Houston Grand Opera News

Puccini's opera set in ancient China, TURANDOT, will return to the Metropolitan Opera for 16 performances beginning tonight, September 23.

Houston Grand Opera (HGO) will present the world premiere of O Columbia, a chamber opera created by an acclaimed team of artists: composer Gregory Spears, librettist Royce Vavrek, stage director Kevin Newbury, and conductor Timothy Myers-tonight and tomorrow, September 23 and 24 at 8:00 p.m. at the Bayou Music Center.

San Francisco Opera today announced cast changes for the Company's new production of Gaetano Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor, presented October 8–28, 2015, and for Mozart's The Magic Flute, presented October 20–November 20, at the War Memorial Opera House.

Lyric Opera of Chicago presents Rossini's delightful Cinderella in a new-to-Chicago production this fall. It opens on Sunday, October 4 with eight performances through Friday, October 30. Performance dates are Oct. 7, 10, 13, 17, 23, 26 at 7:30pm; and Oct 4 and 30 at 2pm.

Irish mezzo-soprano Tara Erraught kicks off her 2015-16 season with a special event for her native country: she serves as one of 11 honorary ambassadors and will perform at RTE Arena in Meeting House Square for Ireland's Culture Night 2015, a significant national all-island cultural event involving over 900 venues throughout Ireland celebrating culture, creativity and the arts now in its tenth year.

The Old Globe opens its 2015-2016 Season with IN YOUR ARMS, a World Premiere dance-theatre musical featuring direction and choreography by Tony Award winner Christopher Gattelli (Newsies, Godspell, Lincoln Center Theater's The King and I and South Pacific) and original music by Tony Award winner Stephen Flaherty (Ragtime, Once on This Island; two-time Oscar nominee for Anastasia). The production begins tonight, September 16, with an opening slated for September 24, and runs through October 25, 2015.

Composer Gregory Spears and librettist Royce Vavrek talk the relationship between space travel and Houston, and how it inspired the new chamber opera O COLUMBIA.

Yale Repertory Theatre opens its 2015-16 season with the world premiere of INDECENT, a new play with music, written by Paula Vogel, created by Paula Vogel and Rebecca Taichman, and directed by Rebecca Taichman, at the University Theatre (222 York Street), October 2-24. Opening Night is Thursday, October 8. The world premiere of INDECENT is a co-production with La Jolla Playhouse, where it will play November 13-December 10.

Il Trovatore returns to the Met September 25, starring Anna Netrebko as the heroine Leonora in her long-awaited Met role debut. Dolora Zajick sings her signature role of the mysterious gypsy Azucena, with Yonghoon Lee as Manrico, Dmitri Hvorostovsky as Manrico's rival Count di Luna, and Štefan Kocán as Ferrando. In later performances, Angela Meade stars as Leonora, Marcello Giordani sings Manrico, Vitaliy Bilyy sings Count di Luna, and Kwangchul Youn sings Ferrando. Zajick and Hvorostovsky reprise their roles with Marco Armiliato leading all performances of David McVicar's 2009 production at the Met this season. The October 3 performance of Il Trovatore will launch the tenth season of the Met's Live in HD series when it is transmitted to more than 2,000 movie theaters in 70 countries around the world.

DALLAS, TX, SEPTEMBER 14, 2015 - The Dallas Opera is pleased to announce that applications for the expanded and revised Dallas Opera Guild Vocal Competition, scheduled to take place on Friday, April 29, 2016 at 11:00 a.m. (Semi-Final Round) and Saturday, April 30, 2016 at 6:30 p.m. (Finals Round) will be accepted beginning tomorrow – Tuesday, September 15, 2015 – through Saturday, November 21, 2015.

Puccini's opera set in ancient China, TURANDOT, will return to the Metropolitan Opera for 16 performances beginning September 23.

Pacific Chorale, the resident classical music choir of Segerstrom Center for the Arts, will be presenting one of the all-time greatest monuments of choral music on Sunday, November 1 at 5:30 p.m. at the Renee and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall: Johannes Brahms's A German Requiem.

Live From Lincoln Center's telecast of SWEENEY TODD: THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET has won the Creative Arts Emmy Award for Outstanding Special Class Program. Therefore, six-time Tony Award-winner McDonald, is now just an Oscar Award away from the coveted 'EGOT' distinction.

Stephen Sondheim's macabre musical thriller Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street receives its highly anticipated San Francisco Opera premiere in a production featuring a cast of notable operatic stars and performed with Sondheim's original score for the lyric stage.

The Huntington Theatre Company opens its 2015-2016 season with the Tony Award-winning musical A Little Night Music, Stephen Sondheim's most romantic and popular work, led by Tony and Olivier nominee Haydn Gwynne, as well as Broadway's Stephen Bogardus and Lauren Molina. Huntington Artistic Director Peter DuBois (after all the terrible things I do; Smart People; Rapture, Blister, Burn; and Becky Shaw) will direct. Performances will run tonight, September 11, through October 11, 2015 at the Avenue of the Arts / BU Theatre.

The Fifth Annual Houston Arts Partners Conference is expected to draw hundreds of educators, artists, and community leaders to the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, this weekend, Sept. 11 - 12, 2015.

The Houston Grand Opera Studio, one of the most highly respected young artist programs in the country, will offer its fall Studio Showcase at 8:00 p.m. this weekend, September 10 and 12.

Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts announced today that individual tickets for the Raleigh premiere of Dirty Dancing -- The Classic Story On Stage will go on sale July 20 at 10 a.m.

The Umeda Arts Theater world premiere production of Prince of Broadway began rehearsals on Thursday, September 3 in New York City, and BroadwayWorld has the first photos from that process below!

Houston, September 1 2015— Houston Grand Opera (HGO) announces today that the company is offering free renewal for the coming season's subscription package to all laid off employees from the energy industry who are current subscribers.