John DeMain News

(WASHINGTON)-Washington National Opera (WNO) today announced complete details and casting for the fourth season of the American Opera Initiative, its comprehensive commissioning program that brings contemporary American stories to the stage while fostering the talents of rising American composers and librettists. Three pairings of new opera composers and librettists- Sarah Hutchings and Mark Sonnenblick (Twenty Minutes or Less), David Clay Mettens and Joshua McGuire (Alexandra), and Christopher Weiss and John de los Santos (Service Provider)-will premiere new one-act operas, each based on a contemporary American story, in semi-staged concert performances on December 2, 2015 in the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater. The 7 p.m. performance is sold out; a second performance at 9 p.m. has just been added to accommodate demand.

WASHINGTON)—Washington National Opera (WNO) today announced details for the fourth season of the American Opera Initiative, its comprehensive commissioning program that brings contemporary American stories to the stage while fostering the talents of rising American composers and librettists. Three pairings of new opera composers and librettists—Christopher Weiss and John de los Santos, David Clay Mettens and Joshua McGuire, and Sarah Hutchings and Mark Sonnenblick—will premiere new one-act operas, each based on a contemporary American story, in a semi-staged concert performance on December 2, 2015 in the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater. Composer Luna Pearl Woolf and librettist Caitlin Vincent, an alumnus of the program's second season, will present their new hour-long work Better Gods—based on the life of Queen Lili'uokalani, the last monarch of Hawaii—on January 8 and 9, 2016 in the Terrace Theater.

Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II's quintessentially American masterpiece Show Boat comes to full life in a new DVD/Blu-ray recording from San Francisco Opera to be released by EuroArts Music International today, June 30, 2015.

The Glimmerglass Festival, Central New York's opera and musical theater company, has announced its 2016 season.

The Glimmerglass Festival, Central New York's opera and musical theater company, has announced its 2016 season.

Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II's quintessentially American masterpiece Show Boat comes to full life in a new DVD/Blu-ray recording from San Francisco Opera to be released by EuroArts Music International on June 30, 2015.

A new SHOW BOAT sails onto Blu-ray!

Rising Alternative today announced that San Francisco Opera's critically acclaimed production of SHOW BOAT will be screened in movie theatres across the country this summer. San Francisco Opera's production of the Broadway classic, which features music by Jerome Kern and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, opened in June of 2014, and is directed by theater and opera director Francesca Zambello.

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts today announced its 2015-2016 theater season. As the nation's performing arts center, the Kennedy Center is dedicated to bringing theater's finest productions to its stages. Reaching hundreds of thousands of audience members annually, the upcoming theater season showcases a diverse range of theatrical productions from a dramatic, centuries-old classic tale to unforgettable Broadway sensations; the season has something to offer everyone in the family.

(WASHINGTON)—Washington National Opera (WNO), led by Artistic Director Francesca Zambello, today announced its 60th anniversary season, one that highlights classic, contemporary, and American works. The 2015-2016 season includes a new-to-Washington staging of Bizet's Carmen, the world premiere of a newly revised version of Appomattox by composer Philip Glass and librettist Christopher Hampton, a revival of WNO's charming holiday production of Hansel and Gretel, the company premiere of Kurt Weill's Lost in the Stars in a gripping production from Cape Town Opera, and WNO's first complete staging of Wagner's extraordinary four-part Ring Cycle, with a world-class cast under the direction of Francesca Zambello and featuring the WNO Orchestra conducted by WNO Music Director Philippe Auguin. Highlights from the 2015-2016 season will be performed by the WNO Orchestra and special guests at a free preview concert on Wednesday, May 20, 2015 at 6 p.m. as part of the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage.

The audited financial results for San Francisco Opera's 2013–14 season (FY14) were announced today by San Francisco Opera Association President Keith Geeslin: a deficit of $348,244 on an operating budget of $74,119,493. The Company's 91st season presented eight main stage works at the War Memorial Opera House in addition to numerous concerts, recitals, workshops and community engagement events attracting more than 271,954 individuals.

In the second installment of the Columbus Symphony's American Roots Festival, guest bass-baritone Kevin Deas returns to perform some of George Gershwin's greatest music including extensive selections from his glorious opera Porgy and Bess, including “Summertime,” “It Ain't Necessarily So,” “Bess,” and “You Is My Woman Now.” Gershwin's brilliant and bluesy Piano Concerto and an orchestral suite by jazz legend Duke Ellington paying tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr. completes the bill. Led by guest conductor John DeMain, the program will also feature guest pianist Xiayin Wang, soprano Jonita Lattimore, and the Columbus Symphony Chorus.

As one can imagine, an opera created by Ludwig van Beethoven is likely driven by intricate musicality. That assumption would be completely accurate as the plot is fairly simple and the characters are of common theatrical stock. Though these observations are true, Madison Opera's recent production of Fidelio - translated as the favorite child - is far from ordinary.

George and Ira Gershwin's masterpiece opera Porgy and Bess, based on the play by Dubose and Dorothy Heyward, premieres on PBS this fall with the critically acclaimed production from San Francisco Opera. THE GERSHWINS'® PORGY AND BESS airs tonight, October 17, 2014, at 9:00 p.m. ET on PBS (check local listings) as part of the PBS Arts Fall Festival, which highlights artists and performances from around the country and invites every American to have a front-row seat and a backstage pass for the country's best arts performances.

Broadway stars Nat Chandler (Scarlet Pimpernel, The Phantom of The Opera) and Teri Dale Hansen (Boys from Syracuse, Show Boat) will be appearing with the Pueblo Symphony Orchestra (under conductor Dr. Jacob Chi) in MANCINI AND MOONLIGHT tonight, October 4th at 7:30pm in Hoag Recital Hall on the campus of Colorado State University -- Pueblo.

Broadway stars Nat Chandler (Scarlet Pimpernel, The Phantom of The Opera) and Teri Dale Hansen (Boys from Syracuse, Show Boat) will be appearing with the Pueblo Symphony Orchestra (under conductor Dr. Jacob Chi) in MANCINI AND MOONLIGHT Saturday, October 4th at 7:30pm in Hoag Recital Hall on the campus of Colorado State University -- Pueblo.

George and Ira Gershwin's masterpiece opera Porgy and Bess, based on the play by Dubose and Dorothy Heyward, premieres on PBS this fall with the critically acclaimed production from San Francisco Opera. THE GERSHWINS'® PORGY AND BESS airs Friday, October 17, 2014, at 9:00 p.m. ET on PBS (check local listings) as part of thePBS Arts Fall Festival, which highlights artists and performances from around the country and invites every American to have a front-row seat and a backstage pass for the country's best arts performances.

Announced today at the Television Critics Association Press Tour, the 2014 PBS Arts Fall Festival returns in September with 11 weekly programs featuring classic Broadway hits, music from around the country and a theater performance by award-winning actor Nathan Lane.

A true classic of American musical theater, this tale of life on the Mississippi from the 1880s to the 1920s is both a poignant love story and a powerful reminder of the bitter legacy of racism. Director Francesca Zambello's grand-scale production is 'a triumph-a stylish, fast-paced and colorful show that had the capacity audience on its feet, cheering loud and long' (Chicago Classical Review). The magnificent Jerome Kern-Oscar Hammerstein II score, which includes such classic songs as 'Ol' Man River,' 'Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man,' 'Make Believe' and 'You Are Love,' will sound glorious 'under the authoritative baton of music-theater maestro John DeMain' (Chicago Tribune). 'No one should miss it' (Chicago Sun-Times).