Ana Maria Martinez News

This new program, The Institute for Women Conductors at The Dallas Opera, will be inaugurated today, November 28, 2015 and run through December 6, 2015, with generous support from the Richard and Enika Schulze Foundation.

Houston, March 12, 2015—Houston Grand Opera (HGO) will present its highly anticipated La Fura dels Baus staging of Wagner's Die Walküre with an all-star cast and Stephen Sondheim's thrilling Sweeney Todd in April, after notching critical and sales successes with its winter productions of Puccini's Madame Butterfly and Mozart's The Magic Flute. Butterfly's six performances averaged a total capacity of 102% (including resale of returned seats) while Flute's five performances averaged 104% capacity.

DALLAS, FEBRUARY 20, 2015 – The Dallas Opera is preparing to whisk audiences away to the Latin Quarter of Paris for the blockbuster opera of the season: Giacomo Puccini's 1896 masterpiece, LA BOHÈME, based on Henri Murger's newspaper serial-turned-novel, Scènes de la vie de bohème.

DALLAS, FEBRUARY 20, 2015 – The Dallas Opera is preparing to whisk audiences away to the Latin Quarter of Paris for the blockbuster opera of the season: Giacomo Puccini's 1896 masterpiece, LA BOHÈME, based on Henri Murger's newspaper serial-turned-novel, Scènes de la vie de bohème.

DALLAS, FEBRUARY 9, 2015 – Working to address a long-standing career issue in the opera world, The Dallas Opera is delighted to announce the launch of a unique, new residential program designed to provide training and career support for distinctively talented women conductors. Female conductors age forty and younger, as well as accomplished women singers, opera coaches and accompanists, and instrumentalists with established careers seeking a new career at the podium, are encouraged to apply.

DALLAS — The Dallas Opera is proud to announce the five phenomenal mainstage productions of the 2015-2016 Season, “Seeking the Human Element,” to be presented in the magnificent Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House at the AT&T Performing Arts Center located in the Dallas Arts District.

Now anyone and everyone can join in the thrill of opening night at the opera! The Dallas Opera and the Sheila and Jody Grant Opera Discovery Program, with support from the AT&T Performing Arts Center, present an evening of FREE entertainment at Dallas's popular Klyde Warren Park, the second annual “Dallas Opera Opening Night Simulcast in the Park” featuring Mozart's class-conscious romantic comedy, The Marriage of Figaro.

The Dallas Opera is proud to announce the appointment of Brian Zeger as Chair of the Judges Panel for the 2015 Dallas Opera Guild Vocal Competition. This season's competition will take place on Saturday, April 18, 2015 and Sunday, April 19, 2015 in the elegant setting of the Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House at the AT&T Performing Arts Center. The event is free and open to the public.

Now anyone and everyone can join in the thrill of opening night at the opera! The Dallas Opera and the Sheila and Jody Grant Opera Discovery Program, with support from the AT&T Performing Arts Center, present an evening of FREE entertainment at Dallas's popular Klyde Warren Park, the second annual “Dallas Opera Opening Night Simulcast in the Park” featuring Mozart's class-conscious romantic comedy, The Marriage of Figaro.

It's the place to see and be seen this fall – FIRST SIGHT FASHION SHOW AND LUNCHEON! The Dallas Opera 2014-15 “Heights of Passion” Season opens with a stunning fashion show featuring styles by world-class Italian designer Roberto Cavalli, as well as, six custom-made gowns created by internationally renowned designers inspired by each of the operas presented this season. The lavish event, co-chaired by Lynn McBee and Nicholas Even, also includes a delectable gourmet luncheon. Elizabeth Kimple is the Chair of the luncheon.

LIVE BY THE LAKE, the hotly anticipated series of outdoor summer concerts at Kenwood House, marks the welcome return of the English Heritage concert season. Produced by the young dynamic agency, Rouge Events, Live By The Lake's outstanding lineup of world class music is scheduled over six days - August 23rd-25th and August 30th-September 1st; each show promises to attract up to 10,000 music and film lovers to enjoy the music and share a picnic with friends and family in more than 100 acres of Kenwood House's beautifully landscaped gardens. Boasting the perfect mix of pop, rock, soul, classical, musical theatre and film, LIVE BY THE LAKE promises something special for every music lover in the land. Tickets are now on sale at www.kenwood.seetickets.com and there are a limited number of discounts for residents in many of London's northwest postal districts. Ticket holders will be able to choose a variety of reasonably priced tickets for each concert and to decide whether or not to bring their own picnic and all-weather paraphernalia! For those who want to rock up unhampered, the best of Carluccio's Italian picnics can be ordered in advance and picked up on the day of each orchestral concert. (NB: Suede and Keane concerts will be standing room only, so picnics and chairs should be left at home and a range of drinks and delicious food will be available from the on-site concession stands. PROGRAMME at a glance: August 23rd: SUEDE and special guests BRITISH SEA POWER August 24th: ROYAL CHORAL SOCIETY and the ROYAL PHILHARMONIC CONCERT ORCHESTRA August 25th: KEANE and special guest LAURA MVULA August 30th: 'SINGIN' IN THE RAIN' - film screening, score performed by the ROYAL PHILHARMONIC CONCERT ORCHESTRA August 31st: ANA MARIA MARTINEZ and the ENGLISH NATIONAL OPERA ORCHESTRA September 1st: MICHAEL BALL and friends sing GERSHWIN Nathan Homan of Rouge Events says: "We are absolutely delighted to be producing the first LIVE BY THE LAKE at Kenwood House in association with English Heritage. We've got a wonderful lineup of world class performers and I think Kenwood's beautiful grounds are the perfect setting for what promises to be a seriously great series of summer concerts. Even in this digital age, the appetite for live performance is greater than ever - the calibre of artists who are appearing at Live By The Lake is a testament to their own enjoyment of playing outdoor concerts and I think audiences across the six nights will love every minute of it." Publicity: judy.lipsey@premiercomms.com and Robbie.wilson@premiercomms.com 020 7292 8330 www.livebythelake.co.uk THE PROGRAMME in detail: Kicking off proceedings today August 23rd are the multi-platinum selling, mighty SUEDE (left), Britpop progenitors, one of the world's most exciting rock bands and whose sixth studio album 'Bloodsports' was released in March, after a ten year gap, to much critical acclaim. Suede's special guests are the splendid Brighton-based indie rockers BRITISH SEA POWER, the title of whose current album, 'Machineries of Joy', was inspired by a collection of short stories by the great sci-fi author, Ray Bradbury. The band recently performed their soundtrack for the documentary film 'From the Land to the Sea', directed by Penny Woolcock, at the Sundance London Film and Music Festival at the 02 and at the Sheffield Documentary Festival. On Saturday August 24th it's a feast for classical music lovers with the Royal Choral Society and the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra conducted by Roderick Dunk, performing a wonderful selection of arias from, among others, Carmina Burana, Madame Butterfly, Verdi's Requiem and many more. The night will end with a spectacular firework display. Roderick Dunk will be well known to BBC Radio 2 listeners as the BBC Concert Orchestra's regular guest conductor for the long running Today Night is Music Night. To complete the perfect first weekend on August 25th the Brit Award winning, Grammy nominated, 10 million selling KEANE will take to the stage; fronted by the charismatic Tom Chaplin, the band's fourth studio album, Strangeland, was released in May 2012 and immediately topped the UK charts. KEANE are delighted to have as their special guest the uniquely gifted soul singer/songwriter LAURA MVULA, whose debut album, 'Sing To The Moon', was released this year and instantly catapulted her into the musical stratosphere and a headlining slot at this year's Isle of Wight Festival. Today August 30th offers a truly rare opportunity to film fans: the screening of the 1952 musical romantic comedy 'Singin' In The Rain' to a LIVE score performed by the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra. Starring the legendary Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor, and Debbie Reynolds, and choreographed and directed by Gene Kelly, the film offers an entertaining depiction of a 1927 Hollywood caught up in the transition from silent films to talkies. The RPO, conducted by Neil Thomson, will bring the film's iconic soundtrack to life while the re-mastered film is shown on the big screen. Saturday August 31st is Opera Alfresco night with the English National Opera Orchestra and a special appearance by the incomparable Grammy Award winning American soprano, Ana Maria Martinez whose lyrical, elegant style has seen her grace all the grand opera houses around the world. The ENO together with principal soloists Wynne Evans, Fiona Murphy, Kai Ruutel and David Webster will perform some of the world's greatest and most popular arias from the works of Bizet, Mozart, Puccini, Verdi and more. On Sunday September 1st MICHAEL BALL, double Olivier Award winner ('Hairspray', 'Sweeney Todd'), multi-platinum recording artist, and radio and TV presenter will close Live By The Lake's programme of events with a special evening of music by George and Ira Gershwin. Britain's top musical theatre star will be inviting friends from the West End stage such as Kerry Ellis, Gina Beck, and David Shannon to join him in performing some of the Gershwin's best loved songs including Summertime, I Got Rhythm, S'Wonderful, Shall We Dance, and many more.

LIVE BY THE LAKE, the hotly anticipated series of outdoor summer concerts at Kenwood House, marks the welcome return of the English Heritage concert season. Produced by the young dynamic agency, Rouge Events, Live By The Lake's outstanding lineup of world class music is scheduled over six days – August 23rd-25th and August 30th-September 1st; each show promises to attract up to 10,000 music and film lovers to enjoy the music and share a picnic with friends and family in more than 100 acres of Kenwood House's beautifully landscaped gardens. Boasting the perfect mix of pop, rock, soul, classical, musical theatre and film, LIVE BY THE LAKE promises something special for every music lover in the land. Tickets are now on sale at www.kenwood.seetickets.com and there are a limited number of discounts for residents in many of London's northwest postal districts. Ticket holders will be able to choose a variety of reasonably priced tickets for each concert and to decide whether or not to bring their own picnic and all-weather paraphernalia! For those who want to rock up unhampered, the best of Carluccio's Italian picnics can be ordered in advance and picked up on the day of each orchestral concert. (NB: Suede and Keane concerts will be standing room only, so picnics and chairs should be left at home and a range of drinks and delicious food will be available from the on-site concession stands. PROGRAMME at a glance: August 23rd: SUEDE and special guests BRITISH SEA POWER August 24th: ROYAL CHORAL SOCIETY and the ROYAL PHILHARMONIC CONCERT ORCHESTRA August 25th: KEANE and special guest LAURA MVULA August 30th: 'SINGIN' IN THE RAIN' – film screening, score performed by the ROYAL PHILHARMONIC CONCERT ORCHESTRA August 31st: ANA MARIA MARTINEZ and the ENGLISH NATIONAL OPERA ORCHESTRA September 1st: MICHAEL BALL and friends sing GERSHWIN Nathan Homan of Rouge Events says: “We are absolutely delighted to be producing the first LIVE BY THE LAKE at Kenwood House in association with English Heritage. We've got a wonderful lineup of world class performers and I think Kenwood's beautiful grounds are the perfect setting for what promises to be a seriously great series of summer concerts. Even in this digital age, the appetite for live performance is greater than ever – the calibre of artists who are appearing at Live By The Lake is a testament to their own enjoyment of playing outdoor concerts and I think audiences across the six nights will love every minute of it.” Publicity: judy.lipsey@premiercomms.com and Robbie.wilson@premiercomms.com 020 7292 8330 www.livebythelake.co.uk THE PROGRAMME in detail: Kicking off proceedings on Friday August 23rd are the multi-platinum selling, mighty SUEDE (left), Britpop progenitors, one of the world's most exciting rock bands and whose sixth studio album 'Bloodsports' was released in March, after a ten year gap, to much critical acclaim. Suede's special guests are the splendid Brighton-based indie rockers BRITISH SEA POWER, the title of whose current album, 'Machineries of Joy', was inspired by a collection of short stories by the great sci-fi author, Ray Bradbury. The band recently performed their soundtrack for the documentary film 'From the Land to the Sea', directed by Penny Woolcock, at the Sundance London Film and Music Festival at the 02 and at the Sheffield Documentary Festival. On Saturday August 24th it's a feast for classical music lovers with the Royal Choral Society and the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra conducted by Roderick Dunk, performing a wonderful selection of arias from, among others, Carmina Burana, Madame Butterfly, Verdi's Requiem and many more. The night will end with a spectacular firework display. Roderick Dunk will be well known to BBC Radio 2 listeners as the BBC Concert Orchestra's regular guest conductor for the long running Friday Night is Music Night. To complete the perfect first weekend on August 25th the Brit Award winning, Grammy nominated, 10 million selling KEANE will take to the stage; fronted by the charismatic Tom Chaplin, the band's fourth studio album, Strangeland, was released in May 2012 and immediately topped the UK charts. KEANE are delighted to have as their special guest the uniquely gifted soul singer/songwriter LAURA MVULA, whose debut album, 'Sing To The Moon', was released this year and instantly catapulted her into the musical stratosphere and a headlining slot at this year's Isle of Wight Festival. Friday August 30th offers a truly rare opportunity to film fans: the screening of the 1952 musical romantic comedy 'Singin' In The Rain' to a LIVE score performed by the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra. Starring the legendary Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor, and Debbie Reynolds, and choreographed and directed by Gene Kelly, the film offers an entertaining depiction of a 1927 Hollywood caught up in the transition from silent films to talkies. The RPO, conducted by Neil Thomson, will bring the film's iconic soundtrack to life while the re-mastered film is shown on the big screen. Saturday August 31st is Opera Alfresco night with the English National Opera Orchestra and a special appearance by the incomparable Grammy Award winning American soprano, Ana Maria Martinez whose lyrical, elegant style has seen her grace all the grand opera houses around the world. The ENO together with principal soloists Wynne Evans, Fiona Murphy, Kai Ruutel and David Webster will perform some of the world's greatest and most popular arias from the works of Bizet, Mozart, Puccini, Verdi and more. On Sunday September 1st MICHAEL BALL, double Olivier Award winner ('Hairspray', 'Sweeney Todd'), multi-platinum recording artist, and radio and TV presenter will close Live By The Lake's programme of events with a special evening of music by George and Ira Gershwin. Britain's top musical theatre star will be inviting friends from the West End stage such as Kerry Ellis, Gina Beck, and David Shannon to join him in performing some of the Gershwin's best loved songs including Summertime, I Got Rhythm, S'Wonderful, Shall We Dance, and many more.

The Chicago Humanities Festival (CHF) announced today confirmed speakers added to the 2013 Fall Festival, which will explore the theme of 'Animal: What makes us human?' Speakers announced include Lemony Snicket (Daniel Handler), author of A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS; Jonathan Safran Foer, author of EVERYTHING IS ILLUMINATED, EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE, and EATING ANIMALS; Anne Carson, poet and fiction writer; Ana Maria Martinez, Latin Grammy Award-winning soprano; Mark Dion, pioneering conceptual artist; Tracey L. Meares, Yale Law Professor and authority on crime prevention and community capacity building; Barbara Natterson-Horowitz and Kathryn Bowers, authors of ZOOBIQUITY: THE ASTONISHING CONNECTION BETWEEN HUMAN AND ANIMAL HEALTH; and Craig Packer, leading expert on African wildlife and founder of the Serengeti Lion Project.

For the first time in the orchestra's history, Mercury will feature Grammy Award-winning soprano, Ana Maria Martinez, in its upcoming Valentine's Day program tonight, February 14 & 15.

Lyric Opera of Chicago and its general director, Anthony Freud, announced the lineup for Lyric's 2013-14 season today. Joseph Calleja, Joyce DiDonato, Nathan Gunn, Thomas Hampson, Ana Maria Martinez, Matthew Polenzani, and Patricia Racette are among those headlining the new season's offerings. These comprise 67 performances of eight different operas, beginning October 5, 2013 and concluding March 23, 2014: new productions of Parsifal, La traviata, The Barber of Seville, and Rusalka (Lyric premiere); a revival of Otello; and new-to-Chicago stagings of Madama Butterfly, Die Fledermaus, and La clemenza di Tito. Lyric's music director, Sir Andrew Davis, will lead three operas, and guest conductors Marco Armiliato, Bertrand de Billy and Michele Mariotti will make their house debuts. Additionally, Lyric will present a new production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's The Sound of Music in the spring of 2014, continuing the company's American Musical Theater Initiative, and Davis will conduct a special Subscriber Appreciation Concert in March featuring Lyric's creative consultant - the star soprano Renee Fleming - with tenor Jonas Kaufmann.

Lyric Opera of Chicago and its general director, Anthony Freud, announced the lineup for Lyric's 2013-14 season today. Joseph Calleja, Joyce DiDonato, Nathan Gunn, Thomas Hampson, Ana Maria Martinez, Matthew Polenzani, and Patricia Racette are among those headlining the new season's offerings. These comprise 67 performances of eight different operas, beginning October 5, 2013 and concluding March 23, 2014: new productions of Parsifal, La traviata, The Barber of Seville, and Rusalka (Lyric premiere); a revival of Otello; and new-to-Chicago stagings of Madama Butterfly, Die Fledermaus, and La clemenza di Tito. Lyric's music director, Sir Andrew Davis, will lead three operas, and guest conductors Marco Armiliato, Bertrand de Billy and Michele Mariotti will make their house debuts. Additionally, Lyric will present a new production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's The Sound of Music in the spring of 2014, continuing the company's American Musical Theater Initiative, and Davis will conduct a special Subscriber Appreciation Concert in March featuring Lyric's creative consultant - the star soprano Renee Fleming - with tenor Jonas Kaufmann.

For the first time in the orchestra's history, Mercury will feature Grammy Award-winning soprano, Ana María Martínez, in its upcoming Valentine's Day program on February 14 & 15.

On the heels of his success this summer at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, where, almost 'steal[ing] the show' (Independent), he proved himself a 'thrilling Adorno' (Financial Times) opposite Plácido Domingo in Simon Boccanegra, Joseph Calleja begins the 2010-11 season with his Houston Grand Opera debut in a new, opening-night production of Madama Butterfly. Calleja sings B.F. Pinkerton opposite soprano Ana Maria Martinez, who makes her role debut as the tragic Cio-Cio-San. The production team will be led by the renowned British director Michael Grandage, who received the 2010 Tony Award for Best Director of a Play for Red, and who is celebrated by theater audiences for his productions of Hamlet and Frost/Nixon. The cast of Madama Butterfly will work under HGO Music Director Patrick Summers. The first performance on October 22 marks the opening night of the company's 2010-11 season, and the production runs through November 5.