Francesca Zambello News

The Theater St. Gallen presents the world premiere of the musical ARTUS - Excalibur on 15 March 2014. Watch footage from the recent press preview below!

Washington National Opera (WNO) continues its 2013-2014 season with the east coast premiere of the new American opera Moby-Dick, today, February 22 to March 8 in the Kennedy Center Opera House.

Conductor James Conlon, Music Director of LA Opera, concludes his three-year commemoration of the centenary of composer Benjamin Britten (1913-1976) and brings the Britten 100/LA celebration to a close in Los Angeles with LA Opera's production of Billy Budd, which opens today, February 22 and continues through March 16, 2014.

With James Levine on the podium, and Thomas Hampson in the title role, Deborah Voigt will make her role debut as Marie in Alban Berg's harrowing opera Wozzeck at New York's Metropolitan Opera (March 6 - 22). The revival of this 'arrestingly abstract ' (New York Times) staging of Berg's landmark opera is highly anticipated, pairing two beloved American singers with a conductor - the Met's music director - who is widely regarded as one of the work's most passionate advocates. The fifth and final performance of Wozzeck this season will be broadcast live on Saturday, March 22 in the Metropolitan Opera Radio Broadcast series on WQXR 105.9 FM and online at www.wqxr.org. In April, Voigt heads out for a four-city recital tour, taking her to three venues in California and a return engagement in the 75th anniversary season of Boston's popular Celebrity Series. On May 14, she returns to the Met to host the 'Live in HD' broadcast of Rossini's La Cenerentola.

The latest in unauthorized gossip and buzz from the heart of Chicago's showtune video bars, and musical theater news from Chicago to Broadway. 'Into The Woods,' the Chicago Musical Theater Festival, new music for Tom Stoppard, Rob Ashford to direct Lyric's 'Carousel,' Ellington's 'Queenie Pie,' 'Love Story,' NU's 'Shrek,' my Grammy and Oscar views, and more!

Conductor James Conlon, Music Director of LA Opera, concludes his three-year commemoration of the centenary of composer Benjamin Britten (1913-1976) and brings the Britten 100/LA celebration to a close in Los Angeles with LA Opera's production of Billy Budd, which opens on February 22 and continues through March 16, 2014. For more information about this production, please visit www.LAOpera.org.

Part child and part saint, endowed with physical as well as spiritual beauty, a young sailor unwittingly undermines the chain of command on the high seas in British composer Benjamin Britten's Billy Budd, returning to LA Opera's stage for six performances, February 22 through March 16.

Lead producers Ben Sprecher and Louise Forlenza, announced today that REBECCA, the musical based on the classic novel by Daphne du Maurier, has officially extended its rights through December 31, 2014 and is eyeing a Winter 2014 start. They are now joined by Co Producers Steven Colson, Peter Bezemes and Barbara Sellinger, along with the previously announced co-producers, who all remained committed to the project.

Anthony Freud, general director of Lyric Opera of Chicago, announced today that the company will present a new production of Richard Wagner's monumental four-opera masterpiece, Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung) starting in 2016-17.

General Director Plácido Domingo announced LA Opera's 2014/15 season, created in collaboration with Music Director James Conlon and President and CEO Christopher Koelsch. The upcoming season will include six mainstage productions, with 41 performances at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. Additional performances will take place in other venues through an expansion of the Company's Off Grand initiative. The season will open on September 13, 2014, and will run through June 14, 2015.

General Director Plácido Domingo announced LA Opera's 2014/15 season, created in collaboration with Music Director James Conlon and President and CEO Christopher Koelsch. The upcoming season will include six mainstage productions, with 41 performances at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. Additional performances will take place in other venues through an expansion of the Company's Off Grand initiative. The season will open on September 13, 2014, and will run through June 14, 2015.

Queens Theatre (QT), in conjunction with the acclaimed Aquila Theatre, presents William Shakespeare's TWELFTH NIGHT, an innovative and exciting new production directed by Aquila Theatre Artistic Director, Desiree Sanchez (BAM's Herakles). TWELFTH NIGHT will play 4 performances only at Queens Theatre (14 United Nations Avenue South, Flushing Meadows Corona Park, Queens, NY 11368). Performances are Friday, February 14, 2014 at 2pm, Saturday, February 15, 2014 at 2pm and 8pm, and Sunday, February 16, 2014 at 3pm. Tickets are $42 for Friday?s performance and $49 for Saturday and Sunday performances; Rear seating $25 (for all performances). Tickets are available online at www.queenstheatre.org/shakespeares-twelfth-night or by calling the Box Office at 718-760-0064. Tickets may also be purchased in-person at the Queens Theatre Box Office, Monday 10am to 2pm, Wednesday through Sunday 10am to 6pm. (Senior discount available, $20 student rush tickets available day of).

Washington National Opera (WNO) continues its 2013-2014 season with the east coast premiere of the new American opera Moby-Dick, February 22 to March 8 in the Kennedy Center Opera House. Written by composer Jake Heggie and featuring an English- language libretto by Gene Scheer based on Herman Melville's 19th-century literary classic, Moby-Dick sweeps audiences straight out to the high seas with its massive nautical sets and dazzling multimedia visual effects, in what is perhaps the most technically challenging opera WNO has ever mounted. Renowned American director Leonard Foglia leads a talented all- American cast in performances conducted by Evan Rogister, a dynamic young American maestro making his WNO debut.

The Atlanta Opera continues its 2013-2014 season with a production of Charles-François Gounod's grand opera Faust. The opera will be presented on March 8, 11, 14, and 16 at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre, and will be dedicated to Atlanta Opera Chorus Master Walter Huff in honor of his 25th anniversary with the company. Single tickets, ranging from $26-$133, can be purchased online at atlantaopera.org, or by calling 404-881-8885. Two-opera season ticket packages, which include Faust and the upcoming production of The Barber of Seville, are also available, offering patrons premium seating at discounted prices.

Whether massive festivals, unique productions, or simply an amazing take on a classic we all know well, the DC arts community rose to the challenge this year and offered something pretty great for everyone.

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.

Fun for the whole family, this is a solid offering by the Washington National Opera.

Washington National Opera (WNO) continues its 2013-2014 season with the world premiere of a new holiday family opera: The Lion, The Unicorn, and Me, today, December 14-22 in the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

Washington National Opera (WNO) continues its 2013-2014 season with the world premiere of a new holiday family opera: The Lion, The Unicorn, and Me, today, December 14-22 in the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater.

David M. Rubenstein, Chairman of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, today announced the selection of Deborah F. Rutter as the next Kennedy Center president. Ms. Rutter currently serves as the President of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association and will assume her Kennedy Center duties on September 1, 2014. She will serve as the Kennedy Center's third president, following Michael M. Kaiser who will step down from the position on August 31, 2014.