Angela Meade News

The Little Orchestra Society presents Music Under the Big Top, an evening of entertainment and musical acrobatics for audiences of all ages at Damrosch Park, Lincoln Center on December 10, 2013. This first of its kind program for The Little Orchestra Society, conducted and co-hosted by new Music Director James Judd, will feature the Orchestra performing an eclectic array of classic and contemporary pieces in the ring of the Big Apple Circus joined by the talented violinist and composer Daniel Roumain. See Judd andRoumain discuss the upcoming concert on The Little Orchestra Society's YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/LittleOrchestraSoc.

Serban Vasile will make his Met debut in this evening's performance of Verdi's Falstaff, replacing Franco Vassallo, who is ill.

Centenary celebrations marking the 100th birthday of the late Brooklyn-born tenor Richard Tucker continue on December 14, when New York City's Park East Synagogue, in association with the Richard Tucker Music Foundation, presents a tribute to the cantor-turned-opera star as its ninth-annual benefit concert for the Park East Day School. The program for the special event showcases the American cantorial tradition and commemorates Tucker's devotional art as a cantor. The 8 p.m. concert at the synagogue (163 E. 67th St.) will feature Park East Chief Cantor Yitzchak Meir Helfgot, one of the world's most renowned exponents of the cantorial art, as well as operatic tenor Neil Shicoff, a New York native and veteran of the Metropolitan Opera; also on the program is the Park East Synagogue Choir under music director Russel Ger. Tickets start at $50 with proceeds supporting education activities at the Day School. For more information, contact Park East Synagogue at 212-737-6900 or info@parkeastsynagogue.org.

The Met: Live in HD series continues on the big screen with Verdi's Falstaff. An undisputed master of this work, Music Director James Levine conducts Verdi's opera for the first time at the Met since 2005. Robert Carsen's production—the first new Met Falstaff since 1964—is set in the English countryside in the mid-20th century. Ambrogio Maestri sings the title role of the blustery Sir John Falstaff, opposite a marvelous ensemble that includes Angela Meade, Stephanie Blythe, LisetteOropesa and Franco Vassallo. The live transmission begins on December 14 at 12:55 PM ET with an encore on December 18 at 6:30 PM local time.

The Little Orchestra Society presents Music Under the Big Top, an evening of entertainment and musical acrobatics for audiences of all ages at Damrosch Park, Lincoln Center on December 10, 2013. This first of its kind program for The Little Orchestra Society, conducted and co-hosted by new Music Director James Judd, will feature the Orchestra performing an eclectic array of classic and contemporary pieces in the ring of the Big Apple Circus joined by the talented violinist and composer Daniel Roumain. See Judd andRoumain discuss the upcoming concert on The Little Orchestra Society's YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/LittleOrchestraSoc.

During curtain calls for the Met's recent Cosi Fan Tutte, when conductor James Levine rotated his wheelchair so he could face the audience, a prolonged ovation shook the building. He looked overcome and, perhaps, surprised. Many thought this day would never come.

Verdi's Falstaff starring Ambrogio Maestri will be Live in HD at The Ridgefield Playhouse from the stage of The Metropolitan Opera in New York on Sunday, December 15, at 5 p.m. What a comfortable way to enjoy the grand spectacle of opera! For dinner-and-opera, Bernard's (22 West Lane, Ridgefield) is offering a special $45 prix-fixe menu, or a free glass of wine with dinner, before this event, when tickets are presented; reservations suggested. Visit ridgfieldplayhouse.org for video previews of the Met Live in HD Series which is underwritten by the following supporters: Jeanne Cook, Anita and Nicholas Donofrio, Liz and Steven Goldstone, Marilyn and Joe Kreitz, Joanne and John Patrick, Starbucks Coffee, Sabina and Walter Slavin, Taylor Zemo Foundation and The Ridgefield Press.

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts presents American Voices hosted by Renee Fleming, a groundbreaking festival of performances, master sessions, and symposia celebrating the rich diversity of American singing, today, November 22-24, 2013. Curated and hosted by world-renowned American singer Renee Fleming, American Voices will bring together some of the biggest names in vocal music for a genre-spanning, landmark concert with the National Symphony Orchestra.

Gotham Chamber Opera presents Marc-Antoine Charpentier's La descente d'Orphée aux enfers, a co-production with Trinity Church, from January 1- January 5, 2014 at St. Paul's Chapel, Broadway and Fulton, NYC. Performances: Wednesday, January 1 and Friday, January 3 at 7pm; Sunday, January 5 at 5pm. Tickets are $15-$125 and are available atwww.ticketcentral.com or (212) 279-4200. For more information visitwww.gothamchamberopera.org.

Classical Action: Performing Arts Against AIDS continues its 2013-14 Michael Palm Series of benefit house concerts in New York City with an intimate performance by rising-star soprano Angela Meade on Thursday December 12.

The Met: Live in HD series continues on the big screen with Verdi's Falstaff. An undisputed master of this work, Music Director James Levine conducts Verdi's opera for the first time at the Met since 2005. Robert Carsen's production—the first new Met Falstaff since 1964—is set in the English countryside in the mid-20th century. Ambrogio Maestri sings the title role of the blustery Sir John Falstaff, opposite a marvelous ensemble that includes Angela Meade, Stephanie Blythe, Lisette Oropesa and Franco Vassallo. The live transmission begins on December 14 at 12:55 PM ET with an encore on December 18 at 6:30 PM local time.

Tonight, November 17, the Richard Tucker Music Foundation celebrates the 100th anniversary of the legendary tenor's birth with a star-studded gala at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. Isabel Leonard, the 2013 Richard Tucker Award-winner and a rising star in the U.S. and abroad, joins an outstanding group of singers including Stephanie Blythe, Stephen Costello, Joyce DiDonato, Renee Fleming, Christine Goerke, Susan Graham, Greer Grimsley, Angela Meade, Eric Owens, Ailyn Perez, Matthew Polenzani, and Patricia Racette. With the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and the New York Choral Society led by Riccardo Frizza they will present a program of arias and ensembles by Verdi, Bellini, Rossini, Dvorak, Puccini and Offenbach. Following the concert, which is being taped for broadcast on PBS's Live From Lincoln Center on January 10, 2014 at 9:00 p.m. EST (check local listings), the foundation will host a gala dinner on the Grand Promenade of Avery Fisher Hall.

On November 17, the Richard Tucker Music Foundation celebrates the 100th anniversary of the legendary tenor's birth with a star-studded gala at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. Isabel Leonard, the 2013 Richard Tucker Award-winner and a rising star in the U.S. and abroad, joins an outstanding group of singers including Stephanie Blythe, Stephen Costello, Joyce DiDonato, Renee Fleming, Christine Goerke, Susan Graham, Greer Grimsley, Angela Meade, Eric Owens, Ailyn Perez, Matthew Polenzani, and Patricia Racette. With the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and the New York Choral Society led by Riccardo Frizza they will present a program of arias and ensembles by Verdi, Bellini, Rossini, Dvorak, Puccini and Offenbach. Following the concert, which is being taped for broadcast on PBS's Live From Lincoln Center on January 10, 2014 at 9:00 p.m. EST (check local listings), the foundation will host a gala dinner on the Grand Promenade of Avery Fisher Hall.

Live From Lincoln Center will broadcast the Richard Tucker Music Foundation's 2013 gala concert, one of the most highly anticipated events of the opera season, from Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall. The concert event will celebrate the legendary tenor's centenary with an illustrious all-American group of singers, and honoring this year'sRichard Tucker Award winner Isabel Leonard. The "Richard Tucker at 100: An Opera Celebration" broadcast-hosted byAudra McDonald and featuring interstitial interviews with the artists, segments from backstage, and a short documentary on Richard Tucker's life-is taped from a concert on November 17, and will air on PBS stations on Friday, January 10, 2014 at 9:00 p.m. (ET) (check local listings).

The Collegiate Chorale presents its first concert of the season, Mefistofele, by Arrigo Boito tonight, November 6, 2013 at 8pm at Carnegie Hall, 881 7th Avenue, NYC. The Collegiate Chorale will hold its Annual Fall Gala immediately following the concert.

The Collegiate Chorale announces its first concert of the season, Mefistofele, by Arrigo Boito on November 6, 2013 at 8pm at Carnegie Hall, 881 7th Avenue, NYC. Tickets are available at www.carnegiehall.org or by calling CarnegieCharge at 212-247-7800. Single tickets for this concert start at $15. The Collegiate Chorale will hold its Annual Fall Gala immediately following the concert.

The grand incomparable spectacle of opera returns to The Ridgefield Playhouse this fall with an impressive lineup broadcast from the Met Live in HD.Tonight, October 28, at 6:30 p.m., William Kentridge storms the Met in Shostakovich's The Nose.

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts presents American Voices hosted by Renee Fleming, a groundbreaking festival of performances, master sessions, and symposia celebrating the rich diversity of American singing, November 22-24, 2013. Curated and hosted by world-renowned American singer Reneee Fleming, American Voices will bring together some of the biggest names in vocal music for a genre-spanning, landmark concert with the National Symphony Orchestra.

Angela Meade, the soprano whose 57 competition wins include the Metropolitan Opera's 2012 Beverly Sills Artist Award, returns to the company in two prominent productions this fall. She launches the new season with her first Met performances in the title role of Norma (Oct 24 & 28), having demonstrated “her nearly mind-blowing mastery of Bellini's most challenging music” (Washington Times) in the same part earlier this year. Then, under the baton of James Levine, she makes her role debut as Alice Ford in a new-to-the-Met production of Falstaff (Dec 6–Jan 11) that will be beamed to movie theaters worldwide in the Met: Live in HD series (Dec 14). Meade's abundant honors include the 2011 Richard Tucker Award, and she graces a special gala concert to celebrate the legendary tenor's centennial at Avery Fisher Hall (Nov 17). She also looks forward to making two important European debuts this season: in Italy, where she gives her first performances as Mathilde in Rossini's William Tell at the Teatro Regio di Torino (May 7-18), and at the Frankfurt Opera, where she sings her first Fidelia in concert performances of Puccini's Edgar (Feb 16 & 18).

NORMA opened at the Metropolitan Opera starring Sondra Radvanovsky in the title role. Angela Meade also stars, along with mezzo-soprano Kate Aldrich (Adalgisa) and tenor Aleksandrs Antonenko (Pollione). Riccardo Frizza conducts. The production runs though November 1, 2013. For tickets or more information, visit: http://www.metoperafamily.org/opera/norma-bellini-tickets.aspx