F Paul Driscoll News

Last evening (Thursday, April 10), Manhattan School of Music announced the winners of the Alan M. and Joan Taub Ades Vocal Competition, held for a fifth year in the Ades Performance Space at the School.

Grammy Award-winning mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato and Tony and Emmy Award-winning actor David Hyde Pierce will take a star turn together when they co-host the Ninth Annual Opera News Awards, set to take place on Sunday, April 13, 2014, in the Grand Ballroom of The Plaza Hotel in New York City. They will be joined by a distinguished line-up of presenters – Luca Pisaroni, Susan Graham, Renata Scotto, Eva Wagner-Pasquier and Francesca Zambello – who will pay tribute to five superb artists who have made an invaluable contribution to the art form: the late director Patrice Chéreau, tenor Juan Diego Flórez, mezzo-soprano Christa Ludwig,bass-baritone James Morris, and soprano Nina Stemme. First introduced in 2005, the Opera News Awards gala dinner, which features the hosts and presenters speaking about the awardees and introducing video performance clips, has become one of the most anticipated opera events of the season: an evening of celebration, appreciation, reuniting and celebrity-spotting that is without parallel in the industry.

The Music Academy of the West will honor legendary mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne, the director of the Academy's renowned Voice Program who celebrates her 80th birthday on January 16, 2014, with special programming during its 2014 Summer Festival. The centerpiece of the Horne tribute programming will be a new production of Georges Bizet's immensely popular opera Carmen, one of the iconic mezzo's signature roles. Related programming next summer will include a screening of the 1954 musical film Carmen Jones, which features Horne's dubbed singing for actress Dorothy Dandridge. Additional events will be announced in the coming months.

The editors of Opera News are pleased to announce the honorees for the ninth annual Opera News Awards, paying tribute to five superb artists who have made invaluable contributions to the art form: director Patrice Chéreau, tenor Juan Diego Flórez, mezzo-soprano Christa Ludwig, bass-baritone James Morris and soprano Nina Stemme. The Opera News Awards ceremonywill take place on Sunday, April 13 at the Plaza Hotel in New York City. All the winners - and a host of the city's cultural, civic, and social luminaries - will be present at the gala awards dinner, which will feature celebrity presenters speaking about the awardees and introducing video performance clips.

The editors of Opera News have announced the honorees for the 2012 Opera News Awards, paying tribute to five superb artists who have made an invaluable contribution to the art form: sopranos Mirella Freni and Dawn Upshaw, countertenor David Daniels, baritone Simon Keenlyside, and bass-baritone Eric Owens. The eighth annual Opera News Awards ceremony will take place on Sunday, April 21 at The Plaza in New York City. All the winners - and a host of the city's cultural, civic, and social luminaries - will be present at the gala awards dinner, which will feature celebrity presenters speaking about the awardees and introducing video performance clips.

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.

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 Metropolitan Opera Guild and Opera News, the award-winning magazine published by the Guild since 1936, will present two notable events this spring. On Tuesday, March 22, the Guild honors Thomas Hampson, one of today's foremost singers, in its "Met Mastersingers" series at New York City's Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College. The great American baritone - who is making his company role debut as Verdi's Macbeth at the Met this month - will engage in an informal conversation with Paul Gruber, the Guild's Executive Director of Program Development. The evening program will also showcase video excerpts of Hampson's most celebrated performances; a new video biography created for the occasion; and the honoree performing songs by Liszt, Barber, and Porter (program subject to change). On Sunday, April 29, the seventh annual Opera News Awards will be presented in 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.

The Metropolitan Opera Guild and Opera News, the award-winning magazine published by the Guild since 1936, will present two notable events this spring. On Tuesday, March 22, the Guild honors Thomas Hampson, one of today's foremost singers, in its "Met Mastersingers" series at New York City's Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College. The great American baritone - who is making his company role debut as Verdi's Macbeth at the Met this month - will engage in an informal conversation with Paul Gruber, the Guild's Executive Director of Program Development. The evening program will also showcase video excerpts of Hampson's most celebrated performances; a new video biography created for the occasion; and the honoree performing songs by Liszt, Barber, and Porter (program subject to change). On Sunday, April 29, the seventh annual Opera News Awards will be presented in 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.

The seventh annual Opera News Awards will be presented on Sunday, April 29 at 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.

Nashville Opera presents the final production of its 30th Anniversary Season, Georges Bizet's Carmen. Directed by John Hoomes, Nashville Opera's Artistic Director, the two performances will include the Nashville Symphony conducted by Maestro James Meena, Opera Carolina's General Director and Principal Conductor.

Nashville Opera presents the final production of its 30th Anniversary Season, Georges Bizet's Carmen. Directed by John Hoomes, Nashville Opera's Artistic Director, the two performances will include the Nashville Symphony conducted by Maestro James Meena, Opera Carolina's General Director and Principal Conductor.

Hot off her lauded role debut in San Francisco as Puccini's quintessential New World heroine, soprano Deborah Voigt will once again portray the pistol-packing, poker-playing barmaid Minnie, this time in the Metropolitan Opera's centenary staging of La fanciulla del West (The Girl of the Golden West).

It is a season of momentous anniversaries for the Metropolitan Opera Guild: the Guild began the season-long celebration of its 75th anniversary this fall; as publisher of Opera News, the Guild celebrates the magazine's own diamond anniversary in 2011; and the January issue of Opera News marks the 40th anniversary of James Levine's Metropolitan Opera debut (which was June 5, 1971, conducting Tosca). The cover feature sees Scott Rose take on the difficult task of choosing 40 highlights from Levine's 40 storied years at the Met.

Hot off her lauded role debut in San Francisco as Puccini's quintessential New World heroine, soprano Deborah Voigt will once again portray the pistol-packing, poker-playing barmaid Minnie, this time in the Metropolitan Opera's centenary staging of La fanciulla del West (The Girl of the Golden West).

Hot off her lauded role debut in San Francisco as Puccini's quintessential New World heroine, soprano Deborah Voigt will once again portray the pistol-packing, poker-playing barmaid Minnie, this time in the Metropolitan Opera's centenary staging of La fanciulla del West (The Girl of the Golden West).

The December issue of Opera News celebrates two current Metropolitan Opera productions: the centennial revival of Puccini's La Fanciulla del West, starring "cover girl" Deborah Voigt, and Nicholas Hytner's staging of Don Carlo, Verdi's most ambitious opera.

The December issue of Opera News celebrates two current Metropolitan Opera productions: the centennial revival of Puccini's La Fanciulla del West, starring "cover girl" Deborah Voigt, and Nicholas Hytner's staging of Don Carlo, Verdi's most ambitious opera.

Nashville Opera and the city were the subject of an article from noted critic and arts writer Mark Thomas Ketterson in Opera News. The feature can be found in the June 2010 edition of Opera News Magazine.

The international opera scene comes under the spotlight in the May issue of Opera News. The renovations planned for Sydney's iconic Opera House are the subject of this month's cover story, while additional features address the rebirth of opera in Cape Town and explore the opera houses of Dresden, Hanoi, and Cairo.