LA Opera Announces Online Events for the Week of November 2

While LA Opera awaits its cue to return to live performances onstage, the company has turned to creating an array of online content through the LA Opera On Now initiative. Coming soon is the first in a series of newly commissioned Digital Shorts videos, pairing gifted composers with visual artists, which have recently been expanded to include composer Anna Clyne's forthcoming The Gorgeous Nothings, a setting of Emily Dickinson texts for soprano and string quintet. A major highlight of the coming month is a November 14 stream of The Anonymous Lover by Joseph Bologne, the first known Black classical composer. Since the launch of the initiative in March, these popular online offerings have accumulated more than 770,000 views to date.

Living Room Recital

On tap for the week to come is a performance from Craig Colclough on Thursday, November 5, at 4pm PT. A frequent performer with LA Opera, the bass-baritone had been set to sing Figaro earlier this year; he'll be back as Amonasro in Aida. In this recital, he'll partner with pianist Jeremy Frank for a program of arias by Verdi, Beethoven and Wagner, along with songs by Cole Porter, Ralph Vaughan Williams and more.

Family Learning

For those accustomed to our weekly Tuesday Connects programming, we invite you to keep the Halloween chills going by revisiting an earlier spooky episode of Shakespeare Sings. Soprano (and Shakespeare superfan) Katherine Powers dives into Verdi's setting of Macbeth, with a special performance by Melissa Chalsma of the Independent Shakespeare Company. Click here to watch. And as a reminder, you can find an archive of Connects educational programs (and a lot more) on the LAO Connect's YouTube channel.

To access all of these programs and to learn more about current and future programming, please visit LAOpera.org/OnNow.

LA Opera was the first major American Opera Company to create a weekly schedule of original new online programming to bring opera to audiences during the coronavirus crisis. LA Opera On Now (formerly known as At Home) programming highlights include: "Living Room Recitals" featuring artists performing in their homes; "Opera Family Time" presentations created specially for families with children to enjoy together; "Learn at Home (Grown-Up Edition)" opportunities for opera lovers of any experience level to dive deeper into the art form; "From the Vault" streams of earlier performances; and "Backstage at LAO" features that take viewers behind the scenes of a world-class opera company.