Houston Grand Opera News

Kansas City Repertory Theatre will continue its 2015-16 season with The Fantasticks, directed by Kansas City Repertory Theatre's Producing Director Jerry Genochio.

RALEIGH, N.C. – North Carolina Opera is pleased to announce the extension of Artistic & Music Director Timothy Myers' contract through the 2017-2018 season. Artistic Director of NCO since its founding in 2010, Myers has been integral to the establishment of a high artistic standard and performances that are lauded locally and nationally. In addition, Myers is very involved in fundraising and strategic activities for the company.

The American Academy of Arts and Letters announces that librettist/lyricist Michael Korie will receive the Marc Blitzstein Award for Musical Theater of $10,000. Established in 1965 by friends of the late Academician Marc Blitzstein in his memory, the award is given to a composer, lyricist, or librettist to encourage the creation of works of merit for musical theater and opera. The jurors were John Harbison (chairman), J. D. McClatchy, Shulamit Ran, Augusta Read Thomas, and Yehudi Wyner.

North Carolina Opera is pleased to announce the extension of Artistic & Music Director Timothy Myers' contract through the 2017-2018 season. Artistic Director of NCO since its founding in 2010, Myers has been integral to the establishment of a high artistic standard and performances that are lauded locally and nationally. In addition, Myers is very involved in fundraising and strategic activities for the company.

Ghostlight Records has released the original cast recording of the world premiere musical FIRST DAUGHTER SUITE -- written by Michael John LaChiusa and directed by Kirsten Sanderson -- in digital formats today, February 26. The physical CD will be online and in stores on Frida­­y, April 1.

Lawrence Edelson, Artistic and General Director of Opera Saratoga, announced the program for the 2016 Summer Festival, which will run from May 28th through July 17, 2016.

HITS Theatre starts the spring season in style with the production of Crazy for You, a Tony award-winning musical at Miller Outdoor Theatre in Hermann Park at 6000 Hermann Park Drive with performances scheduled for March 31, April 1, 2, 7, 8, 9 at 8 p.m.

(Los Angeles) February 22, 2016 — LA Opera's 30th Anniversary Season continues with Giacomo Puccini's beloved Madame Butterfly, starring soprano Ana María Martínez as Cio-Cio-San.

Lincoln Center's American Songbook series doesn't usually cross the road to opera-land, but I'm glad it did, when it presented the Ricky Ian Gordon-Leonard Foglia chamber opera A COFFIN IN EGYPT with mezzo extraordinaire Frederica von Stade last week. Performed in Jazz at Lincoln Center's tiny Appel Room, EGYPT brought us up close and personal to von Stade--and her alter-ego here, 90-year-old Myrtle Bledsoe--and proved she still has “it” as a performer.

Six-time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald brings her acclaimed portrayal of Billie Holiday in the Broadway smash “Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill” to HBO, with the exclusive presentation scheduled to debut SATURDAY, MARCH 12 

  On Sunday, March 13, at 2:00 p.m., Harry Bicket conducts Handel's Orlando at Carnegie Hall with acclaimed baroque orchestra The English Concert. In this concert presentation of Handel's opera seria of love, war, and madness, countertenor Iestyn Davies performs the title role joined by sopranos Erin Morley (Angelica) and Carolyn Sampson (Dorinda), mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke (Medoro), and bass-baritone Kyle Ketelsen (Zoroastro). Benjamin Sosland of The Juilliard School leads a pre-concert talk at 1:00 p.m.

Three Weeks of Beethoven returns for a second year at the Houston Symphony this March, featuring Beethoven's second, third, eighth and ninth symphonies. In musical contrast, Superheroes at the Symphony!, and An Evening with Matthew Morrison will round out the last weekend of the month.

Three Weeks of Beethoven returns for a second year at the Houston Symphony this March, featuring Beethoven's second, third, eighth and ninth symphonies. In musical contrast, Superheroes at the Symphony!, and An Evening with Matthew Morrison will round out the last weekend of the month.

Stark Naked Theatre presents the classic, yet ever-relevant dark comedy Who's Afraid of Virgina Woolf? by Edward Albee. 

Rice University is proud to present EURYDICE: Sarah Ruhl's beautiful reimagining of the classic Greek myth of a young girl who travels into the underworld to reunite with her father.

Oakland, CA, December 10, 2015—Music Director Michael Morgan and the Oakland Symphony continue their annual exploration of world orchestral music traditions this season with Notes from Vietnam, Today, February 12, 2016, at 8 pm at the Paramount Theatre. Featured will be Emmy Award-winning composer performer Vân-Ánh Võ, who will give the world premiere of her Lullaby for a Country, performing on the ?àn tranh (Vietnamese zither), ?àn B?u (monochord), and vocals. In addition, TV and Broadway star and filmmaker Michael Urie (Ugly Betty, Modern Family) will narrate Britten's Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra. Completing the program will be Dvo?ák's Carnival Overture. The Symphony's Notes from . . . series has become a popular mainstay of the Bay Area music scene and annually explores symphonic music both new and traditional from cultures that may be less well known to audiences. Past Notes from . . . programs have focused on music from Mexico, Persia, the Philippines, China and the Middle East, among others. Free lobby entertainment, no-host drinks and pre-concert talk begin at 7 pm. And the concert is sponsored in part by California Waste Solutions. Tickets are priced $20-$75 and may be purchased at www.OaklandSymphony.org.

Grammy Award-winning trumpet player Chris Botti will perform with the New York Philharmonic, led by Andy Einhorn in his Philharmonic debut, Monday, April 11, 2016, at 7:30 p.m.

'Opera God' opens San Diego Opera season with one of his signature roles

Ana María Martínez will sing her first Met performances of Cio-Cio-San in Puccini's Madama Butterfly on February 19 and 22, replacing Hei-Kyung Hong, who is ill. Hong is scheduled to sing the performances on February 25, March 2 and 5, as previously announced.