Eric Owens News

Houston Grand Opera expands its commitment to broadening the audience for opera with a 2017-18 season that includes the first presentations of Leonard Bernstein's classic musical West Side Story by a major American opera house and the world premiere of composer Ricky Ian Gordon and librettist Royce Vavrek's holiday opera The House without a Christmas Tree. HGO will present its first performances in a quarter century of two iconic works: Richard Strauss's revenge-filled Elektra with virtuoso sopranoChristine Goerke in the tempestuous title role and 2016 Richard Tucker Award-winner and HGO Studio alumna Tamara Wilson in her role debut as Chrysothemis, under the baton of HGO Artistic and Music Director Patrick Summers; and Bellini's grand-scale tragedy Norma showcasing the debut of stellar dramatic soprano Liudmyla Monastyrska in the notoriously difficult title role, with 2015 Tucker winner and HGO Studio alumna Jamie Barton as Adalgisa.

Houston Grand Opera expands its commitment to broadening the audience for opera with a 2017-18 season that includes the first presentations of Leonard Bernstein's classic musical West Side Story by a major American opera house and the world premiere of composer Ricky Ian Gordon and librettist Royce Vavrek 's holiday opera The House without a Christmas Tree.

The Metropolitan Opera National Council, Eastern Region host committee will hold its regional finals auditions Wednesday, January 18th at Merkin Concert Hall (129 West 67th Street) beginning at 1 pm. Twelve singers from the New York City area will compete for cash prizes totaling over $15,000 and a chance to perform on the Met stage at the next level of auditions.  Members of the Met's artistic staff and other professionals from the opera world will judge the auditions and give feedback to each participant - a unique and invaluable feature of the National Council program. Each singer will perform two arias. Following the singing, audience members will hear an educational program during the judges' deliberations, after which the winners will be announced. The event concludes with a reception for singers, patrons and special guests. The event is open to the public; tax-deductible donations are solicited to defray administrative expenses and to fund the awards.

Music For Life International continues its decade-long tradition of global humanitarian concerts at Carnegie Hall by presenting Mahler For Vision, a benefit concert of Gustav Mahler's monumental Second Symphony "Resurrection" on Monday, February 13, 2017 at Carnegie Hall's Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage.

On Monday, January 23, 2017 at 7:30pm, Works & Process at the Guggenheim will host an interview led by general manager Peter Gelb with Maestro Mark Elder and director Mary Zimmerman.

Fran Drescher - the Emmy and Golden Globe-nominated actress and noted Barbra Streisand fan - will serve as celebrity host when Maestro Luke Frazier and The American Pops Orchestra present Don't Rain on My Parade: 75 Years of Barbra Streisand on Friday, January 13, 2017 at 8:00 PM.

The Ridgefield Playhouse and Craig's Fine Jewelry Live in HD Series brings an encore performance of the Met Opera in HD L'Amour De Loin to the screen today, December 21 at 2pm. 

???????The Ridgefield Playhouse and Craig's Fine Jewelry Live in HD Series brings an encore performance of the Met Opera in HD L'Amour De Loin to the screen today, December 21 at 2pm. 

On paper, it might seem that Kaija Saariaho's L'AMOUR DE LOIN (LOVE FROM AFAR), libretto by Amin Maalouf, couldn't possibly fill a stage the size of the Met's: three characters and a chorus that bobs in and out of the action. Yet, in action, this breathtaking, shimmering piece not only seems at home--particularly in the able hands of soprano Susanna Phillips and the Met orchestra under the  Finnish conductor Susanna Malkki in Robert Lepage's production--but it's hard to imagine hearing it any other way.

On Saturday, January 14, 2017, the National YoungArts Foundation (YoungArts) will host its largest annual fundraiser, the Backyard Ball performance and gala, as the culmination of the organization's signature program, National YoungArts Week, from January 8 - 15.

In additional to launching their Inaugural Winter Season of Plays this week the Peterborough Players continues their Arts on Screen Season this weekend with two performances.

MasterVoices (formerly The Collegiate Chorale), celebrating its 75th anniversary during the 2016-2017 season, presents St. John Passion by Johann Sebastian Bach on February 9, 2017 at 7pm at Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall (57th Street and 7th Avenue, New York, NY 10019).

???????The Ridgefield Playhouse and Craig's Fine Jewelry Live in HD Series brings an encore performance of the Met Opera in HD L'Amour De Loin to the screen on Wednesday, December 21 at 2pm. 

Composer Kaija Saariaho is a woman of few words but potent music, judging by her comments about her acclaimed opera, L'AMOUR DE LOIN, and the excerpts performed at the Guggenheim's Works & Process series several weeks ago, in preparation for the opera's much-anticipated Met debut on Thursday, December 1.

Last night, on Tuesday, November 29th, the National YoungArts Foundation (YoungArts) kicked off its Miami Art Week programming with the debut of two visual arts exhibitions: When We Were Young, which features rarely seen contemporary masterworks from the JPMorgan Chase Art Collection paired with newly created works by YoungArts Visual Arts alumni; and Roots, an immersive, site-specific installation of new work by Cuban-American artist Jose Parla. 

Maestro Luke Frazier and The American Pops Orchestra - Washington, DC's innovative hometown orchestra - will continue their all-star 2016-2017 season with Don't Rain on My Parade: 75 Years of Barbra Streisand on Friday, January 13, 2017 at 8:00 PM at The George Washington University's Lisner Auditorium (730 21st Street NW, Washington, DC).

The Ridgefield Playhouse and Craig's Fine Jewelry Live in HD Series brings an encore performance of the Met Opera in HD L'Amour De Loin to the screen on Wednesday, December 21 at 2pm. 

Maestro LUKE FRAZIER and THE AMERICAN POPS ORCHESTRA - Washington, DC's innovative hometown orchestra - will continue their lunchtime concert series "THIRD THURSDAYS" to highlight the unique musical personalities and special talents of the members of their acclaimed ensemble at Live! at 10th and G (First Congregational, UCC Washington - 945 G Street NW, Washington, DC 20001) - this Today, November 17 at 12:15 PM. 

During this year's Art Basel Miami Beach, the National YoungArts Foundation will host two visual arts exhibitions on their Miami campus, including the debut of a new body of work by José Parlá and an installation of rarely seen masterworks from the JPMorgan Chase Art Collection, as well as a booth at PULSE Miami Beach Contemporary Art Fair. Co-curated by Naomi Fisher (1994 YoungArts Winner in Visual Art) and Luisa Munera, YoungArts Artistic Programs Coordinator, the booth will feature works by ten YoungArts alumni. 

Maestro LUKE FRAZIER and THE AMERICAN POPS ORCHESTRA - Washington, DC's innovative hometown orchestra - will continue their lunchtime concert series "THIRD THURSDAYS" to highlight the unique musical personalities and special talents of the members of their acclaimed ensemble at Live! at 10th and G (First Congregational, UCC Washington - 945 G Street NW, Washington, DC 20001) - this Thursday, November 17 at 12:15 PM.