Eric Owens News

The Collegiate Chorale presents Contemporary Voices on May 21, 2012 at 7pm at St. Bartholomew's Church, 325 Park Avenue, NYC. The concert features five musical gems by 20th and 21st Century masters of choral composition. Single tickets start at $20 and are available online at collegiatechorale.org or by phone at The Chorale office at (646) 435-9465.

Roger Pines, dramaturg of Lyric Opera of Chicago, will make a return appearance as a panelist on the Metropolitan Opera broadcast's celebratedOpera Quiz on Saturday, May 5 - the final live radio broadcast of the Met's 2011-12 season. The radio broadcast of Jana?ek's The Makropulos Case begins at 11:30 a.m. CDT and is carried locally on 98.7WMFT and www.wfmt.com

Today, April 29, the seventh annual Opera News Awards will be presented at a gala celebration in the Grand Ballroom of The Plaza in New York City, paying tribute to five extraordinary artists who have made an invaluable contribution to the art form: sopranos Karita Mattila and Anja Silja, baritones Dmitri Hvorostovsky and Peter Mattei, and director Peter Sellars. Acclaimed mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe, who sings Fricka in the Metropolitan Opera's new production of Wagner's Ring, will host the awards. Among the special guests for this year's festivities are conductor James Conlon (a 2005 Opera News Award-winner), who will present the award to Ms. Silja; legendary baritone (and 2008 Opera News Award-winner) Sherrill Milnes, who will present the award to Mr. Hvorostovsky; bass-baritone Eric Owens, another star of the Met's Ring, who will present to Mr. Sellars; Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho, who will present to Ms. Mattila; and soprano Deborah Voigt, a 2007 Opera News Award-winner and the Met's current Brunnhilde, who will present the award to Mr. Mattei. The guest list will also include Her Royal Highness Princess Madeleine of Sweden, who will attend to watch her countryman, Peter Mattei, be honored. Her Excellency, Ambassador Ritva Jolkkonen, Consul General of Finland in New York, will also be a guest at the festivities, honoring Ms. Mattila.

Matias Tarnopolsky's third season as Director of Cal Performances features 113 artists and ensembles presented in more than 125 performances.

Adam Klein will sing the role of Loge in Wagner's Das Rheingold on Thursday, April 26, replacing Stefan Margita, who is ill.

The Chicago Sinfonietta, the nation's most diverse orchestra, celebrates its 25th Anniversary Season, and its second under the leadership of Music Director Mei-Ann Chen, with five concerts that each highlight music's ability to connect people of different tastes, cultures and even hemispheres.

The Glimmerglass Festival held its 2012 Spring Gala GL!MMERATA! on April 10 at The Metropolitan Club in Manhattan. The glittering evening benefitted the company's Young Artists and Summer Internship programs.

On Saturday, April 14, 2012, the Oratorio Society of New York announced the winners of the 2012 Lyndon Woodside Oratorio-Solo Competition, the only major vocal competition devoted to solo oratorio singing. Immediately following the competition's final round, at which eight singers each sang two selections from the oratorio repertoire, the following prizes were announced.

Since 1977, the Oratorio Society of New York, the city's standard for grand, joyous choral performance, has held the only major vocal competition devoted to solo oratorio singing. Named after the OSNY music director from 1973 to 2005, the Lyndon Woodside Oratorio-Solo Competition each year draws more than 100 applicants from around the world.

The Glimmerglass Festival will hold GLIMMERATA!, the 2012 Spring Gala, on April 10 at The Metropolitan Club in Manhattan to benefit the company's Young Artists and Summer Internshipprograms. The evening will feature music, dinner and dancing, as well as performances by 2012 Glimmerglass Artist in Residence Eric Owens, David Daniels, Dwayne Croft, Sean Panikkar, Elizabeth Futral, Young Artist Dominick Rodriguez and more.

On Sunday, April 29, the seventh annual Opera News Awards will be presented at a gala celebration in the Grand Ballroom of The Plaza in New York City, paying tribute to five extraordinary artists who have made an invaluable contribution to the art form: sopranos Karita Mattila and Anja Silja, baritones Dmitri Hvorostovsky and Peter Mattei, and director Peter Sellars. Acclaimed mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe, who sings Fricka in the Metropolitan Opera's new production of Wagner's Ring, will host the awards. Among the special guests for this year's festivities are conductor James Conlon (a 2005 Opera News Award-winner), who will present the award to Ms. Silja; legendary baritone (and 2008 Opera News Award-winner) Sherrill Milnes, who will present the award to Mr. Hvorostovsky; bass-baritone Eric Owens, another star of the Met's Ring, who will present to Mr. Sellars; Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho, who will present to Ms. Mattila; and soprano Deborah Voigt, a 2007 Opera News Award-winner and the Met's current Brunnhilde, who will present the award to Mr. Mattei. The guest list will also include Her Royal Highness Princess Madeleine of Sweden, who will attend to watch her countryman, Peter Mattei, be honored. Her Excellency, Ambassador Ritva Jolkkonen, Consul General of Finland in New York, will also be a guest at the festivities, honoring Ms. Mattila.

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts today named mezzo-soprano J'nai Bridges the recipient of the 2012 Marian Anderson Award, a biennial award of $15,000 given to an American singer in mid-career.

Houston Grand Opera (HGO) today announced that six new artists will join its young artist development program in the 2012-13 season.

The Metropolitan Opera today announced the winners of the 2012 National Council Auditions. They are: Janai Brugger, soprano from Darien, IL; Anthony Clark Evans, baritone from Owensboro, KY; Matthew Grills, tenor from Newtown, CT; Margaret Mezzacappa, mezzo-soprano from Euclid, OH; and Andrey Nemzer, countertenor from Moscow, Russia. The winners were selected from nine finalists who performed arias with the MET Orchestra, conducted by Andrew Davis. Each winner receives a cash prize of $15,000, as well as invaluable career exposure: the audience for the auditions includes influential opera executives, artist managers, and music critics, and some of the biggest stars in opera received their first major recognition as National Council Winners. The Grand Finals Concert was hosted by renowned bass-baritone Eric Owens, a 1996 National Council Auditions winner. During the judges' deliberations, he gave a special performance of "Ella giammai m'amo," King Philip's aria from Verdi's Don Carlo.

The Metropolitan Opera today announced the names of nine finalists who will sing in the 2012 National Council Auditions Grand Finals Concert on March 18 at 3:00 p.m. with the MET Orchestra conducted by Andrew Davis. The finalists are: Janai Brugger, soprano from Darien, IL;Anthony Clark Evans, baritone from Owensboro, KY; Matthew Grills, tenor from Newton, CT; Will Liverman, baritone from Virginia Beach, VA; Margaret Mezzacappa, mezzo-soprano from Euclid, OH; Andrey Nemzer, countertenor from Moscow, Russia; Kevin Ray, baritone from Cornwall, NY; Lauren Snouffer, soprano from Austin, TX; and Michael Sumuel, bass-baritone from Odessa, TX.

Since 1977, the Oratorio Society of New York, the city's standard for grand, joyous choral performance, has held the only major vocal competition devoted to solo oratorio singing. Named after the OSNY music director from 1973 to 2005, the Lyndon Woodside Oratorio-Solo Competition each year draws more than 100 applicants from around the world.

The Metropolitan Opera today announced the names of nine finalists who will sing in the 2012 National Council Auditions Grand Finals Concert on March 18 at 3:00 p.m. with the MET Orchestra conducted by Andrew Davis. The finalists are: Janai Brugger, soprano from Darien, IL;Anthony Clark Evans, baritone from Owensboro, KY; Matthew Grills, tenor from Newton, CT; Will Liverman, baritone from Virginia Beach, VA; Margaret Mezzacappa, mezzo-soprano from Euclid, OH; Andrey Nemzer, countertenor from Moscow, Russia; Kevin Ray, baritone from Cornwall, NY; Lauren Snouffer, soprano from Austin, TX; and Michael Sumuel, bass-baritone from Odessa, TX.

Katarina Dalayman will sing the role of Brunnhilde in this evening's performance of Wagner's Gotterdammerung, replacing Deborah Voigt, who is ill.

The Collegiate Chorale is set to present Tippett's A Child of Our Time and Bruckner's Te Deum on Friday, February 3, 2012 at 7pm at Carnegie Hall, 881 Seventh Avenue, NYC.

Three outstanding maestros-Kurt Masur, Christoph Eschenbach, and Stephane Deneve-will each conduct a program by the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) in its annual visits to Carnegie Hall this March, with music ranging from large-scale Romantic choral music to twentieth-century Russian works. Between the second and third BSO programs, the Boston Pops returns to Carnegie Hall with conductor Keith Lockhart for the first time since 2000, for a program featuring the acclaimed trio Time for Three (making its Carnegie Hall debut) and a special tribute to the "King of Swing," Benny Goodman, featuring BSO clarinetist Thomas Martin.