Dolora Zajick News

Joy In Singing presents the debut recital of soprano Tami Petty, winner of its 2014 Artist Award, tonight, October 29th at 8 at Merkin Concert Hall.

Joy In Singing proudly presents the debut recital of soprano Tami Petty, winner of its 2014 Artist Award, on Wednesday, October 29th at 8 at Merkin Concert Hall.

San Francisco Opera previously announced a cast change for the Company's revival of Giuseppe Verdi's Un Ballo in Maschera (A Masked Ball), presented today, October 4 -22, 2014 at the War Memorial Opera House.

The Merola Opera Program and the San Francisco Public Library Main Branch will present the second season of Merola Goes to the Movies, the free, opera-on-film series.

The Merola Opera Program and the San Francisco Public Library Main Branch are pleased to present the second season of Merola Goes to the Movies, the free, opera-on-film series. Donizetti's powerful opera Anna Bolena will be screened this Sunday, September 21, at 1 pm in the Koret Auditorium at the San Francisco Public Library Main Branch (100 Larkin Street). Doors for first come seating open at 12:30 pm.

SAN FRANCISCO (September 16, 2014)—San Francisco Opera presents Giuseppe Verdi's Un Ballo in Maschera (A Masked Ball) for seven performances October 4 through 22, 2014 at the War Memorial Opera House. The illustrious cast features Mexican tenor Ramón Vargas as the unwisely flirtatious and cavalier King Gustavus III; soprano Julianna Di Giacomo as Amelia, the object of the king's affection; preeminent American baritone Thomas Hampson as Count Anckarström, with Brian Mulligan singing two performances of the role; soprano Heidi Stober as Oscar; and riveting mezzo-soprano Dolora Zajick as the fortune teller Madame Arvidson. A compelling tale of love, betrayal and revenge, Verdi's magnificent drama is presented in San Francisco Opera's classic production, conducted by Music Director Nicola Luisotti and directed by Jose Maria Condemi.

The Metropolitan Opera's popular Summer HD Festival returns to Lincoln Center Plaza with screenings of ten acclaimed productions from the Met's Emmy Award-winning Live in HD series, including four new productions from the 2013-14 season.

San Francisco Opera today announced a cast change for the Company's revival of Giuseppe Verdi's Un Ballo in Maschera (A Masked Ball), presented October 4 -22, 2014 at the War Memorial Opera House. Bulgarian soprano Krassimira Stoyanova, who was to have made her Company debut as Amelia for the first six performances of the run, has withdrawn from the production for health reasons. American soprano Julianna Di Giacomo, originally scheduled to sing Amelia on October 22, will now sing the role for all seven performances. She makes her San Francisco Opera debut and role debut with this production.

The Glimmerglass Festival presents the premiere of a new version of An American Tragedy, which was originally commissioned by and premiered at the Metropolitan Opera in 2005, by composer Tobias Picker and librettist Gene Scheer on Sunday, July 20 at 1:30 p.m., with subsequent performances through Sunday, August 24. One hour prior to the opening performance and other matinee performances, Mr. Picker will preview his work in a free discussion at the Preview Pavilion next to the performance venue. The production is directed by Peter Kazaras and conducted by George Manahan, and the cast features Glimmerglass's 2014 Young Artists. Tickets range from $10-$144 and can be purchased by calling the box office at(607) 547-2255 or online at glimmerglass.org.

The Merola Opera Program and the San Francisco Public Library Main Branch are teaming up for Merola Goes to the Movies, a new series that presents great opera-themed movies.

The Merola Opera Program and the San Francisco Public Library Main Branch are teaming up for Merola Goes to the Movies, a new series that presents great opera-themed movies.

Interim General Director Plato Karayanis and Artistic Director Tobias Picker announce OPERA San Antonio's inaugural season as the Resident Opera Company of the new Tobin Center for the Performing Arts. OPERA San Antonio will present three new productions for the 2014-15 season: Tobias Picker's Fantastic Mr. Fox, Richard Strauss's Salome and a double bill of Ermanno Wolf- Ferrari's Il segreto di Susanna and La voix humaine by Francis Poulenc.

Twenty-three singers, five apprentice coaches and one apprentice stage director, representing ten countries, will participate in the 57th season of the Merola Opera Program from June 2 to August 17. More than 900 artists vied for the 29 coveted spots in the 2014 summer program. Offered free of charge for all participants, the prestigious Merola Opera program is unique in the industry in many ways. Merola is the only young artist program to provide financial support to developing artists for five years following participation. In the past year alone, more than $150,000 was distributed to more than 100 artists supporting varied needs from coaching to language classes to audition travel. In addition, only Merola graduates are considered for participation in the San Francisco Opera's Adler Fellowship program. Selected through an extensive world-wide audition and application process, nearly one third of this season's artists come from countries outside the United States, including: Canada, China, Taiwan, Italy, South Korea, Russia, Iran, Poland and Israel. This year, the program will have three returning Merola artists, Casey Candebat (Merola 2012), Sahar Nouri and Rhys Lloyd Talbot (both Merola 2013).

Thomas Hampson will be at Manhattan School of Music today, March 19th to give a vocal master class. This master class, a free event and open to the public, takes place at 4:00 p.m. in the School's Greenfield Recital Hall, and will be streamed live by going to http://dl.msmnyc.edu/live. The master class will be given in collaboration with MSM's world renowned Distance Learning and Recording Arts Department, headed by Christianne Orto, Dean of Distance Learning and Recording Arts at Manhattan School of Music.

Twenty young opera singers who have won regional competitions around the United States will arrive in New York next week to prepare for the next phase of the country's leading vocal competition: the semi-final round of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. The closed semi-final competition, held on the Met stage before a panel of judges, will determine the select group of finalists who will advance to the final round of the competition. Those finalists will return to the Met to perform in the Grand Finals Concert on Sunday, March 30 at 3 p.m., where each will perform two arias with conductor Marco Armiliato and the Met Orchestra. At the end of the concert, winners will be announced, each of whom will receive an individual cash prize of $15,000 and, more importantly, career-making exposure. The Met Auditions, currently in their 61st year, are a major stepping stone to a career as an opera singer and were crucial in introducing many of today's best-known stars, such as Renée Fleming, Susan Graham, Thomas Hampson, Deborah Voigt, and Dolora Zajick. In 2007, the National Council Audition process was captured in an acclaimed documentary, The Audition, which was released on DVD and aired on PBS, including a rebroadcast on WNET in December 2013.

Thomas Hampson will be at Manhattan School of Music on Wednesday, March 19th to give a vocal master class. This master class, a free event and open to the public, takes place at 4:00 p.m. in the School's Greenfield Recital Hall, and will be streamed live by going to http://dl.msmnyc.edu/live. The master class will be given in collaboration with MSM's world renowned Distance Learning and Recording Arts Department, headed by Christianne Orto, Dean of Distance Learning and Recording Arts at Manhattan School of Music.

Washington National Opera (WNO), led by Artistic Director Francesca Zambello, today announced its 2014-2015 season. It includes the company premiere of Daniel Catán's Spanish-language Florencia in the Amazon, a brand-new production of Puccini's classic La bohème, the company premiere of Rachel Portman's family opera The Little Prince, an English-language production of Poulenc's 20th-century drama Dialogues of the Carmelites, a revival of Wagner's epic The Flying Dutchman, and an acclaimed new-to- Washington staging of Rossini's Cinderella. A third season of the American Opera Initiative, including the world premiere of Penny by two alumni of the program, continues WNO's efforts to commission new works and expand the American repertory. Highlights from the 2014-2015 season will be performed by the WNO Orchestra and special guests at a free preview concert on Wednesday, May 14, 2014 at 6 p.m. in the Kennedy Center Opera House.

Paul Nadler will conduct tonight's performance of Dvorák's Rusalka, replacing the originally scheduled Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Nézet-Séguin will conduct the other five performances of Rusalka at the Met this season.

The Metropolitan Opera's 2014-15 season will feature 26 operas, three of them company premieres, in six new productions and 18 revivals showcasing the talents of the world's leading singers, conductors, and theater artists. The three operas that will have their first-ever Met performances, each staged by a director making his Met debut, are John Adams's The Death of Klinghoffer, conducted by David Robertson and directed by Tom Morris, opening October 20; Rossini's La Donna del Lago, conducted by Michele Mariotti and directed by Paul Curran, opening February 16, 2015; and Tchaikovsky's one-act opera Iolanta, conducted by Valery Gergiev and directed by Mariusz Treli?ski. Iolanta will be presented in a double bill with a new staging of Bartok's one-act Duke Bluebeard's Castle, also conducted by Gergiev and directed by Treli?ski.

Paul Nadler will conduct this evening's performance of Dvorák's Rusalka, replacing Yannick Nézet-Séguin, who is ill. As previously announced, Nadler will also conduct the opera's final performance this season on February 15.