Bel Canto News

Philadelphia's own Academy of Vocal Arts (AVA) trains the world's next generation of great opera singers. For over 40 years, AVA's Giargiari Bel Canto competition has showcased the brightest of up-and-coming opera stars. Join AVA for the annual audience favorite singing competition, where AVA's award-winning Resident Artists compete against each other in song.

Renée Fleming, Lyric’s own special projects advisor, is joined by charismatic baritone Rod Gilfry for an extraordinary musical event: the Midwest premiere of the song cycle The Brightness of Light, composed by Pulitzer Prize winner Kevin Puts, followed by a program featuring songs from the Great American Songbook as well as Broadway favorites.

San Diego Opera will present the world premiere of Gabriela Lena Frank's El último sueño de Frida y Diego (The Last Dream of Frida and Diego) on Saturday, October 29, 2022 at the San Diego Civic Theatre for four performances.

The Princeton Symphony Orchestra’s Princeton Festival Guild is offering an interactive wine tasting and operatic event, Notes of Wine and Song, on Sunday, October 2. The event features the tenor and sommelier Hak Soo Kim, and will take place at Cobblestone Creek Country Club from 3-5:30pm.

After 13 years at the helm of the national opera company, Artistic Director Lyndon Terracini AM has announced his final season for Opera Australia, a year-long celebration of some of the world's finest singers and musical talent with performances in Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane.

New York City Opera will present an abridged version of Donizetti's classic Lucia di Lammermoor on Friday, September 2, 2022 at 7pm as part of Bryant Park Picnic Performances presented by Bank of America.

Bryant Park Picnic Performances presented by Bank of America will continue on September 2 with New York City Opera's fourth and final summer 2022 performance at Bryant Park, a special one-night-only abridged version of Donizetti’s classic Lucia di Lammermoor.

Theater Resources Unlimited will present Meet the Coaches, during which actors can meet more than 10 monologue and music coaches, plus accompanists, who will share their methods and then meet individuals in breakout rooms.

Get exclusive presale access to Riccardo Muti’s culminating season as music director which revives signature pieces, showcases the Orchestra's principal players and features premieres of new compositions. Season highlights also include guest appearances from Yefim Bronfman, Hilary Hahn, Maurizio Pollini, Joshua Bell, Maria João Pires and returning holiday favorites: A Chanticleer Christmas and Merry, Merry Chicago!

Tennessee Shakespeare Company announced its 15th performance season in Memphis featuring expansions of its on-stage productions, educational programming, and outreach initiatives projected to create a record 40,000 points of contact in the coming year.

Melbourne Opera is staging the Gaetano Donizetti bel canto masterpiece Australian audiences fell for 45 years ago when Dame Joan Sutherland performed the title role. It has not been performed in Melbourne for over 30 years.

The Metropolitan Opera’s popular Summer HD Festival will return on Saturday, August 27, to Lincoln Center Plaza, featuring a lineup of ten free encore presentations from the company’s acclaimed Live in HD series, as well as a special pre-festival screening of Steven Spielberg’s Oscar-winning film West Side Story on Friday, August 26.

The Orchestra of Teatro Real (the Royal Opera of Madrid), Spain's national opera house and winner of “Best Opera Company” at the 2021 International Opera Awards, makes its U.S. debut at Carnegie Hall in “A Celebration of Spanish Music” on September 15, 2022 at 8:30 pm. The concert celebrates the music of Spain, with the first half devoted to piano and orchestral music by Falla and Albéniz. 

Right after Cape Town Opera's season of Le Nozze di Figaro ends its Johannesburg season at the Roodepoort Theatre on 15 July, Cape Town Opera soloist Brittany Smith will be jetting off to spend two weeks at the Bel Canto Boot Camp (BCBC) in New York City.

Vocalist Candice Hoyes and Pianist Damien Sneed Present Duke Ellington's On a Turquoise Cloud at Caramoor on July 30

What did our critic think? Center Stage is a great smörgåsbord of opera- No, no, that's far too Swedish and Lutheran and heavy. If the whole OTSL festival is a great feast, then Center Stage is the delicious icing on the top of that final cake. It's all dessert and no vegetables.

After their first, full, in-person season in over a year, AVA has announced their 2022/23 opera season! With last season's productions being called a 'complete triumph from its start to its finish' (Chestnut Hill Local), AVA's 88th season is sure to delight opera audiences.

New York City Opera will present the annual Pride in the Park concert on Friday, June 17, 2022 at 7pm as part of Bryant Park Picnic Performances presented by Bank of America.

Versatile singer/pianist CAROLYN WEHNER will lead audiences through a selection of unforgettable hits from classic and contemporary Broadway shows in a cabaret titled BROADWAY BLOCKBUSTER SINGALONG, JUNE 8 - 12, 2022 in the SIDENOTES CABARET.

Walnut Creek's revitalized Festival Opera, led by General Director Zachary Gordin, continues its 31st season with an all-new production of Bellini's Norma, featuring acclaimed singer Shana Blake Hill (she/her) in the title role, directed by Mark Foehringer and conducted by Bryan Nies, with the Festival Opera Orchestra and Chorus.