Blake Friedman News

The York Symphony Orchestra will present Carmina Burana on Saturday, May 20 at 7:30 p.m. at the Appell Center for the Performing Arts in York.

Gloria Musicae launches its 38th season with more of the innovative, cutting-edge programming that has become the organization's hallmark under the artistic direction of Dr. Joseph Holt. It also has a brand-new name-the Choral Artists of Sarasota.

LoftOpera opened Rossini's OTHELLO on March 16 in Brooklyn.

I must admit that I entered LoftOpera's performance of Rossini's take on OTELLO with some trepidation. Besides having a particular affection for the Verdi version, my experience with 'alternate universe' adaptations of famous operas has been iffy at best. But this OTELLO, predating Verdi by over 70 years, seemed a horse of a different color--with LoftOpera making a strong musical case for it, especially in his treatment of Desdemona, Otello's beloved, sung sensationally by soprano Cecilia Lopez.

Opera Star Cristina Fontanelli performed her 13th Annual Christmas in Italy at the 1300 seat Landmark Theater in NYC on Sunday December 18th. The show is a vocal journey through Italy's best loved songs, arias, Neopolitan and Christmas classics.

This fall, contemporary opera producer AMERICAN OPERA PROJECTS (AOP) will present COMPOSERS & THE VOICE: SIX SCENES 2016, a concert of opera scenes from ten artists emerging in the world of contemporary opera. Audiences will get a first look at six wildly different new works that range from imagining moments in the lives of famous people such as Sigmund Freud and Mabel Dodge Luhan or events taking place in a spaceship, an asylum, and a uterus. The composers Matthew Barnson, Carlos R. Carrillo, Nell Shaw Cohen, Marc LeMay, Cecilia Livingston, and Sky Macklay and librettists Edward Einhorn, Duncan McFarlane, Emily Roller, and Mark Sonnenblick, were chosen by AOP to spend a year creating new works in its bi-annual fellowship program Composers & the Voice (C&V).

This fall, contemporary opera producer AMERICAN OPERA PROJECTS (AOP) will present COMPOSERS & THE VOICE: SIX SCENES 2016, a concert of opera scenes from ten artists emerging in the world of contemporary opera. Audiences will get a first look at six wildly different new works that range from imagining moments in the lives of famous people such as Sigmund Freud and Mabel Dodge Luhan or events taking place in a spaceship, an asylum, and a uterus. The composers Matthew Barnson, Carlos R. Carrillo, Nell Shaw Cohen, Marc LeMay, Cecilia Livingston, and Sky Macklay and librettists Edward Einhorn, Duncan McFarlane, Emily Roller, and Mark Sonnenblick, were chosen by AOP to spend a year creating new works in its bi-annual fellowship program Composers & the Voice (C&V).

The York Symphony Orchestra's 2016-17 season, A Musical Journey Through Time, goes on sale Aug. 1. 

The Human Race rounds out its 2015-2016 season with the 1996 Tony Award winner for Best Play, Master Class. One of the opera world's greatest legends takes center stage as Maria Callas gives three aspiring singers a rough introduction to the reality of performing.

The York Symphony Orchestra announces its 2016-17 season, A Musical Journey Through Time, a series of eleven performances, which will include: a Classical series featuring six performances, inspired by some of the best known compositions of all time; three Pops performances, featuring the music of John Williams, the Titanic, and holiday selections audiences will know and love; along with two family-focused presentations, including the popular educational concert featuring Classical Kids from Chicago and a performance featuring National Public Radio's, From The Top, Christopher O'Riley. Music Director and Conductor, Lawrence Golan, returns to the stage after a successful 2015-16 season to lead the orchestra on this time-inspired journey.

? The Human Race rounds out its 2015-2016 season with the 1996 Tony Award winner for Best Play, Master Class. One of the opera world's greatest legends takes center stage as Maria Callas gives three aspiring singers a rough introduction to the reality of performing. During a voice master class at the Julliard School, this controversial personality-now in the twilight of her career-remains fearless as she looks back upon her life-the triumphs and heartbreaks, the egos and ambitions, the glories and the scandals. This biographic drama presents a revealing look at a commanding diva and the sacrifice for art.

“Park and bark” is a term usually used derogatively when speaking about opera--a kind of old-style singing that involves standing still and bursting forth in song, with little or no acting skills involved. There certainly wasn't anything old-fashioned about the operas or the group of young singers who performed them at NYU's black box theatre on May 7 (except perhaps their good training) in “Park and Bark--6 Mini-Operas about Brooklyn's Fort Greene Park.”

Brooklyn's American Opera Projects (AOP) and the Manhattan School of Music (MSM) will present scenes from a new opera The Leopard by composerMichael Dellaira (The Secret Agent) and librettist J. D. McClatchy (Emmeline), an adaptation of Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa's internationally acclaimed 1958 novel.

Celebrating its 13th season, the Ensemble of the Romantic Century (ERC) presents Tchaikovsky: None But the Lonely Heart at The Fishman Space in the new BAM Fisher. A fully staged theatrical concert blending striking music, powerful language and biography, Tchaikovsky: None But the Lonely Heart delves into the unconventional 16-year long relationship between one of the great composers of the 19th century and his patroness, Madame von Meck. Written by Eve Wolf and directed by Donald T. Sanders, this evening-length production seamlessly interweaves a dramatic script performed by actor Simon Fortin (Tchaikovsky) and actress Ariel Bock (Madame von Meck) of Shakespeare & Company with live chamber and vocal music performed by violinist Rachel Lee Priday, cellist Adrian Daurov, pianist Eve Wolf and tenor Blake Friedman. Featuring some of Tchaikovsky's epic pieces including Piano Trio in A Minor, Tchaikovsky: None But the Lonely Heart represents some of the composer's balletic works through dance both choreographed and performed by American Ballet Theatre dancer Daniel Mantei.

Celebrating its 13th season, the Ensemble of the Romantic Century (ERC) presents Tchaikovsky: None But the Lonely Heart at The Fishman Space in the new BAM Fisher. A fully staged theatrical concert blending striking music, powerful language and biography, Tchaikovsky: None But the Lonely Heart delves into the unconventional 16-year long relationship between one of the great composers of the 19th century and his patroness, Madame von Meck. Written by Eve Wolf and directed by Donald T. Sanders, this evening-length production seamlessly interweaves a dramatic script performed by actor Simon Fortin (Tchaikovsky) and actress Ariel Bock (Madame von Meck) of Shakespeare & Company with live chamber and vocal music performed by violinist Rachel Lee Priday, cellist Adrian Daurov, pianist Eve Wolf and tenor Blake Friedman. Featuring some of Tchaikovsky's epic pieces including Piano Trio in A Minor, Tchaikovsky: None But the Lonely Heart represents some of the composer's balletic works through dance both choreographed and performed by American Ballet Theatre dancer Daniel Mantei.

Celebrating its 13th season, the Ensemble of the Romantic Century (ERC) presents Tchaikovsky: None But the Lonely Heart at The Fishman Space in the new BAM Fisher. A fully staged theatrical concert blending striking music, powerful language and biography, Tchaikovsky: None But the Lonely Heart delves into the unconventional 16-year long relationship between one of the great composers of the 19th century and his patroness, Madame von Meck. Written by Eve Wolf and directed by Donald T. Sanders, this evening-length production seamlessly interweaves a dramatic script performed by actor Simon Fortin (Tchaikovsky) and actress Ariel Bock (Madame von Meck) of Shakespeare & Company with live chamber and vocal music performed by violinist Rachel Lee Priday, cellist Adrian Daurov, pianist Eve Wolf and tenor Blake Friedman. Featuring some of Tchaikovsky's epic pieces including Piano Trio in A Minor, Tchaikovsky: None But the Lonely Heart represents some of the composer's balletic works through dance both choreographed and performed by American Ballet Theatre dancer Daniel Mantei.

La boheme presented by The Bronx Opera, will come to the Bronx and Long Island this summer, sung entirely in English.

La boheme presented by The Bronx Opera, will come to the Bronx and Long Island this summer, sung entirely in English.