Cecelia Hall News

'ARIADNE ON NAXOS' balances wondrously between classic beauty and parody.

To conclude its 2015/16 Season, North Carolina Opera will present fully-staged production of Rossini's THE BARBER OF SEVILLE on Friday, April 1 at 8pm and on Sunday, April 3 at 3pm at Meymandi Concert Hall in the Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Raleigh.

Lincoln Center and Ehrenkranz Artistic Director Jane Moss announced today the 50th Mostly Mozart Festival, one of the world's major music festivals and a beloved summer New York tradition, with events taking place across Lincoln Center July 22-August 27, 2016.

The winners of the 45th annual George London Foundation Awards Competition for young American and Canadian opera singers were announced at the conclusion of the competition's final round this evening, which took place in a front of an audience at Gilder Lehrman Hall at The Morgan Library & Museum in New York City. 

Opera Philadelphia General Director & President David B. Devan today announced that baritone Jarrett Ott, recently praised by Opera News as a “rising star” with “a voice that is polished and immaculately produced,” will replace Nathan Gunn as protagonist W.P. Inman for all five performances of Cold Mountain, Feb. 5-14 at the Academy of Music. Mr. Gunn, who performed the role in August's World Premiere at The Santa Fe Opera, was compelled to withdraw from the Philadelphia production due to a serious family illness.

Opera Philadelphia General Director & President David B. Devan today announced that baritone Jarrett Ott, recently praised by Opera News as a “rising star” with “a voice that is polished and immaculately produced,” will replace Nathan Gunn as protagonist W.P. Inman for all five performances of Cold Mountain, Feb. 5-14 at the Academy of Music. Mr. Gunn, who performed the role in August's World Premiere at The Santa Fe Opera, was compelled to withdraw from the Philadelphia production due to a serious family illness.

It is almost Mountain time in Philadelphia! Cold Mountain, the first opera by Philadelphia-based, Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Jennifer Higdon, makes its East Coast Premiere with five performances at the Academy of Music, February 5-14, 2016.

Toronto – Audiences will discover love has a sense of humour with the Canadian Opera Company's new production of Rossini's TheBarber of Seville from the Spanish theatre troupe Els Comediants. Scottish-born Rory Macdonald, one of Britain's most talented and dynamic young conductors, returns to lead the COC Orchestra, Chorus and a cast of the most exciting young stars in opera today through Rossini's veritable hit parade of a score, filled with showstoppers and sparkling tunes. Sung in Italian with English SURTITLESTM, The Barber of Seville runs for 13 performances on April 17, 19, 21, 26, 29, May 2, 7, 9, 13, 15*, 19, 21, 22, 2015 at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts.

Last night North Carolina Opera's Artistic Director & Principal Conductor Timothy Myers revealed our new season at CAM Raleigh to fans and friends of the organization. Thank you to all who came out to support us as we head into a very exciting new season of opera performances!

Toronto – Audiences will discover love has a sense of humour with the Canadian Opera Company's new production of Rossini's TheBarber of Seville from the Spanish theatre troupe Els Comediants. Scottish-born Rory Macdonald, one of Britain's most talented and dynamic young conductors, returns to lead the COC Orchestra, Chorus and a cast of the most exciting young stars in opera today through Rossini's veritable hit parade of a score, filled with showstoppers and sparkling tunes. Sung in Italian with English SURTITLESTM, The Barber of Seville runs for 13 performances on April 17, 19, 21, 26, 29, May 2, 7, 9, 13, 15*, 19, 21, 22, 2015 at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts.

Audiences will discover love has a sense of humour with the Canadian Opera Company's new production of Rossini's The Barber of Seville from the Spanish theatre troupe Els Comediants. Scottish-born Rory Macdonald, one of Britain's most talented and dynamic young conductors, returns to lead the COC Orchestra, Chorus and a cast of the most exciting young stars in opera today through Rossini's veritable hit parade of a score, filled with showstoppers and sparkling tunes. Sung in Italian with English SURTITLESTM, The Barber of Seville runs for 13 performances on April 17, 19, 21, 26, 29, May 2, 7, 9, 13, 15*, 19, 21, 22, 2015 at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts.

From January 13 to 17, Carnegie Hall's Weill Music Institute (WMI) presents The Song Continues, an annual series led by renowned mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne, exploring song repertoire through master classes and concerts with the goal of encouraging, supporting, and preserving the art of the vocal recital. The series concludes with the Marilyn Horne Song Celebration, a recital featuring special guest artists mezzo-soprano Susan Graham and pianist Brian Zeger on Saturday, January 17 at 7:30 p.m. in Zankel Hall. The evening's concert also features performances by soprano Alison King, mezzo-soprano Cecelia Hall, tenor Russell Thomas, baritone Edward Parks, and pianists Keun-A Lee, Ken Noda, Renate Rohlfing, and Peter Walsh. Complete program information is listed below.

A giant in the symphonic musical tradition, the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra -- Mendelssohn's orchestra -- presents an all-Mendelssohn program under the baton of the dynamic Riccardo Chailly, La Scala's next Music Director tonight, November 8, 2014 at 8:00 PM in the Prudential Hall at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC).

A giant in the symphonic musical tradition, the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra -- Mendelssohn's orchestra -- presents an all-Mendelssohn program under the baton of the dynamic Riccardo Chailly, La Scala's next Music Director on Saturday, November 8, 2014 at 8:00 PM in the Prudential Hall at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC).

This fall, Seattle Opera brings audiences one of the most popular operas of all time: Don Giovanni. Set to glorious music, Don Giovanni tells a cautionary tale of an unrepentant Casanova who must pay the price for his misdeeds. Seattle Weekly called Seattle Opera's production 'Sleek, chic and colorful' when it first played to packed houses in 2007. The Everett Herald wrote: 'Seattle's production pulses with scenic delights and compelling staging that never drags. It's a big story to tell: Don Juan seduces and worse, even murders, without remorse.… In this production, it's a great ride.'

Seattle Opera will feature Mark Walters in the title role of Don Giovanni on October 19 at 7:30 P.M.in Italian with English subtitles at McCaw Hall.

This fall, Seattle Opera brings audiences one of the most popular operas of all time: Don Giovanni. Set to glorious music, Don Giovanni tells a cautionary tale of an unrepentant Casanova who must pay the price for his misdeeds. Seattle Weekly called Seattle Opera's production "Sleek, chic and colorful" when it first played to packed houses in 2007. The Everett Herald wrote: "Seattle's production pulses with scenic delights and compelling staging that never drags. It's a big story to tell: Don Juan seduces and worse, even murders, without remorse.… In this production, it's a great ride."

At a time when things seem challenging for opera, the Santa Fe Opera holds strong. Santa Fe is among the oldest opera festivals in America and is the largest and most important. It has made its reputation as a distinctive company with a flair for the unusual. This summer they presented operas such as “Dr. Sun Yat-Sen” by Huang Ruo, and Beethoven's “Fidelio.”

Reviving important but neglected operas is one of the ways the Bard SummerScape festival in New York's Annandale-on-Hudson has established itself, and this year's immersion in 'Schubert and His World' - culminating in the 25th-anniversary season of the Bard Music Festival - is no exception. To enrich its exploration of the roots of Austro-German Romanticism, Bard presents Euryanthe (1823) by Schubert's contemporary Carl Maria von Weber, marking the opera's first American revival in 100 years. Headlined by Ellie Dehn, Bard's original staging is by Kevin Newbury, creator of SummerScape's production of Richard Strauss's Die Liebe der Danae. Euryanthe's five performances (July 25, 27 & 30; August 1 & 3) feature the festival's resident American Symphony Orchestra under the leadership of music director Leon Botstein, who also leads semi-staged performances of Schubert's own seldom-heard opera Fierrabras starring Joseph Kaiser, best known for his leading role in Kenneth Branagh's film adaptation of The Magic Flute, on August 17, and of a double-bill of rarities - Schubert's one-act Singspiel Die Verschworenen and Franz von Suppe's operetta Franz Schubert - on August 10.

Summer is just around the corner, and we are looking ahead in anticipation to the start of Carnegie Hall's 2014-2015 season! Listed below are classical music highlights at Carnegie Hall, including details on UBUNTU: Music and Arts of South Africa, a three-week festival from October 10 to November 5, featuring an exciting array of events to be presented at Carnegie Hall and partner venues throughout New York City, inviting audiences to explore the incredibly dynamic and diverse culture of South Africa.