Angela Meade News

The Collegiate Chorale announces that Ron Rifkin will join the cast of the US Premiere of Kurt Weill's The Road of Promise on May 6, 2015 at 8pm and May 7, 2015 at 7pm at Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall, 881 7th Avenue, New York, NY 10019.

Long before there was “American Idol” or “The Voice,” there were the Metropolitan Opera's National Council Auditions. A 62-year tradition in the opera world, it comes to a head at the National Council Auditions Finals Concert, which took place this year on Sunday afternoon. It was the culmination of a months-long series of competitions at the district, regional and national levels. And while it's not glitzy and not performed before an audience of millions, well, it's at the Met. Enough said.

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.

Soprano Angela Meade - fresh from her New York Philharmonic debut in Verdi's Requiem earlier this year - returns to the Metropolitan Opera to reprise her signature role of Elvira in Verdi's Ernani from March 20 to April 11.

Philadelphia's Academy of Vocal Arts is regarded as one of the premiere opera training schools in the world. Every year over 200 singers audition to become one of the school's roster of Resident Artists – 28 of the most talented and promising opera singers from around the world. This year, AVA features Resident Artists from Armenia, Austria, Australia, Canada, China, Mexico, Serbia, and the United States.

Baritone Quinn Kelsey has been named the recipient of the tenth annual Beverly Sills Artist Award for young singers at the Metropolitan Opera. The $50,000 award, the largest of its kind in the United States, is designated for extraordinarily gifted singers between the ages of 25 and 40 who have already appeared in featured solo roles at the Met.

Plácido Domingo, LA Opera's Eli and Edythe Broad General Director, has announced the company's 2015/16 season. This will be the 30th season presented by the company, created by Mr. Domingo in collaboration with Richard Seaver Music Director James Conlon and President and CEOChristopher Koelsch. The company's 30th anniversary season will include six mainstage productions and two concerts at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, with a total of 40 performances taking place in that venue, as well as 13 performances presented elsewhere through the company's Off Grand initiative. The season will open onSeptember 12, 2015, and will run through June 19, 2016.

With all its money problems, why hasn't the Met thought about doing some lesser known works in concert? Or, for that matter, marshalled some of its glamorous resources to put on the Verdi REQUIEM? For the time being, we have to be grateful for the New York Philharmonic and its Music Director Alan Gilbert for reminding us how powerful this music can be.

Live From Lincoln Center - the pioneering, award-winning performing arts series - today unveiled programming for the second half of its 40th anniversary season on PBS.

The Collegiate Chorale announces the postponement of George F. Handel's Susanna from February 3, 2015 to the company's 2015/16 Season, with date and time to be confirmed.

Live From Lincoln Center - the pioneering, award-winning performing arts series - today unveiled programming for the second half of its 40th anniversary season on PBS.

Tenor Russell Thomas will replace Brandon Jovanovich, who has withdrawn due to illness, in the New York Philharmonic performances of the Verdi Requiem, conducted by Music Director Alan Gilbert. The performances will also feature soprano Angela Meade (in her Philharmonic debut), mezzo-soprano Lilli Paasikivi, bass-baritone Eric Owens, and the New York Choral Artists, directed by Joseph Flummerfelt, this weekend, January 15, 2015, at 7:30 p.m.; Friday, January 16 at 7:30 p.m.; and Saturday, January 17 at 8:00 p.m.

Tenor Russell Thomas will replace Brandon Jovanovich, who has withdrawn due to illness, in the New York Philharmonic performances of the Verdi Requiem, conducted by Music Director Alan Gilbert. The performances will also feature soprano Angela Meade (in her Philharmonic debut), mezzo-soprano Lilli Paasikivi, bass-baritone Eric Owens, and the New York Choral Artists, directed by Joseph Flummerfelt, Thursday, January 15, 2015, at 7:30 p.m.; Friday, January 16 at 7:30 p.m.; and Saturday, January 17 at 8:00 p.m.

The Collegiate Chorale continues its 2014-15 season with George F. Handel's Susanna on February 3, 2015 at 8pm at Town Hall, 123 W. 43rd Street, New York, NY 10036. Tickets are $30-$95 and are available at TicketMaster.com. For more information, visit http://collegiatechorale.org/performances/susanna.

Soprano Angela Meade, the youngest singer ever featured on the cover of the “Diva Issue” of Opera News (November 2014), launches 2015 with a trio of high-profile events in January. She makes her eagerly awaited debut with the New York Philharmonic under Alan Gilbert in three performances of Verdi's Requiem at Avery Fisher Hall (Jan 15-17). Later in the month audiences have the opportunity to hear her star turn in the Richard Tucker Music Foundation's annual gala concert on aLive From Lincoln Center broadcast. “Richard Tucker Opera Gala: A New Century”, which was taped last October, airs on PBS on Friday, January 23, 2015. This weekend Meade is performing in a more intimate New York setting at the Morgan Library (Jan 11) where she shares the bill of a George London Recital with baritone Nicholas Pallesen, a fellow winner of the George London prize.

The January broadcasts of The New York Philharmonic This Week - the weekly radio series of concerts and recordings by the New York Philharmonic, hosted by Alec Baldwin - begin with Alan Gilbert leading the Orchestra in an all-Mozart program: the Mass in C minor, Great, and Piano Concerto No. 22, featuring Emanuel Ax as soloist. The Mass features soprano Jennifer Zetlan, mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnson Cano, tenor Paul Appleby, baritone Joshua Hopkins, and the New York Choral Artists, directed by Joseph Flummerfelt.

For New York opera-goers, what was the event of the year? Undoubtedly, John Adams's THE DEATH OF KLINGHOFFER, not only for the kerfuffle caused by the [unfounded] claims of anti-Semitism but for the opera's exciting debut at the Met. (The Met's contentious labor negotiations nearly edged it out, though.) As we head into the spring season, here's a look back at some of the performances that put a song in my heart, not in any particular order.

National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Chairman Jane Chu has announced that The Collegiate Chorale is one of only 919 nonprofit organizations nationwide to receive an NEA Art Works grant. The Collegiate Chorale will receive a $30,000 grant in support of its May 2015 concert and CD recording of Kurt Weill and Franz Werfel's musical epic, The Road of Promise.

The January broadcasts of The New York Philharmonic This Week - the weekly radio series of concerts and recordings by the New York Philharmonic, hosted by Alec Baldwin - begin with Alan Gilbert leading the Orchestra in an all-Mozart program: the Mass in C minor, Great, and Piano Concerto No. 22, featuring Emanuel Ax as soloist. The Mass features soprano Jennifer Zetlan, mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnson Cano, tenor Paul Appleby, baritone Joshua Hopkins, and the New York Choral Artists, directed by Joseph Flummerfelt.

Summer saw the passing of two of opera's most iconic figures: Licia Albanese, at the age of 105, and Carlo Bergonzi, at 90.