Houston Grand Opera News

The Minnesota Opera's 2015–2016 season continues at the Ordway Music Theater tonight, January 23, 2016, with Antonin Dvorák's Rusalka, the tragic tale of a beautiful water nymph who falls in love with a prince and yearns to become human. The Czech composer, beloved for his “New World” symphony and “Slavonic Dances,” suffuses Rusalka with a melancholy yet achingly beautiful sound that perfectly evokes Rusalka's fantastical realm and her doomed love affair; his lovely folk melodies and luminous arias, including Rusalka's heartbreaking “Song to the Moon,” seamlessly depict the two worlds – mortal and mythical – Rusalka tries, and fails, to bridge. Rusalka stars soprano Kelly Kaduce, who was acclaimed for her first-ever Rusalka with Minnesota Opera in 2008 and has been in demand in the role ever since. Minnesota Opera's vibrant, evocative production has traveled around North America, and Kaduce has frequently been tapped to go with it, performing at Opera Colorado and Opéra de Montréal among other companies.

Houston Grand Opera (HGO) opens its 2016 winter repertory on January 22with an inventive staging by multiple-award-winning theater director Michael Grandage of Mozart's genial farce, The Marriage of Figaro. Performances continue through February 7. Co-produced by HGO and the Glyndebourne Festival and premiered at Glyndebourne in 2012, this production, set in 1970s Spain with sets and costumes by award-winning designer Christopher Oram, was hailed for its beauty and for affirming “Mozart's comic masterpiece as both of its time and perennially modern” (Sunday Times). HGO is delighted to bring this elegant staging to Houston under the direction of Ian Rutherford, who worked with Grandage and toured the production following its Glyndebourne run.   

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.

Below, get a first look at Audra McDonald as Billie Holiday, in the performance that won her her sixth Tony. LADY DAY AT EMERSON'S BAR & GRILL premieres Saturday, March 12 at 9 PM, only on HBO.

Houston, January 13, 2016—Houston Grand Opera (HGO) will present the world premiere of The Root of the Wind Is Water, a chamber opera by composer David Hanlon and librettist Stephanie Fleischmann, directed by Matthew Ozawa, on May 13 at 7 p.m. at the Wortham Theater Center and on May 15 at 7 p.m. at The Grand 1894 Opera House in Galveston. Presented under the auspices of HGOco, the company's community collaboration and education initiative, The Root of the Wind Is Water explores the impact of hurricanes on the Texas Gulf Coast through the eyes of the residents who call the region home. The opera will be HGO's 61st world premiere. 

San Francisco Opera General Director David Gockley and Music Director Nicola Luisotti today announced the Company's 2016–17 Season repertory and roster of international guest artists, conductors and creative teams scheduled to appear at the War Memorial Opera House, as well as initial programming for SF Opera Lab 2017 presentations at the Diane B. Wilsey Center for Opera's Taube Atrium Theater. The Company's 94th Season will also mark Matthew Shilvock's inaugural year as San Francisco Opera's new general director, succeeding his mentor and internationally respected impresario, David Gockley, who will step down on July 31, 2016.

Following its critically acclaimed, award-winning Broadway run, ALL THE WAY, a riveting behind-the-scenes look at President Lyndon B. Johnson's tumultuous first year in office in the wake of President Kennedy's assassination, comes to HBO this May, while the exclusive presentation of Broadway's LADY DAY AT EMERSON'S BAR & GRILL, starring six-time Tony winner Audra McDonald, will air Saturday, March 12.

Houston, January 6, 2016— Houston Grand Opera (HGO) opens its 2016 winter repertory on January 22with an inventive staging by multiple-award-winning theater director Michael Grandage of Mozart's genial farce, The Marriage of Figaro. Performances continue through February 7. Co-produced by HGO and the Glyndebourne Festival and premiered at Glyndebourne in 2012, this production, set in 1970s Spain with sets and costumes by award-winning designer Christopher Oram, was hailed for its beauty and for affirming “Mozart's comic masterpiece as both of its time and perennially modern” (Sunday Times). HGO is delighted to bring this elegant staging to Houston under the direction of Ian Rutherford, who worked with Grandage and toured the production following its Glyndebourne run.   

The Merola Opera Program is pleased to recognize Merola 1988 alumna Patricia Racette with the Merola Distinguished Alumni Award in a ceremony tonight, January 7, 2016, in San Francisco.

Madison Opera presents the company premiere of Mark Adamo's LITTLE WOMEN on Friday, February 5 and Sunday, February 7 in the Capitol Theater at the Overture Center for the Arts.

Mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe returns to Carnegie Hall with pianist Alan Louis Smith to lead an audience sing-slong concert, Sing, America!, on Saturday, January 23 at 2:00 p.m. in Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage as part of Carnegie Hall's annual series The Song Continues. Audience members have the opportunity to join in and sing along to some of America's most popular songs from the early 1900s including "Oh, You Beautiful Doll," "Let Me Call You Sweetheart," "By the Beautiful Sea," and many more.

MINNEAPOLIS (December 20, 2015) – The Minnesota Opera's 2015–2016 season continues at the Ordway Music Theater on January 23, 2016, with Antonin Dvo?ák's Rusalka, the tragic tale of a beautiful water nymph who falls in love with a prince and yearns to become human. The Czech composer, beloved for his “New World” symphony and “Slavonic Dances,” suffuses Rusalka with a melancholy yet achingly beautiful sound that perfectly evokes Rusalka's fantastical realm and her doomed love affair; his lovely folk melodies and luminous arias, including Rusalka's heartbreaking “Song to the Moon,” seamlessly depict the two worlds – mortal and mythical – Rusalka tries, and fails, to bridge. Rusalka stars soprano Kelly Kaduce, who was acclaimed for her first-ever Rusalka with Minnesota Opera in 2008 and has been in demand in the role ever since. Minnesota Opera's vibrant, evocative production has traveled around North America, and Kaduce has frequently been tapped to go with it, performing at Opera Colorado and Opéra de Montréal among other companies.

The Los Angeles Master Chorale, led by Artistic Director Grant Gershon, presents two performances of Verdi's towering Requiem, a work National Public Radio calls a "thrilling opera in disguise," with acclaimed guest soloists Amber Wagner, soprano, Michelle DeYoung, mezzo soprano, Issachah Savage, tenor, and Morris Robinson, bass, on Saturday, January 30, 2 pm, and Sunday, January 31, 2016, 7 pm, at Walt Disney Concert Hall.  A stunningly theatrical staple of the choral repertoire, Verdi's work is a tumultuous, tortured, terrifying spectacle that has thrilled audiences since its debut in 1874.  

What: Houston Grand Opera's award-winning community collaboration and education initiative, HGOco, presents the world premiere of The Puffed-Up Prima Donna at HCC Central Campus' Heinen Theatre. The talented artists of HGOco's touring Opera to Go! program will perform this original opera, addressing the topic of social cruelty and bullying, live on January 28, 29, and 30.

The gulf between what's said and what isn't is at the heart of the sweet and whimsical comedy The Language Archive by Julia Cho, next up at Bristol Riverside Theatre on January 26-February 14.  Directed by Adam Immerwahr, the ensemble cast features Keith Baker, Irungu Mutu, Jo Twiss, Tiffany Villarin, and Julianna Zinkel.

San Francisco, CA, December 18, 2015 – San Francisco's Opera Parallèle (OP) has announced its first main stage opera commission, the creation of a new opera by American composer Laura Kaminsky inspired by the life of Georgia O'Keeffe at the time she left New York to embark on her iconic and influential experiences in New Mexico. The company has been awarded a prestigious Repertoire Development Grant from Opera America in the amount of $35,000 to support the work's initial stages of creation and workshopping, and is set for an April 2019 premiere. The opera will feature a libretto by Mark Campbell and Kimberly Reed. The production team will be led by Opera Parallèle Creative Director Brian Staufenbiel, will be conducted by OP Artistic Director and founder Nicole Paiement and will feature a cast of ten, details will be announced. The production is being undertaken by Opera Parallèle in consortium with American Opera Projects and Cornish College of the Arts, and all three co-commissioners will present performances and other activities to be announced. For more information about Opera Parallèle, visit www.operaparallele.org 

The Merola Opera Program is pleased to recognize Merola 1988 alumna Patricia Racette with the Merola Distinguished Alumni Award in a ceremony on Monday, January 7, 2016, in San Francisco.

After a 25-year absence, Florida Grand Opera (FGO) is pleased to bring Bellini's beloved opera NORMA to the Arsht and Broward Centers starting in late January 2016.

The Old Globe today announced the complete cast and creative team for the West Coast premiere of THE METROMANIACS by supremely clever playwright David Ives (All in the Timing, Time Flies). This uproarious new 'translaptation' of a classic French farce, Alexis Piron's La Metromanie, will be directed by one of America's most renowned stage directors, Michael Kahn, presented in association with Shakespeare Theatre Company.

The Merola Opera Program is pleased to recognize Merola 1988 alumna Patricia Racette with the Merola Distinguished Alumni Award in a ceremony on Monday, January 7, 2016, in San Francisco. The ceremony is an invitation-only event for members of Merola's Gold Circle and above. Those wishing to join Merola may find information at www.merola.org.