Beth Morrison News

Washington National Opera (WNO) presents the sixth season of its acclaimed American Opera Initiative, a comprehensive commissioning program that brings contemporary American stories to the stage while fostering the talents of rising American composers and librettists. All of the program's world premiere operas are presented during the American Opera Initiative Festival weekend,January 19 21, 2018, all in the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater. The festival begins with the world premiere of a new hour-long work by composer Missy Mazzoli and librettist Royce Vavrek, Proving Up, on January 19 and 21, 2018, directed by Alison Moritz and conducted by Christopher Rountree, both in their WNO debuts. Three new pairings of opera composers and librettists Nathan Fletcher and Megan Cohen, Gity Razaz and Sara Cooper, John Glover and Erin Bregman offer new, one-act operas during the festival. Two semi-staged concert performances of each 20-minute opera are presented on January 20, 2018.

Beth Morrison Projects and HERE Arts Center have announced programming for Out of Bounds 2018, a series of short, free performances of new works in public spaces, presented in its second season as part of the sixth annual PROTOTYPE: Opera/Theatre/Now, running January 7-20, 2018 in New York City.

Geoff Sobelle's large-scale performance work HOME explores the relationship between house and home, running December 6-10, 2017, at BAM's Harvey Theater.

Opera on Tap has announced the release of Episode 1 of the world's first virtual reality horror opera, entitled The Parksville Murders, on October 20 exclusively on Samsung VR. The episode will be featured exclusively on the Samsung VR app on Gear VR with Controller powered by Oculus and at samsungvr.com.

The Graduate Center of the City University of New York will host a memorial concert for the late violinist Paul Zukofsky today evening, October 12th, 2017 at 7:30 pm at The Graduate Center, CUNY, 365 Fifth Avenue (between 34th and 35th Streets), New York, NY 10016.

New York City Opera will honor the 90th birthday of Pulitzer Prize-winning American composer Dominick Argento with a concert featuring two of his one-act operas on November 9, 2017 at Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall. Soprano Heather Buck will perform Miss Havisham's Wedding Night and baritone Aaron Engebreth will sing A Water Bird Talk with Gil Rose conducting the New York City Opera Orchestra.

Opera on Tap has announced the release of Episode 1 of the world's first virtual reality horror opera, entitled The Parksville Murders, on October 20 exclusively on Samsung VR. The episode will be featured exclusively on the Samsung VR app on Gear VR with Controller powered by Oculus and at samsungvr.com.

Cincinnati Opera releases the live audio recording of the world premiere production of Gregory Spears and Greg Pierce's ravishing new opera, Fellow Travelers, directed by Kevin Newbury and featuring the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra conducted by Mark Gibson (out September 15 (digital) and September 29 (physical) on Fanfare Cincinnati).

Cincinnati Opera releases the live audio recording of the world premiere production of Gregory Spears and Greg Pierce's ravishing new opera, Fellow Travelers, directed by Kevin Newbury and featuring the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra conducted by Mark Gibson (out September 15 (digital) and September 29 (physical) on Fanfare Cincinnati).

OPERA America, the national service organization for opera and the nation's leading champion for American opera, announces its 2017 2018 season of Onstage at the Opera Center, which begins on Thursday, October 5, 2017, and runs through May 2018.

Choreographer John Heginbotham and author/illustrator Maira Kalmandiscuss their newest collaboration featuring imaginative production design and whimsical dance theater inspired by Kalman's written work and visual art. Following the world premiere at Jacob's Pillow and before the New York premiere at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Dance Heginbotham and members of The Knights orchestra will perform highlights set to a score composed, curated, and arranged by the orchestra's artistic director Colin Jacobsen.

Composer Nico Muhly discusses his music for countertenor with author and illustrator Maira Kalman and Guggenheim curator for performance and media Nat Trotman.

Thinking himself worldly and experienced, Don Alfonso decides to relieve his young friends, Ferrando and Gugliemo, of their faith in sexual fidelity. He challenges them to a bet, promising that within 24 hours their fiancees will prove unfaithful. Outraged, they accept, but find the challenge too painfully revealing and too difficult to withstand. Dressed in clown's clothes, these young men break their own hearts and the hearts of their fiancees. A comedy that is a tragedy underneath is the perfect stuff for the uncanny genius of Mozart, so clearly revealed in this dazzling score.

Choreographer John Heginbotham and author/illustrator Maira Kalmandiscuss their newest collaboration featuring imaginative production design and whimsical dance theater inspired by Kalman's written work and visual art.

Composer Nico Muhly discusses his music for countertenor with author and illustrator Maira Kalman and Guggenheim curator for performance and media Nat Trotman.

Thinking himself worldly and experienced, Don Alfonso decides to relieve his young friends, Ferrando and Gugliemo, of their faith in sexual fidelity. He challenges them to a bet, promising that within 24 hours their fiancees will prove unfaithful. Outraged, they accept, but find the challenge too painfully revealing and too difficult to withstand. Dressed in clown's clothes, these young men break their own hearts and the hearts of their fiancees. A comedy that is a tragedy underneath is the perfect stuff for the uncanny genius of Mozart, so clearly revealed in this dazzling score.

Due to ongoing University-mandated budget cuts, Yale School of Drama/Yale Repertory Theatre announced today that the 2017 edition of the Yale Institute for Music Theatre, which concluded on June 25, would be its last.

Opera Saratoga's Artistic and General Director Lawrence Edelson announced that the company's 2018 Summer Festival will feature new productions of four operas at The Spa Little Theatre in Spa State Park, along with a wide variety of free and ticketed concert events from May 26 through July 15 at venues throughout the region.

HERE begins its 2017-2018 producing season with Stairway to Stardom, a world premiere Resident Artist production by Amanda Szeglowski / cakeface, commencing the 25th Anniversary of this award-winning, boundary-stretching institution. Stairway to Stardom, developed through the HERE Artist Residency Program (HARP), will have 10 performances from September 12 - 23 at HERE (145 Sixth Avenue, just below Spring Street), launching this milestone season.

SYMPHONIE FANTASTIQUE - the singularly inspired creation by the designer, director and performer, master puppeteer Basil Twist, set to the revolutionary 1830 score by composer Hector Berlioz - will return to New York City on the occasion of the ground-breaking work's 20th anniversary starting March 29, 2018 prior to opening night on April 3 at HERE (145 Sixth Ave.), it is announced by HERE's Artistic and Producing Directors Kristin Marting and Kim Whitener, and Barbara Busackino, HERE's Co-Founder and Executive Director of Tandem Otter Productions, Mr. Twist's production company. HERE's Dream Music Puppetry Program proudly presents SYMPHONIE FANTASTIQUE's return to HERE, its original home, on the occasion of HERE's 25th Anniversary Season.