Houston Grand Opera News

OPERA America, the national nonprofit service organization for opera, is pleased to announce that 14 participants from the United States, Canada and Europe have been selected for its 2014 Leadership Intensive program. These future industry leaders were chosen through a competitive selection process that focused on proven leadership and potential for significant contributions to the opera field throughout their careers.This program is made possible by the generous support of American Express.

North Carolina Opera, under the leadership of General Director Eric Mitchko and Artistic Director & Principal Conductor Timothy Myers, presents 'Opera in the Pines' at Koka Booth Amphitheatre in Cary tonight, May 17 at 7 p.m. Maestro Timothy Myers conducts the North Carolina Opera Orchestra and vocal soloists Hailey Clark, Kate Farrar, Noah Stewart, and Ted Federle in a concert of Broadway and opera favorites.

Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II's Show Boat opens San Francisco Opera's Summer Season on June 1 with nine subsequent performances through July 2, 2014. A watershed of American musical theater, Show Boat receives its Company premiere in director Francesca Zambello's new grand-scale "beautifully sung, smartly staged and handsomely designed (Chicago Tribune)" production. A beloved story of life on the Mississippi in the 1880s, Show Boat is both a poignant love story and a powerful reminder of America's bitter legacy of racism. The score is filled with unforgettable songs such as "Ol' Man River" and "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man," and the dazzling production features large, colorful sets, sumptuous costumes and exhilarating dance numbers. Of recent performances at Houston Grand Opera, the Houston Chronicle wrote "[This is] a towering work. . . there's a magnificence in its music, its narrative sweep, its deep awareness of something bigger than ourselves."

On Site Opera, which creates immersive, site-specific opera productions, has partnered with Figaro Systems, developer of groundbreaking libretto simultexting technology, to preview a future in which opera is further freed from the opera house. OnThursday, June 19 at Lifestyle-Trimco Showroom in Manhattan, the companies will give a special performance of On Site's new production of Rameau's one-act Pygmalion for users of Google Glass. As the performers move about the space during the performance, audience members will be able to read an English translation of Ballot de Sovot's libretto conveniently in their Glass field of vision.

It was in a supporting role at Carnegie Hall with Eve Queler and the Opera Orchestra of New York that Stephen Costello first launched his professional career. Now the Tucker Award-winning tenor makes a hero's return, rejoining the same forces at the storied New York venue to headline a concert performance of Donizetti's Roberto Devereux on June 5.

59E59 Theaters will welcome the US premiere of PAT KIRKWOOD IS ANGRY, written by Jessica Walker, with Joseph Atkins at the piano, and directed by Lee Blakeley, with musical arrangements by James Holmes. PAT KIRKWOOD IS ANGRY begins performances on Tuesday, June 10 for a limited engagement through Sunday, June 29. Press opening is Sunday, June 15 at 7:30 PM. The performance schedule is Tuesday - Thursday at 7:30 PM; Friday at 8:30 PM; Saturday at 2:30 PM & 8:30 PM; and Sunday at 3:30 PM & 7:30 PM. Performances are at 59E59 Theaters (59 East 59th Street, between Park and Madison Avenues). Tickets are $25 ($17.50 for 59E59 Members). To purchase tickets, call Ticket Central at (212) 279-4200 or go to www.59e59.org.

Legendary mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade has performed many of opera's greatest roles in her storied career that began in 1970. In June, she makes her Opera Philadelphia debut in an incredible new role written just for her, in the East Coast Premiere of A Coffin in Egypt by composer Ricky Ian Gordon and librettist/director Leonard Foglia.

Former Music Director Christoph Eschenbach returns for one of the largest choral-symphonic works ever written, Gustav Mahler's 8th Symphony, tonight and tomorrow, May 9 and 10 at 7:30 pm. Nicknamed the Symphony of a Thousand, Mahler's Symphony No. 8 will be performed by more than 400 musicians, chorus members and soloists together onstage at Jones Hall for an event seen only once before in the Houston Symphony's 100-year history.

Washington National Opera (WNO) presents the world premiere of An American Soldier, June 13-14, 2014 in the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater. An American Soldier features music by composer Huang Ruo and a libretto by David Henry Hwang. This new work, to be performed in English, is the second hourlong opera created under the auspices of the American Opera Initiative, WNO's commissioning program for contemporary American opera. An American Soldier is directed by David Paul and a chamber orchestra is conducted by Steven Jarvi; both are alumni of WNO's Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program.

On Site Opera, which has garnered acclaim for immersive, site-specific productions, will perform Rameau's one-act Pygmalion in two unusual-and unusually apt-venues this summer, just before the 250th anniversary of the composer's death: Madame Tussauds New York, on June 17, and Lifestyle-Trimco Showroom, on June 20 & 21.

Piano Songs, a newly released ECM CD containing some of Meredith Monk's most beloved compositions for the instrument, features new music pianists Ursula Oppens and Bruce Brubaker. Marking one of the rare times others have recorded the celebrated composer's work, Piano Songs underscores the music's vibrant and independent life.

For the first time in 40 years Vancouver audiences will experience the magnificence of Verdi's spectacular masterpiece, Don Carlo, the emotionally gripping drama of a king's brutal power and a son's brash rebellion. With formidable orchestral forces, a massive chorus and a powerhouse international cast, VO's final – and biggest – production of 2013-2014promises to be this season's most explosive experience yet!

LA Opera is collaborating with Classical KUSC to produce the seventh consecutive season of LA Opera on Air, a weekly broadcast series of LA Opera performances recorded live at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. Beginning with Bizet's Carmen at 10am on Saturday, May 17, 2014, the weekly series will be hosted by KUSC's Duff Murphy and will feature six operas from LA Opera's 2013/14 season. The series will be broadcast locally on Classical KUSC 91.5FM, its repeater stations (see below) and also streamed live online at www.KUSC.org.

Piano Songs, a newly released ECM CD containing some of Meredith Monk's most beloved compositions for the instrument, features new music pianists Ursula Oppens and Bruce Brubaker. Marking one of the rare times others have recorded the celebrated composer's work, Piano Songs underscores the music's vibrant and independent life.

Former Music Director Christoph Eschenbach returns for one of the largest choral-symphonic works ever written, Gustav Mahler's 8th Symphony, on May 9 and 10 at 7:30 pm. Nicknamed theSymphony of a Thousand, Mahler's Symphony No. 8 will be performed by more than 400 musicians, chorus members and soloists together onstage at Jones Hall for an event seen only once before in the Houston Symphony's 100-year history.

Former Music Director Christoph Eschenbach returns for one of the largest choral-symphonic works ever written, Gustav Mahler's 8th Symphony, on May 9 and 10 at 7:30 pm. Nicknamed the Symphony of a Thousand, Mahler's Symphony No. 8 will be performed by more than 400 musicians, chorus members and soloists together onstage at Jones Hall for an event seen only once before in the Houston Symphony's 100-year history.

TUTS Underground will stage the Texas Premiere of Hands On A Hardbody, June 12-22 at Zilkha Hall at The Hobby Center.

Carnegie Hall's Benjamin Britten centenary celebration comes to an end tonight, April 30 at 8:00 p.m., with Music Director Robert Spano leading the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus in a performance of Britten's masterful War Requiem in Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage. They are joined by a trio of eminent soloists-soprano Evelina Dobra?eva, tenor Anthony Dean Griffey, and baritone Stephen Powell-as well as the Brooklyn Youth Chorus. Written for the inauguration of Coventry's new cathedral in 1962, Britten's War Requiem is a deeply felt expression of the composer's pacifism. By juxtaposing Latin texts from the Mass for the Dead with shocking depictions of battle by British poet Wilfred Owen (who died in World War I), Britten created a gripping musical statement about man's inhumanity to man.

Alley Theatre Artistic Director Gregory Boyd announces the cast and creative team for recent Tony Award-winning comedy Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike. Appearing in titles roles are Resident Actor Jeffrey Bean as Vanya, Sharon Lockwood returning to the Alley as Sonia, Alley Artist Josie de Guzman returning as Masha, and Resident Actor Jay Sullivan as Spike. Rounding out the cast and making their Alley debuts are Rachael Holmes as Cassandra and Sarah Nealis as Nina. Jonathan Moscone, Artistic Director of California Shakespeare Theater, helms the production and returns after having directed the Alley's 2011 production of Amadeus.

Closing their 2013-14 Season, HGO is presenting Georges Bizet's acclaimed CARMEN. For this production, Award winning Broadway Director and Choreographer Rob Ashford took the reins and has created a CARMEN that is as beautiful as it is exciting.