomer Zvulun, the company's Carl W. Knobloch, Jr. General & Artistic Director, the 2020-21 lineup boasts major new productions of three critically important works: Das Rheingold, one of the most iconic in the canon; The Sound of Music, one of the best-loved classics of musical theater; and The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs, one of contemporary opera's most palpable hits, now receiving its Southeast premiere. Together with the Atlanta premiere of As One, Steve Jobs is one of two topical and much talked-about new operas in Atlanta's award-winning Discoveries series, which breaks down barriers between artists and their audience by providing intimate, immersive experiences in nontraditional spaces.