James Robinson News

In the fall of 1987, Houston Grand Opera's world premiere of Nixon in China made political headlines and galvanized the opera world. Thirty years later, John Adams's trailblazing opera returns in a new-to-Houston production that sheds light on the electronic media's role in political history, just as a new media-savvy American president takes office.

In the fall of 1987, Houston Grand Opera's world premiere of Nixon in China made political headlines and galvanized the opera world. Thirty years later, John Adams's trailblazing opera returns in a new-to-Houston production that sheds light on the electronic media's role in political history, just as a new media-savvy American president takes office.

The Pipes of Christmas annual concerts return for an eighteenth season with performances in New York today, December 17 at 2:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. at Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church, and in Summit, New Jersey on Sunday, December 18 at 3:00 p.m. at Central Presbyterian Church.

This month Class Act Books presents the first entry in a new Science Fiction/Space Opera series and the sixth novel in a continuing series. 'The Story of a Peace-Loving Man' by Toni V. Sweeney, is the first title in the new Adventures of Sinbad series which begins this month. The initial story, asking the question 'How are Conscientious Objectors treated 300 years in the future?' deals with the story of Allan McAllister, a Paxist or Peace-Lover, and what happens when he protests the Earth's involvement in its first intergalactic war. The series, comprising eight novels, will be released monthly by Class Act Books. Covers will be designed by veteran artist, James Robinson. Ms. Sweeney is a long-standing Class Act Books author, having been first published by the company in 2010. She currently has twenty-eight novels under the Class Act Books logo, including several sequels and a trilogy. She was recently named a professional reader by Netgalley, and when not writing, reviews novels for the New York Journal of Books Online and the Paranormal Romance Guild. Last year, her novel 'NEBRASKA: Walk the Shadow Trail' placed second in the Top Ten Best General Novels of 2015 by the Annual Preditors & Editors Readers Poll. She was also voted one of the Top Ten Authors of 2015 by the same poll. She has also been recognized by the Maryland Romance Writers, and the National Writers Association. The Past Returns is Linda J. Burson's sixth venture in the best-selling Marcy series of romantic suspense novels. A former book editor, Ms. Burson is a Class Act Books debut author, having signed with the company late last year. Her novel, 'Rage,' first in the Marcy series, was voted third in the Top Ten Thrillers of 2015 by the Preditors & Editors Readers Poll for that year. Class Act Books came under new ownership in mid-2013 and is now celebrating its third year as a publisher of all fiction genres. It proudly includes many award-winning authors and prize-winning titles in its lists.

The Pipes of Christmas annual concerts return for an eighteenth season with performances in New York on Saturday, December 17 at 2:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. at Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church, and in Summit, New Jersey on Sunday, December 18 at 3:00 p.m. at Central Presbyterian Church.

MasterVoices raised over $200,000 at its 2016 Fall Galain support of its artistic and outreach programs on October 20. The event featured the New York premiere performance of Ricky Ian Gordon and Royce Vavrek's opera 27 starring Metropolitan Opera mezzo Stephanie Blythe as Stein, Heidi Stober, Theo Lebow, Tobias Greenhalgh, and Daniel Brevik directed by James Robinson and conducted by MasterVoices' Artistic Director Ted Sperling with 150 singers of MasterVoices and Orchestra of St. Luke's. The evening featured Scenic Design by Allen Moyer, Costumes by James Schuette and Lighting by James. F. Ingalls.

In many ways, '27'--the 90-minute the chamber opera about Gertrude Stein, Alice B. Toklas and their circle, composed by Ricky Ian Gordon to a Royce Vavrek libretto--is an old-fashioned love story. It just happens to be about two women who entertained and collected (in all senses) some of the most important visual artists and writers of the first half of the century. And it happens to take place when Paris was still the hub of the artistic world and 27 rue de Fleurus, the women's home, was its epicenter.

MasterVoices (formerly The Collegiate Chorale) will celebrate its 75th anniversary during the 2016-2017 season, beginning with the New York premiere of Ricky Ian Gordon and Royce Vavrek's 27, specially adapted for MasterVoices, on October 20 and 21, 2016 at 8pm at New York City Center, 131 W. 55th Street, New York City. Get a sneak peek at the production in St. Louis below!

MasterVoices (formerly The Collegiate Chorale) will celebrate its 75th anniversary during the 2016-2017 season, beginning with the New York premiere of Ricky Ian Gordon and Royce Vavrek's 27, specially adapted for MasterVoices, on October 20 and 21, 2016 at 8pm at New York City Center, 131 W. 55th Street, New York City.

MasterVoices (formerly The Collegiate Chorale) will celebrate its 75th anniversary during the 2016-2017 season, beginning with the New York premiere of Ricky Ian Gordon and Royce Vavrek's 27, specially adapted for MasterVoices, on October 20 and 21, 2016 at 8pm at New York City Center, 131 W. 55th Street, New York City. Get a sneak peek at the production in St. Louis below!

Although '27'--the opera by Ricky Ian Gordon and Royce Vavrek about the lives of Stein, Alice B. Toklas, and their circle of friends--had its world premiere at the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis (OTSL) in 2014, its upcoming performances at City Center in New York, on October 20-21, are a debut of a different color. As part of the 75th anniversary season of MasterVoices, formerly The Collegiate Chorale, 27 has had some interesting changes since the performances seen in St. Louis.

Donizetti's ebullient comedy The Elixir of Love sets a celebratory tone as Houston Grand Opera's (HGO) 62nd season opener on October 21. The colorful production features tenor Dimitri Pittas and soprano Nicole Heaston, as well as the HGO debut of eminent English conductor Jane Glover. Performances run through November 4.  

Gary Naylor sees a show that bristles with wit, warmth and wonderful songs and speaks directly to Londoners in 2016.

The World Premiere of This Little Life of Mine will run at Park Theatre for a limited season from 4 October - 29 October, with press night on 5 October. This brilliant, brand new production will run in Park90, and will be the first musical drama to examine the lives of modern Londoners, with the pressure of high expectation and the worry of underachieving. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

Donizetti's ebullient comedy The Elixir of Love sets a celebratory tone as Houston Grand Opera's (HGO) 62nd season opener on October 21.

MasterVoices (formerly The Collegiate Chorale) will celebrate its 75th anniversary during the 2016-2017 season, beginning with the New York premiere of Ricky Ian Gordon and Royce Vavrek's 27, specially adapted for MasterVoices, on October 20 and 21, 2016 at 8pm at New York City Center, 131 W. 55th Street, New York City.

New York City's famed MasterVoices (formerly The Collegiate Chorale) - founded in 1941 by legendary conductor Robert Shaw - will celebrate its 75th anniversary during the 2016-2017 season.

The World Premiere of This Little Life of Mine will run at Park Theatre for a limited season from 4 October - 29 October, with press night on 5 October. This brilliant, brand new production will run in Park90, and will be the first musical drama to examine the real lives of modern Londoners, with the pressure of high expectation and the worry of underachieving. 

Houston Grand Opera will present four pinnacles of the operatic repertoire during the company's 2016-17 season, which also features the highly anticipated world premiere of It's a Wonderful Life by composer Jake Heggie with libretto by Gene Scheer, and much-loved comedies by Donizetti and Mozart. Artistic and Music Director Patrick Summers will lead Gotterdammerung, the final installment of Wagner's epic Ring cycle, featuring a new generation of leading Wagnerians includingSimon O'Neill as Siegfried and Christine Goerke as Brunnhilde. HGO will bring back its popular production of Gounod's Faust, with the HGO debut of international star tenor Michael Fabiano in the title role partnered by Houston favorite Ana Maria Martinez as Marguerite, along with the role debut of prominent bass-baritone Luca Pisaroni as Mephistopheles. The company will celebrate the 30thanniversary of HGO's world premiere of John Adams's pivotal Nixon in China by presenting James Robinson's production, of which HGO is a co-producer, with HGO Studio alumnus Scott Hendricks as Richard Nixon and soprano Andriana Chuchman as his wife, Pat. Patrick Summers will conduct Verdi'sthrilling Requiem, which critics at the time termed "an opera in ecclesiastical robes," with soloists Angela Meade, soprano, in her HGO debut; Sasha Cooke, alto; Alexey Dolgov, tenor; and Peixin Chen, bass; and the HGO Orchestra and Chorus. HGO's 62nd season will open with a whimsical production of Donizetti's buoyant The Elixir of Love, featuring tenor Dimitri Pittas as Nemorino and HGO Studio alumna Nicole Heaston as Adina and led by the eminent English conductor Jane Glover, HGO's 2016-17 Lynn Wyatt Great Artist, in her first HGO appearance. Mozart's zany yet deeply emotive comedy TheAbduction from the Seraglio-featuring Russian coloratura soprano and HGO Studio alumna Albina Shagimuratova as Konstanze and leading American tenor Lawrence Brownlee as Belmonte in HGO's inventive 2002 co-production-will close the main-stage season.  

 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.