Aaron Blake News

Tulsa Opera announces its 2018-2019, 71ST season, beginning an era of unprecedented inclusion on its stage.

The winners of the 47th annual George London Foundation Awards Competition for young American and Canadian opera singers were announced at the conclusion of the competition's final round this evening, which took place before an enthusiastic audience at Gilder Lehrman Hall at The Morgan Library & Museum in New York City.

Even if it were just for its history lesson about the lavender scare of the '50s-- the witch hunt and the mass firings of gay men and women from the federal government during the McCarthy era--FELLOW TRAVELERS by composer Gregory Spears and librettist Greg Pierce would be well worth seeing. But there's so much more to the opera, which had its local debut at the New York PROTOTYPE 2018 this past weekend, directed by Kevin Newbury, at the Gerald Lynch Theatre--including some of the most gorgeous opera music in recent memory.

On Friday, February 16, 2018, 16 of the best young American and Canadian opera singers will perform with pianist Craig Rutenberg before a panel of judges and an enthusiastic audience at The Morgan Library & Museum. At the event's conclusion, six of them will be named this year's winners of the George London Award, an honor that has been conferred upon hundreds of the best young singers since 1971. The award, currently a $10,000 prize, is named for the legendary Canadian-American bass-baritone, one of the greatest opera singers of 20th century.

With less than a week until the opening of New York's PROTOTYPE 2018, I was Skype-ing with the producers--no, not Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick--but Jecca Barry (of Beth Morrison Projects, BMP) and Kim Whitener (of HERE), who seem pretty calm. (Actually, they're two of four producers, the others being the eponymous Beth Morrison and Kristin Martin of HERE.) What's to be nervous about? After all they only have 8 new-opera/new-theatre productions (plus other events) opening between January 9th and 20th, including a couple of world premieres.

The 2009 winner of the George London-Leonie Rysanek Award and American opera's latest Rigoletto: Marjorie Owens, soprano, and Quinn Kelsey, baritone, with Myra Huang, piano, will offer the second event in the season's George London Foundation Recital Series at The Morgan Library & Museum on Sunday, December 10, 2017, at 4:00 pm.

The University of Washington School of Drama, under the leadership of Executive Director Todd London, is announcing several new faculty appointments.

Cincinnati Opera releases the live audio recording of the world premiere production of Gregory Spears and Greg Pierce's ravishing new opera, Fellow Travelers, directed by Kevin Newbury and featuring the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra conducted by Mark Gibson (out September 15 (digital) and September 29 (physical) on Fanfare Cincinnati).

Two of opera's rising young American stars open the 2017-18 concert season of The George London Foundation for Singers with a duo recital on Sunday, October 29, 2017, at 4:00 pm.

Cincinnati Opera releases the live audio recording of the world premiere production of Gregory Spears and Greg Pierce's ravishing new opera, Fellow Travelers, directed by Kevin Newbury and featuring the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra conducted by Mark Gibson (out September 15 (digital) and September 29 (physical) on Fanfare Cincinnati).

Cincinnati Opera releases the live audio recording of the world premiere production of Gregory Spears and Greg Pierce's ravishing new opera, Fellow Travelers, directed by Kevin Newbury and featuring the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra conducted by Mark Gibson (out September 15 (digital) and September 29 (physical) on Fanfare Cincinnati).

American Composers Orchestra (ACO) announces its complete 2017-2018 season, Dreamscapes, under the leadership of Artistic Director Derek Bermel, Music Director George Manahan, and President Edward Yim, featuring ten world, U.S., and New York premieres by a diverse set of composers. ACO continues its concerts at Carnegie Hall's Zankel Hall (December 8, 2017 and April 6, 2018) while expanding its presence in New York to include performances at Jazz at Lincoln Center (November 7, 2017) and as part of the 2018 PROTOTYPE Festival (January 12-14, 2018). ACO continues to take its commitment to fostering new work beyond the stage in its annual Underwood New Music Readings (June 21 and 22, 2018) for emerging composers, now in its 27th year, and through EarShot, the National Orchestra Composition Discovery Network, which brings the Readings experience to orchestras across the country.

The concept, a collaboration between Komische Oper Berlin and London-based performance group 1927, (Suzanne Andrade and Paul Barritt), was utterly unique, and Cincinnati Opera's production values were top notch.

New York City Opera concludes the season with the eagerly anticipated New York premiere of Peter Eotvos's Angels in America, based on the play by Tony Kushner.

Can an opera's libretto be true to its literary source without being a carbon copy of it? It not only can—it has to be; otherwise, a work like Peter Eotvos's ANGELS IN AMERICA would end up being as long as the four operas of Wagner's Ring Cycle without saying anything new. I knew that Eotvos's work, which had its New York premiere at New York City Opera last weekend, directed by Sam Helfrich, clocked in at around 2 ½ hours, compared to the seven hours of Tony Kushner's two-part epic. How would it compress all those verbal parries, the humor, the politics, the theatricality, and still be ANGELS?

The George London Foundation for Singers has been honoring, supporting, and presenting the finest young opera singers in the U.S. and Canada since 1971.

In its 2016 - 2017 season, New York City Opera presented the New York staged premiere of Rachmaninoff's Aleko, the New York premiere of Tobin Stokes's Fallujah, 10 sold-out performances of Bernstein's Candide, the modern-day revival of Respighi's La Campana Sommersa, and the American premiere of Antonio Literes's Baroque rarity Los Elementos. This June, New York City Opera concludes the season with the eagerly anticipated New York premiere of Peter Eotvos's Angels in America, based on the play by Tony Kushner.

Utah Opera and Salt Lake magazine partner for the 3rd annual Libretti & Libations, where art influences life - for at least a drink (or two). Talented mixologists from choice Salt Lake City and Park City restaurants curate artisanal cocktails inspired by the season's opera productions. Until May 21, 2017, eight participating restaurants will offer expertly-crafted libations inspired by Utah Opera's production of "Don Giovanni" as a way of infusing food and beverage with the experience of opera. Visit www.utahopera.org/libations for more information.

In May 2017, Utah Opera will present Mozart's “Don Giovanni,” a tale of love, seduction, and murder as seen through the stylized lens of a 1950s “film noir” cinematic approach. This production will be performed five times at the Janet Quinney Lawson Capitol Theatre on May 13, 15, 17, 19 at 7:30 PM and May 21 at 2 PM. Tickets, priced from $21-$92, are available for purchase through www.utahopera.org or by calling (801) 533-6683.

Many Young Men of Twenty, the poignant play by the great John B. Keane, opens at the Everyman this Thursday 20th April, and runs until Saturday 29th April.