Review: Barber’s VANESSA – or Is It ERIKA? – Returns with Heartbeat Opera
by Richard Sasanow - May 19, 2026
I caught up with Heartbeat Opera’s reinvention of Samuel Barber’s 1958 opera, VANESSA, to Giancarlo Menotti’s libretto, a few days after its debut at the Baruch Performing Arts Center in New York, after premiering last summer at the Williamstown (MA) Theatre Festival.
SENSORIUM EX Will Make its World Premiere Next Year
by Stephi Wild - Aug 19, 2024
Paola Prestini and Brenda Shaughnessy's expansive, multi-modal opera Sensorium Ex will have its world premiere May 22-25, 2025, presented by Omaha's Common Senses Festival in a co-production by VisionIntoArt and Beth Morrison Projects, directed by Jerron Herman and Jay Scheib.
Portland Opera Closes Season With PUCCINI: IN CONCERT
by Stephi Wild - Apr 9, 2024
Portland Opera will cap off their season on May 11, 2024, with Puccini: In Concert, a one-night-only performance commemorating the great Italian opera composer, Giacomo Puccini, 100 years after his passing.
New York Festival Of Song Presents GRACIAS A LA VIDA
by A.A. Cristi - Oct 26, 2023
New York Festival of Song (NYFOS), led by Artistic Director Steven Blier, continues its Mainstage season with Gracias a la vida, a musical tour of South America, with songs from Brazil, Bolivia, Argentina, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, and Chile, on Tuesday, December 5, 2023 at 8:00 p.m. at Merkin Hall.
New York Festival Of Song Presents A GOYISHE CHRISTMAS TO YOU!
by A.A. Cristi - Nov 9, 2021
New York Festival of Song, led by Artistic Director Steven Blier, presents its annual holiday tradition, A Goyishe Christmas to You! on Monday, December 6, 2021 at 7:00pm at Merkin Hall's Upper Lobby at the Kaufman Music Center. The