Amber Wagner News

Soprano Amber Wagner, a 2010 George London Award Winner, and baritone Reginald Smith, Jr., who won his George London Award in 2015, make their New York recital debuts at the final program in the George London Foundation Recital Series, and the final event in the foundation's season, on Sunday, April 2, 2017, at 4:00 pm. Alan Darling is the recital's pianist; a reception with the artists follows the concert.

Tenor Paul Appleby, the 2011 George London Award winner who, it was recently announced, will be in the cast of the world premiere of John Adams's Girls of the Golden West with San Francisco Opera next season, teams up with mezzo-soprano and 2015 George London Award winner Sarah Mesko and pianist Ken Noda for the season's second event in the George London Foundation Recital Series at The Morgan Library & Museum on Sunday, March 5, 2017, at 4:00 pm.

The winners of the 46th 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 in a front of an audience at Gilder Lehrman Hall at The Morgan Library & Museum in New York City. 

 A season of superb music and spectacle is now on sale to Lyric subscribers - including three new mainstage opera productions, three new-to-Chicago opera productions, one new musical production, and one new-to-Chicago chamber opera production.

On Friday, February 17, 2017, 24 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, hoping to win a George London Award, an honor that has been conferred upon hundreds of the best young singers since 1971.

Opera Australia's largest and most ambitious production returns to Melbourne in 2016. Directed by Neil Armfield, Wagner's Ring Cycle will play at Arts Centre Melbourne from 21 November to 16 December 2016. Melbourne Ring Cycle 2016 comprises four operas - Das Rheingold, Die Walkure, Siegfried and Gotterdammerung - totalling around 16 hours of music. As in 2013, the cycle of four operas will be performed three times.

Last April, the George London Foundation for Singers concluded the 20th year of its celebrated George London Foundation Recital Series with a gala featuring some of opera's most prominent American and Canadian stars.  The foundation has been honoring, supporting, and presenting the finest young opera singers in the U.S. and Canada since 1971, and the annual series presents pairs of outstanding opera singers, many of whom were winners of a George London Award, the prize of the foundation's annual vocal competition.

The Harris Theater for Music and Dance, in association with Lyric Unlimited, has announced the return of Beyond the Aria - the highly acclaimed performance series produced by the Harris Theater which pairs internationally celebrated opera singers of Lyric's mainstage alongside rising stars from The Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center at Lyric Opera of Chicago.

Upon the conclusion of the 20th year of its celebrated recital series, which was marked with a gala in April featuring some of opera's most prominent American and Canadian stars, the Foundation announces its 2016-17 season of events.

?After a months-long series of competitions at the district, regional, and national levels, a panel of expert judges named five young singers as the winners of the nation's most prestigious vocal competition, the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. Each winner receives a $15,000 cash prize and the prestige and exposure that come with winning the competition that launched the careers of many of opera's biggest stars.

The Metropolitan Opera's 2016-17 season, the 50th anniversary of its home at Lincoln Center, will feature 225 opera performances of 26 operas in a varied repertory that ranges from 18th century masterpieces to one of the most acclaimed operas in recent years. Repertoire for the company's 132nd season will include the Met premiere of Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho's 2000 opera L'Amour de Loin, as well as new stagings of Wagner's Tristan und Isolde, Rossini's Guillaume Tell, Gounod's Romeo et Juliette, Dvo?ak's Rusalka, and Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier. A gala concert on May 7, 2017 will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the company's Lincoln Center location with performances by opera's leading stars honoring the Met's past and future. Ticket prices will not increase, remaining the same as in the current season, and audience development programs instituted by the company in recent years will continue.  

The Los Angeles Master Chorale, led by Artistic Director Grant Gershon, presents two performances of Verdi's towering Requiem, a work National Public Radio calls a 'thrilling opera in disguise,' with acclaimed guest soloists Amber Wagner, soprano, Michelle DeYoung, mezzo soprano, Issachah Savage, tenor, and Morris Robinson, bass, today, January 30, 2 pm, and tomorrow, Sunday, January 31, 2016, 7 pm, at Walt Disney Concert Hall. A stunningly theatrical staple of the choral repertoire, Verdi's work is a tumultuous, tortured, terrifying spectacle that has thrilled audiences since its debut in 1874.

The Los Angeles Master Chorale, led by Artistic Director Grant Gershon, presents two performances of Verdi's towering Requiem, a work National Public Radio calls a "thrilling opera in disguise," with acclaimed guest soloists Amber Wagner, soprano, Michelle DeYoung, mezzo soprano, Issachah Savage, tenor, and Morris Robinson, bass, on Saturday, January 30, 2 pm, and Sunday, January 31, 2016, 7 pm, at Walt Disney Concert Hall.  A stunningly theatrical staple of the choral repertoire, Verdi's work is a tumultuous, tortured, terrifying spectacle that has thrilled audiences since its debut in 1874.  

Following the success of its first series at City Winery in the 2014-15 season, cp2 (Chicago Philharmonic Chamber Players) returns to the venue for a fall series pairing unique mixed instrumental groups with vocalists. Three one-hour programs at noon on October 25, November 22, and December 20 each feature a different singer showcasing styles including classical, soul, and jazz. Brunch will be available for purchase before and during the performances, and patrons are encouraged to dress casually.

Following the success of its first series at City Winery in the 2014-15 season, cp2 (Chicago Philharmonic Chamber Players) returns to the venue for a fall series pairing unique mixed instrumental groups with vocalists. Three one-hour programs at noon on October 25, November 22, and December 20 each feature a different singer showcasing styles including classical, soul, and jazz. Brunch will be available for purchase before and during the performances, and patrons are encouraged to dress casually.

The Minnesota Opera kicks off its 2015 – 2016 season at the Ordway Music Theater on September 26, 2015, with Richard Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos, the company's first production of this meltingly beautiful — yet hilarious — work since 1987.

New York Arts Executive Jean Davidson, who has been affiliated with some of the country's most innovative and successful arts organizations, has been named President & CEO of the Los Angeles Master Chorale (LAMC), the nation's largest professional chorus and Walt Disney Concert Hall resident chorus led by Artistic Director Grant Gershon and heralded around the globe for its unparalleled artistry, announces LAMC Chair David Gindler. She assumes the post on August 31, 2015. Davidson has served since 2011 as Executive Director & CEO of New York Live Arts, an internationally acclaimed interdisciplinary performing arts center under the artistic direction of Bill T. Jones. Guiding its phenomenal growth and success since its inception, she was instrumental in leading the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company through its merger with Dance Theater Workshop to create New York Live Arts, a new model of artist-led, producing and presenting arts organization unique in the United States. Today New York Live Arts, noted for commissioning cutting-edge new works, its vibrant community partnerships and as home base for the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, presents more than 100 performances annually in its theater and studios inside its 20,000-square-foot facility in Chelsea, operating with a $5.8 million budget. Davidson is cited for her forward-thinking management style, fostering artistic innovation, developing and expanding creative partnerships with disparate educational and cultural organizations, and overseeing tremendous revenue development and programmatic growth. She previously served as Executive Director of the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company in New York City for six years prior to the merger, when the company launched two successful initiatives entitled Partners in Creation and Partners in Education; Managing Director of The Silk Road Project, Inc., a non-profit arts and cultural organization founded by cellist Yo-Yo Ma which during her tenure commissioned 25 chamber works, launched a worldwide tour, released three recordings; and Production Administrator for the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco. Davidson replaces LAMC President & CEO Terry Knowles, who steps down at the end of the season following a tremendously successful 15-year tenure with the chorus, during which time the Chorale experienced unsurpassed financial and artistic growth, toured around the world to critical acclaim, released six commercial CDs, created a recording partnership with Decca Classics, and twice received the ASCAP/Chorus America Award for Adventurous Programming as well as Chorus America's prestigious Margaret Hillis Award for Choral Excellence, the nation's highest choral music award. Davidson's appointment comes at a critical time in the Chorale's history, as it is poised to launch its 52nd season and a new period of strategic growth. The national executive search for Knowles' successor was led by Arts Consulting Group, the leading provider of executive search and other services for the arts and culture industry.

After a months-long series of competitions at the district, regional, and national levels, five young singers have been named the winners of the nation's most prestigious vocal competition, the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.

The Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center at Lyric Opera of Chicago celebrates its 40th season with its annual Rising Stars in Concert program tonight, March 21, at 7:30pm at the Civic Opera House. The talented singers and pianist of the 2014-15 ensemble will perform with members of the Lyric Opera Orchestra in works of Bellini, Berg, Berlioz, Bizet, Debussy, Donizetti, Floyd, Gounod, Handel, Korngold, Mozart, Puccini, Rodgers and Hammerstein, and Rossini. Rising Stars in Concert is offered in celebration of an exceptionally successful year of study and performance for these up-and-coming artists.