Huang Ruo News

Washington National Opera (WNO) opens its 2014-2015 season with the company premiere of Daniel Cata?n and Marcela Fuentes-Berain's Florencia in the Amazon, today, September 20-28 in the Kennedy Center Opera House.

Roulette presents Interpretations featuring selections from John King's Free Palestine, with A Secret Quartet (Cornelius Dufallo, Jennifer Choi, violins; Lev Zhurbin, viola; Yves Dharamraj, cello). Using materials derived from the Arabic systems of pitch and rhythm, maqam'at and iqa'at, each particular composition uses indeterminacy and improvisation to organize sound and time, thereby providing energetic and visceral motifs encompassing the full range of expression possible from a string quartet.

Washington National Opera (WNO) opens its 2014-2015 season with the company premiere of Daniel Cata?n and Marcela Fuentes-Berain's Florencia in the Amazon, September 20-28 in the Kennedy Center Opera House. This modern romantic drama, the first Spanish-language work WNO has presented in a decade, is inspired by the magical realism of Colombian author Gabriel Garci?a Ma?rquez. WNO Artistic Director Francesca Zambello revisits her world premiere production with members of her original creative team to present a fresh take on this contemporary classic. Conductor Carolyn Kuan leads the WNO Orchestra in her WNO debut.

At a time when things seem challenging for opera, the Santa Fe Opera holds strong. Santa Fe is among the oldest opera festivals in America and is the largest and most important. It has made its reputation as a distinctive company with a flair for the unusual. This summer they presented operas such as “Dr. Sun Yat-Sen” by Huang Ruo, and Beethoven's “Fidelio.”

The Music Academy of the West will present a new, fully staged production of Georges Bizet's timeless opera Carmen in honor of celebrated mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne's 80th birthday at Santa Barbara's historic Granada Theatre. Directed by David Paul and conducted by James Gaffigan, the performances will take place at 7:30 pm tonight, August 1, and at 2:30 pm on Sunday, August 3. Tickets start at $15.

Washington National Opera (WNO) today announced the roster of emerging artists and renowned vocal coaches engaged for the 13th season of its Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program. Under the leadership of program director Michael Heaston, the Domingo- Cafritz Young Artist Program continues to increase its number of performances throughout the season and expand its training regimen to include mentorship by its returning Artist in Residence, the acclaimed American soprano Deborah Voigt. Additional faculty members include voice teachers Diana Soviero and William Stone; guest vocal coaches Be?ne?dicte Jourdois, Kathleen Kelly, and Danielle Orlando; career consultants Ken Benson and Matthew Epstein; and guest drama coaches Peter Kazaras and Alan Paul, among others. The new class of young artists will participate in several world premiere productions during the 2014-2015 season as part of

The Music Academy of the West will present a new, fully staged production of Georges Bizet's timeless operaCarmen in honor of celebrated mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne's 80th birthday at Santa Barbara's historic Granada Theatre. Directed by David Paul and conducted by James Gaffigan, the performances will take place at 7:30 pm on Friday, August 1, and at 2:30 pm on Sunday, August 3. Tickets start at $15.

I love theater that challenges me as an audience member and An American Soldier does just that.

Washington National Opera (WNO) presents the world premiere of An American Soldier, June 13-14, 2014 in the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater. An American Soldier features music by composer Huang Ruo and a libretto by David Henry Hwang. This new work, to be performed in English, is the second hourlong opera created under the auspices of the American Opera Initiative, WNO's commissioning program for contemporary American opera. An American Soldier is directed by David Paul and a chamber orchestra is conducted by Steven Jarvi; both are alumni of WNO's Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program.

Ensemble 212 presents its Season Finale & Young Artist Showcase Concert tonight, May 31st at 8:30pm at Merkin Concert Hall featuring the Grand Prize Winners of the 2013-14 Young Artist Competition and the world premiere of Ke-Chia Chen's Wind Dance for String Orchestra!written especially for and commissioned by Ensemble 212 for its 10th anniversary. Two exceptionally talented young musicians will have a chance to perform with the orchestra: Grand Prize Winner of the 2013-14 Young Artist Competition, violinist Alice Ivy- Pemberton and cellist Derek Louie, 2nd Prize Winner. The concert opens and closes with exuberant classical works, Mozart's Impresario Overture and Beethoven's Symphony No. 1. A silent auction featuring unique artwork by local artists will be held in the lobby.

Ensemble 212 presents its Season Finale & Young Artist Showcase Concert on Saturday, May 31st at 8:30pm at Merkin Concert Hall featuring the Grand Prize Winners of the 2013-14 Young Artist Competition and the world premiere of Ke-Chia Chen's Wind Dance for String Orchestra!written especially for and commissioned by Ensemble 212 for its 10th anniversary. Two exceptionally talented young musicians will have a chance to perform with the orchestra: Grand Prize Winner of the 2013-14 Young Artist Competition, violinist Alice Ivy- Pemberton and cellist Derek Louie, 2nd Prize Winner. The concert opens and closes with exuberant classical works, Mozart's Impresario Overture and Beethoven's Symphony No. 1. A silent auction featuring unique artwork by local artists will be held in the lobby.

May continues to celebrate Lower East Side history with the Bowery Film Festival, the Sacred Sites Open House Weekend, and a number of events on the 'Vanishing City' of the Lower East Side. In honor of the neighborhood's rich cultural history, Lower East Side History Month includes over 60 participating groups and organizations, with more than 100 events throughout the month, including exhibits, tours, talks, performances, discounts, festivals and more.

Washington National Opera (WNO) presents the world premiere of An American Soldier, June 13-14, 2014 in the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater. An American Soldier features music by composer Huang Ruo and a libretto by David Henry Hwang. This new work, to be performed in English, is the second hourlong opera created under the auspices of the American Opera Initiative, WNO's commissioning program for contemporary American opera. An American Soldier is directed by David Paul and a chamber orchestra is conducted by Steven Jarvi; both are alumni of WNO's Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program.

The Chinese Fine Arts Society (CFAS), Chicago's champion for the art and culture of China led by Julie Tiao Ma, celebrates its milestone 30th Anniversary Season with a year-long series of concerts, lectures and events inspired by the world's fundamental building blocks in Forces of Nature: The Five Elements Project. Inspired by late CFAS founder Barbara Tiao, who many considered a "force of nature," The Five Elements Project is themed around the five elements found throughout Chinese art, science and philosophy: earth, fire, metal, water and wood. The Five Elements Project makes a splash with its first event, "Water," a concert featuring traditional and contemporary works by renowned Chinese composers, including a World Premiere by New York composer Huang Ruo, at the University of Chicago's Logan Center for the Arts, 915 E. 60th Street in Hyde Park, Sunday, April 27 at 3 pm.

Washington National Opera (WNO) continues its 2013-2014 season with a new English-language production of one of the most beloved and family-friendly operas in the repertory: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's The Magic Flute, May 3-18 in the Kennedy Center Opera House. The eye-popping new production features set and costume design by Japanese- American artist Jun Kaneko in his WNO debut, and will be sung in a new English version by WNO dramaturg Kelley Rourke. The opening-night performance on May 3 will be simulcast free to thousands of fans at Nationals Park as part of M&M'S® Opera in the Outfield. A special

Washington National Opera (WNO) presents An Evening with Paul Appleby and Joshua Hopkins in Recital, an evening of story and song featuring the stars of WNO's forthcoming production of The Magic Flute, Sunday, April 6, 2014 in the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater. Accompanied on piano by Natalia Katyukova, Mr. Appleby and Mr. Hopkins will share tales from their lives as young opera singers and perform songs, arias, and duets from popular works by Mozart, Donizetti, Bizet, Rossini, Mendelssohn, Sondheim, and more. All three artists make their WNO debuts with this performance.

Washington National Opera (WNO) continues its 2013-2014 season with the east coast premiere of the new American opera Moby-Dick, today, February 22 to March 8 in the Kennedy Center Opera House.

Perhaps the most controversial opera of the 20th century makes its Southern California debut when Long Beach Opera (LBO) stages John Adams' The Death of Klinghoffer on March 16 and March 22 at the Terrace Theater in downtown Long Beach. This powerful and unsettling work chronicles the 1985 hijacking of the Mediterranean cruise ship Achille Lauro by Palestinian terrorists and the murder of disabled Jewish-American passenger, Leon Klinghoffer. LBO's production is a partner presentation of the Los Angeles Philharmonic's 'Minimalist Jukebox' Festival.

Washington National Opera (WNO) continues its 2013-2014 season with the east coast premiere of the new American opera Moby-Dick, February 22 to March 8 in the Kennedy Center Opera House. Written by composer Jake Heggie and featuring an English- language libretto by Gene Scheer based on Herman Melville's 19th-century literary classic, Moby-Dick sweeps audiences straight out to the high seas with its massive nautical sets and dazzling multimedia visual effects, in what is perhaps the most technically challenging opera WNO has ever mounted. Renowned American director Leonard Foglia leads a talented all- American cast in performances conducted by Evan Rogister, a dynamic young American maestro making his WNO debut.