Houston Grand Opera News

This just in! According to the Hollywood Reporter, Audra McDonald is in final talks to join the cast of Disney's upcoming remake of BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. The six-time Tony winner will take on the role of 'Garderobe,' the wardrobe.

The New York Philharmonic will present the U.S. Premiere of director Co?me de Bellescize's staging of Honegger's dramatic oratorio Joan of Arc at the Stake in season-finale performances conducted by Alan Gilbert and starring Academy Award-winning actress Marion Cotillard as Joan of Arc.

The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra welcomes guest conductor Andres Orozco-Estrada for his Heinz Hall debut in 'Four Horns,' A BNY Mellon Grand Classics concert weekend, March 27-29.

Baltimore, Md. (March 23, 2015) — For the conclusion of the 2014-2015 season, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO) and Music Director Marin Alsop lead the BSO premiere of Leonard Bernstein's comedic operetta Candide on June 11 at the Music Center at Strathmore, and June 12 through June 14 at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall. The BSO announced today that the semi-staged production of Candide will be directed by Garnett Bruce and features an all-star cast including Peter Sagal, the host of NPR's weekly current events quiz show “Wait Wait…Don't Tell Me,” and Judy Kaye, Tony Award-winning star of The Phantom of the Opera. Rounding out the cast are Keith Jameson, Lauren Snouffer, Joshua Hopkins, Mark Diamond, Marie Lenormand, Stephanie Sadownik, Curtis Bannister, Patrick Cook, Andrew McLaughlin, Melissa Wimbish and Lewis Shaw.

Tulsa Opera is pleased to welcome Carlisle Floyd, one of the foremost American opera composers and librettists, to Tulsa for the upcoming Oklahoma premiere of his opera Of Mice & Men, based on John Steinbeck's iconic novel. While in Tulsa, Mr. Floyd will attend opening night of Tulsa Opera's production of Of Mice & Men on April 10 at 7:30 p.m. at the Tulsa Performing Arts Center.

After a months-long series of competitions at the district, regional, and national levels, five young singers have been named the winners of the nation's most prestigious vocal competition, the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.

The Collegiate Chorale concludes its 2014-2015 season with the US Premiere of Kurt Weill's The Road of Promise May 6, 2015 at 8pm and May 7, 2015 at 7pm at Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall, 881 7th Avenue, New York, NY 10019. Tickets are $30-$135 and are available at www.carnegiehall.org, CarnegieCharge 212-247-7800, or the Box Office at 57th and Seventh. For more information, visit http://collegiatechorale.org/performances/the-road-of-promise.

Performances begin tonight, Friday, March 20 and run through Sunday, April 12. Press night is scheduled for Opening Night Friday, March 27. Appropriate for ages 17 +. As a concert production, there will be no live nudity, though documentary photographs of the original production will be projected.

Houston Grand Opera (HGO) invites patrons to celebrate 60 years of producing and performing world-class opera in Houston at a gala anniversary concert featuring renowned mezzo-soprano and HGO Studio alumna Joyce DiDonato at the Wortham Theater Center's Cullen Theater today, March 19. Tickets to the anniversary concert start at $40, on sale now at HGO.org.

Lyric Opera of Kansas City concludes its dynamic 57th season with Giacomo Puccini's vibrant Tosca, April 18, 22, 24 and 26 at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. The production will be sung in Italian with English and Italian titles.

Acclaimed soprano Laura Claycomb has agreed to step in for soprano Nicole Cabell, performing this Wednesday, March 18 at 8:00 p.m. in Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage with The Philadelphia Orchestra and conductor Maurizio Benini. This concert is the final event in mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato's season-long Perspectives series at Carnegie Hall. Ms. Claycomb will join Ms. DiDonato and tenor Lawrence Brownlee for a program of bel canto arias, ensembles, and orchestral selections. Donizetti's 'Havvi un Dio che in sua clemenza' from Maria di Rohan has been removed from the program. The full updated program is below. Ms. Cabell has cancelled Wednesday's appearance due to illness.

The Collegiate Chorale concludes its 2014-2015 season with the US Premiere of Kurt Weill's The Road of Promise May 6, 2015 at 8pm and May 7, 2015 at 7pm at Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall, 881 7th Avenue, New York, NY 10019. Tickets are $30-$135 and are available at www.carnegiehall.org, CarnegieCharge 212-247-7800, or the Box Office at 57th and Seventh. For more information, visit http://collegiatechorale.org/performances/the-road-of-promise.

Toronto – Audiences will discover love has a sense of humour with the Canadian Opera Company's new production of Rossini's TheBarber of Seville from the Spanish theatre troupe Els Comediants. Scottish-born Rory Macdonald, one of Britain's most talented and dynamic young conductors, returns to lead the COC Orchestra, Chorus and a cast of the most exciting young stars in opera today through Rossini's veritable hit parade of a score, filled with showstoppers and sparkling tunes. Sung in Italian with English SURTITLESTM, The Barber of Seville runs for 13 performances on April 17, 19, 21, 26, 29, May 2, 7, 9, 13, 15*, 19, 21, 22, 2015 at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts.

Audiences will discover love has a sense of humour with the Canadian Opera Company's new production of Rossini's The Barber of Seville from the Spanish theatre troupe Els Comediants. Scottish-born Rory Macdonald, one of Britain's most talented and dynamic young conductors, returns to lead the COC Orchestra, Chorus and a cast of the most exciting young stars in opera today through Rossini's veritable hit parade of a score, filled with showstoppers and sparkling tunes. Sung in Italian with English SURTITLESTM, The Barber of Seville runs for 13 performances on April 17, 19, 21, 26, 29, May 2, 7, 9, 13, 15*, 19, 21, 22, 2015 at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts.

Houston, March 12, 2015—Houston Grand Opera (HGO) will present its highly anticipated La Fura dels Baus staging of Wagner's Die Walküre with an all-star cast and Stephen Sondheim's thrilling Sweeney Todd in April, after notching critical and sales successes with its winter productions of Puccini's Madame Butterfly and Mozart's The Magic Flute. Butterfly's six performances averaged a total capacity of 102% (including resale of returned seats) while Flute's five performances averaged 104% capacity.

The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra welcomes guest conductor Andres Orozco-Estrada for his Heinz Hall debut in "Four Horns," A BNY Mellon Grand Classics concert weekend, March 27-29.

DALLAS, FEBRUARY 20, 2015 – The Dallas Opera is preparing to whisk audiences away to the Latin Quarter of Paris for the blockbuster opera of the season: Giacomo Puccini's 1896 masterpiece, LA BOHÈME, based on Henri Murger's newspaper serial-turned-novel, Scènes de la vie de bohème.

Next spring, Tony Award winners Audra McDonald, George C. Wolfe, and Savion Glover will team up to collaborate on SHUFFLE ALONG, Or, The Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed, a musical about the events that led to the creation of the groundbreaking Eubie Blake-Noble Sissle musical Shuffle Along. Starring Audra McDonald as the 1920's star Lottie Gee, directed by George C. Wolfe -- with a book written by Wolfe -- and choreographed by Savion Glover, the musical marks the first time that the writer/director and choreographer will have worked together since their 1996 hit Bring in 'da Noise, Bring in 'da Funk. Previews will begin Monday, March 14, 2016. Opening night is Thursday, April 21, 2016 at the Music Box Theatre (239 West 45th Street).

One of the world's leading 18th-century music specialists, Japan's Masaaki Suzuki, makes his Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO) debut leading the Orchestra in an all-Mozart program, tonight, March 12 at 8 p.m. at The Music Center at Strathmore, and Friday, March 13 at 8 p.m. andSaturday, March 14 at 8 p.m. at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall. Featuring the composer's Don Giovanni Overture and Violin Concerto No. 5, performed by young German violinist Augustin Hadelich, the concert culminates with Mozart's Mass in C minor, otherwise known as the “Great” Mass. Please see below for complete program details.

The Philadelphia Orchestra's conductor-in-residence, Cristian Macelaru, replaces Rafael Fruhbeck de Burgos for three concerts this weekend, March 12, 13, and 14 at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia. Fruhbeck, who last season celebrated conducting more than 150 concerts with the Orchestra in Philadelphia, passed away in June.