Houston Grand Opera News

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 on Sat. 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.

Houston Grand Opera's first ever Ring Cycle is about to kick off with what is promised to be a spellbinding and incredibly visual production of Richard Wagner's DAS RHEINGOLD. As audiences grow all the more eager to see the show of this groundbreaking show, I chatted with Christopher Purves, who is portraying Alberich, about his career and what audiences could expect from this and highly anticipated production.

Alley Theatre Artistic Director Gregory Boyd announces the cast and creative team for Alan Ayckbourn's science fiction comedy Communicating Doors. Eleven plays penned by Alan Ayckbourn have been produced by the Alley, including the American premiere of Henceforward, directed by Ayckbourn, in 1987 and House & Garden in 2002. Alan Ayckbourn has been inducted into the American Theatre's Hall of Fame, received the 2010 Critics' Circle Award for Services to the Arts, became the first British playwright to receive both Olivier and Tony Special Lifetime Achievement Awards and was knighted in 1997 for services to the theatre.

Lyric Opera of Kansas City closes its 56th season with Johann Strauss' Die Fledermaus April 26, 30 and May 2 and 4, 2014 at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. This will be a new production designed by the Lyric Opera's Director of Design and Technical Production R. Keith Brumley and conducted by Artistic Director Ward Holmquist. Die Fledermauswill be directed by Tomer Zvulun, who has directed at the Metropolitan Opera, Seattle Opera and Wolf Trap Opera. The cast includes soprano Kelly Kaduce as Rosalinde, baritone Liam Bonner as Eisenstein, soprano Anna Christy as Adele, tenor Gordon Gietz as Alfred, mezzo soprano Joyce Castle as Count Orlofsky and baritone John Stephens as Frank.

Carnegie Hall's Benjamin Britten centenary celebration comes to an end on Wednesday, 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.

Single tickets will go on sale on March 31 for ALL Lincoln Center Festival presentations. The festival, which runs from July 7 through August 16, 2014, with performances by artists and ensembles from 11 countries, and a co-presentation with Park Avenue Armory, will take place in six venues on and off the Lincoln Center campus.

Skylight Music Theatre has announced its 2014-2015 season. Following the 2013-2014 season of Revolution, Skylight turns its focus to Fairy Tales and Fantasy, creating a season-long discussion around these stories and diving deeper into why they are present in every culture in the world. The productions and additional programs will investigate why we as humans are drawn to Fairy Tales and Fantasy and what it is about our human nature that compels us to create these stories.

This just in! Producers Cameron Mackintosh and The Really Useful Group just announced that THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA will welcome a starry leading combination beginning Monday, May 12.

Opera in the Heights (Oh!), the acclaimed regional performing arts company in the Houston Heights, has named Stephanie Helms as its new executive director. Helms has an impressive track record in arts administration and development, coming to Oh! from OPERA America in New York City, where she served as director of the National Opera Center since 2011.

Hotel Nikko San Francisco and Michael Feinstein announced that Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle award winner, Jason Graae, will bring his new one-man show, 49 ½ Shades of Graae, to Feinstein's at the Nikko for one performance only - tonight, March 20 (8 p.m.)

The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts presents the West Coast premiere of A Coffin in Egypt, a new chamber opera in one act, based on the play, A Coffin in Egypt by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Horton Foote, for three performances only April 23, 25 and 27 in the Bram Goldsmith Theater. A Coffin in Egypt stars mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade, one of opera's most beloved figures, whose formidable bravura has won her wide acclaim. Ricky Ian Gordon, the composer, has also composed The Grapes of Wrath, Rappahannock County, and Orpheus and Euridice. Leonard Foglia, librettist and director, directed Master Class on Broadway and Jake Heggie's Opera Last Acts.

Houston Grand Opera is presenting the World Premiere of A COFFIN IN EGYPT, a one-act chamber opera based on Horton Foote's play by the same title. Known for crafting touching sentimentality and riveting drama, Horton Foote's legacy is sure to be celebrated for centuries to come. However, this operatic adaptation of A COFFIN IN EGYPT browbeats audiences with nostalgic sentimentality and rarely moves us to feel anything.

No amount of locally heavy rains across North Texas Saturday evening could dampen the spirits of excited patrons and participants as The Dallas Opera Guild presented an impressive array of highly talented young artists competing for top prizes in the Finals Round of the 26th Annual 'Dallas Opera Guild Vocal Competition.' This on-stage showcase for young opera singers with Texas connections is conducted annually in the acoustically acclaimed setting of the Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House at the AT&T Performing Arts Center.

Nathan Gunn has made a reputation as one of the most exciting and in-demand baritones of the day. He has appeared in internationally renowned opera houses including the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Paris Opera, and Teatro Real in Madrid.

The Dallas Opera Guild is proud to present the 26th Annual "Dallas Opera Guild Vocal Competition," an on-stage showcase for talented young opera singers with Texas connections today, March 15, 2014 in the Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House at the AT&T Performing Arts Center, 2403 Flora Street, Dallas, TX 75201.

Richard Tucker Award-winning tenor Stephen Costello reprises his star turn as Nemorino in Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore at Washington National Opera (WNO) from March 20-29, following his triumphant house debut as Ishmael/Greenhorn - the role he originally created - in WNO's recent East Coast premiere of Moby-Dick. The Kennedy Center production kicks off a full spring for the tenor, who looks forward to headlining 'Toujours L'Amour' on April 25 at Lyric Opera Baltimore, where he will be joined by soprano Nicole Cabell in an orchestral gala celebration of French grand opera. June brings the U.S. release of Love Duets, Costello's first recording as an exclusive Warner Classics artist, on which he sings opposite his wife and fellow Tucker Award-winner, soprano Ailyn Perez. She also serves as his co-star in WNO's L'elisir as well as in two productions of La traviata, at Covent Garden (May 6-20) and San Francisco Opera (July 5-13), and a Rigoletto in Hamburg (May 24-June 1).

Young at Arts, a nonprofit organization that provides an outstanding music and theater education to a diverse group of young people from Southern Westchester County and The Bronx, presents an operatic twin bill of Susan Kander's ONE FALSE MOVE and Gian Carlo Menotti's MARTIN'S LIE today, March 14, 7:30 p.m. at Christ Church Bronxville (17 Sagamore Road).

Fourteen exceptionally talented young singer-actors have been selected as finalists in the 2014 Lotte Lenya Competition. They will compete for top prizes of $15,000, $10,000 and $7,500 on Saturday, April 12, 2014, in Rochester, New York. Broadway conductor and Encores! music director Rob Berman, 2-time Tony Award winner Judy Kaye, and Opera Theatre of Saint Louis Artistic Director James Robinson will judge.

After a worldwide search, Houston Grand Opera has chosen the members of the 2014–15 HGO Studio program. One of the most respected and highly competitive young artist programs in the world, the HGO Studio provides comprehensive career development to young artists who have demonstrated potential to make major contributions to the field of opera. The HGO Studio received applications from 552 artists; of those, about 250 were heard in Houston, New York, Philadelphia, Cincinnati, and San Francisco. From these auditions, six candidates were awarded positions in the Studio for the 2014–15 season.

What's on your iPod tenor Stephen Costello?