Chad Shelton News

The Metropolitan Opera has unveiled the 2024–25 season lineup. Learn about the operas being presented and see how to purchase tickets.

Utah Symphony performs Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and Berg’s Wozzeck in a semi-staged production led by Creative Partner David Robertson. Don't miss this exceptional musical experience!

It’s rather surprising, really, for the audience to embrace a contemporary piece like DEAD MAN WALKING, no matter how easily it falls upon the ears, considering the subject matter. In this Ivo van Hove production, it starts with a rape and double murder in a rather graphic piece of film, the use of video being one of van Hove’s trademarks. It ends with a death by lethal injection, also graphically shown in live video.

One of the momentous events of the first season at the new Metropolitan Opera at Lincoln Center (and there were many) was the new production of Benjamin Britten's PETER GRIMES in 1967.  Although it had its Met premiere in 1948 at the old house, it was the Tyrone Guthrie production  that cemented its place in the Met repertory.  Starring Jon Vickers as its protagonist, it served to introduce his portrayal to a generation relatively new to the opera.  For approximately the next twenty years Vickers would play Grimes at most revivals.  Since then, there have been others who have played the role-Philip Langridge, Anthony Rolfe Johnson, and Anthony Dean Griffey-and left their mark on this almost mythical role.

Houston Grand Opera's mainstage 2022–23 season has something for everyone and is comprised of 46 performances across seven productions.

The 64th Annual GRAMMY Awards featured a tribute to Stephen Sondheim, a win for Barlow and Bear's 'Unofficial Bridgerton Musical,' Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett for their 'Love For Sale' Cole Porter duets album, Olivia Rodrigo, and more. Check out the full list of winners now!

Houston Grand Opera has announced its 2022–23 season, featuring a new production of Dame Ethel Smyth's rarely-performed masterpiece The Wreckers, the triumphant return of HGO-commissioned mariachi opera El Milagro del Recuerdo, the U.S. premieres of Opéra National de Paris and Royal Opera House's production of Werther and the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía of Valencia's production of Salome, and beloved HGO classics La traviata, The Marriage of Figaro, and Tosca.

Talk about ‘spoiler alerts,’ there was a big one for me early in the opera, EURYDICE, by Matthew Aucoin to a libretto that he and Sarah Ruhl fashioned from her play of the same name, which had its Met premiere last night. Eurydice tells Orpheus “Don’t look at me,” which to me mirrored the scene at the end of the piece in the Underworld when Hades tells him that he can take her back to the land of the living if he doesn’t look back at her…which, of course, he does.

Continuing on the performance path that began with livestream-only performances over the summer, and expanding to include live audiences beginning in September, the Houston Symphony welcomes the holidays this year with live audiences and livestreaming access to A Baroque Christmas, as well as the yearly holiday favorite, Very Merry POPS.

R. Strauss's powerful psychodrama Salome returns to Houston Grand Opera for the first time in 20 years in a production directed by Francisco Negrin. The revolutionary score reinvents Oscar Wilde's biblical drama of a deeply disturbed princess who has fallen in love with Jokanaan (John the Baptist). After he denies her, she performs the infamous and seductive a?oeDance of the Seven Veilsa?? for King Herod in exchange for John's head.

For over 40 years, an unlikely place has been ground zero for the professional development of young singers with their sights set on careers in opera, musical theater and classical music. Central City, Colo., a small mountain town 35 miles west of Denver, is typically known for its mining history and casino resorts. However, during the summer months it becomes a performing arts mecca, with select rising stars traveling to Colorado for the Bonfils-Stanton Foundation Artists Training Program during Central City Opera's annual Festival.

Houston Symphony Music Director Andrés Orozco-Estrada and CEO/Executive Director John Mangum, holder of the Margaret Alkek Williams Chair, announced the details of the 2020a?"21 season, Orozco-Estrada's seventh as music director. Orozco-Estrada and the Houston Symphony enter the next decade of music-making with works by Beethoven, in honor of his  250th birthday celebration; new music from contemporary composers; Symphony Specials with pianists Lang Lang and Leif Ove Andsnes; solo performances from Concertmaster Yoonshin Song and other Houston Symphony musicians; and a new, three-year Artistic Partnership with legendary violinist Itzhak Perlman. 

Following a season of change and transition, Calgary Opera announced a fresh and innovative line-up of productions, programs and packages that will form their 2019-20 season today. This season, the company's 48th, includes three main stage opera productions at the Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium and a series of smaller performances at other venues across the city.

Talk about baptism by fire! That's what Gustavo Dudamel--that wunderkind of the classical conducting world--faced as he reached the podium of the Met for the first time Friday night. Not only was he conducting Verdi's great opera, OTELLO, but he was doing so with a last-minute substitute in the title role. The result: All went well with the Met's production of the masterwork.

To commemorate the start of Yannick Nézet-Séguin's new position as the Jeanette Lerman Neubauer Music Director, the Met is releasing an audio compilation of performance highlights on iTunes, as well as a series

Utah Opera Artistic Director Christopher McBeth today announced Utah Opera's 2018-19 season. Featuring two new productions by the company's in-house Production Studios, Utah Opera's 41st season runs from October 2018 to May 2019 and comprises three main-stage productions at Janet Quinney Lawson Capitol Theatre and a semi-staged production at Abravanel Hall.

Utah Opera Artistic Director Christopher McBeth today announced Utah Opera's 2018-19 season. Featuring two new productions by the company's in-house Production Studios, Utah Opera's 41st season runs from October 2018 to May 2019 and comprises three main-stage productions at Janet Quinney Lawson Capitol Theatre and a semi-staged production at Abravanel Hall.

Houston Grand Opera presents Bernstein's West Side Story (April 20 - May 6), Bellini's Norma (April 27 - May 11), and return of Cruzar la Cara de la Luna (May 17, 19, 20) at HGO Resilience Theater World's first mariachi opera returns after New York triumph Houston, January 29, 2018 - Houston Grand Opera (HGO) will present the first major American opera house production of Leonard Bernstein ' s landmark musical West Side Story, April 20 - May 6, and Bellini's vocal powerhouse Norma, April 27 - May 11, in the HGO Resil i ence Theater at the George R. Brown Convention Center.

Houston Grand Opera ( HGO ) presents Richard Strauss's chilling one - act drama, Elektra, January 19 February 2, the first HGO performances in 25 years. The Sir David McVicar production stars internationally acclaimed soprano Christine Goerke, who owns the title role as one of the most fearless and formidable dramatic sopranos of the day ( New York Times ).

Austin Opera continues its tradition of masterfully recreating classic operas with Bizet's CARMEN currently playing at The Long Center.