Houston Grand Opera News

Luca Pisaroni makes his Metropolitan Opera role debut as Leporello in the Met's new production of Mozart's Don Giovanni, conducted by Fabio Luisi (October 13-November 11). The Met Opera will beam the production to cinema audiences across the nation and around the globe with its HD broadcast on October 29.

Cleveland Play House is thrilled to present the second production of their 2011-2012 inaugural season at PlayhouseSquare - a brand new musical event, Daddy Long Legs, with music and lyrics by Paul Gordon

Principal Conductor Fabio Luisi will lead his first Met performances of Mozart's Don Giovanni, in a new production directed by Tony Award winner Michael Grandage in his Met debut.

The first London production for 90 years of St John Ervine's searing Belfast tragedy Mixed Marriage, first seen at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin, plays for a four-week season beginning tonight (Press Night: Thursday, 6 October 2011 at 7.30pm) at the multi-award-winning Finborough Theatre.

Italian bass-baritone Luca Pisaroni looks forward to a stellar 2011-2012 season, beginning with two starring turns at the Metropolitan Opera.

Prize winning conductor Michael Hofstetter is a native of Munich, Germany, where he studied piano, organ and conducting. Established both nationally and internationally as a a sought-after opera and concert conductor, Michael Hofstetter has been nominated several times for the prestigious title 'conductor of the year' by the German journal 'Opernwelt'. He is especially known for his interpretation of the operas by Handel, seeking historic sound and authenticity with a modern orchestra.

To kick off the 2011-12 season, Susan Graham - 'America's favorite mezzo' (Gramophone magazine) - makes her much-anticipated Canadian Opera Company debut on Thursday, September 22, headlining the company premiere of Gluck's Iphigénie en Tauride with the role that has become her 'calling card' (New York Times).

Long Wharf Theatre, under the director of Artistic Director Gordon Edelstein and Interim Managing Director Joshua Borenstein, presents the Tony Award-winning musical Ain't Misbehavin' on the Mainstage from Oct. 26 through Nov. 20.

Having commissioned the world's first Mariachi opera and premiered the work to great acclaim last season, Houston Grand Opera crosses the Atlantic with its pioneering creation for season-opening performances September 23-27 at the illustrious Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris.

Music Director Jean-Marie Zeitouni opens the CSO's 2011-12 Pops Series with his own selection of works from 'Opera to Broadway.'

Guest vocalists Aline Kutan, Frédéric Antoun, and Keith Phares join the Columbus Symphony Chorus, Columbus Children's Choir, Columbus Symphony, and Music Director Jean-Marie Zeitouni for a one-night-only season opening performance of Carmina Burana, Carl Orff's brazen, evocative, and explosive musical showcase.

With four Tony Awards and two Grammy Awards, the Juilliard-trained Audra McDonald returns to performing live full-time this month following four seasons playing Dr. Naomi Bennett on ABC's hit television series Private Practice. Currently starring alongside Norm Lewis in A.R.T.'s PORGY AND BESS, the Broadway-bound singer will make a stop at Carnegie Hall as a part of her 20-city concert tour across North America. McDonald will present her trademark mix of show tunes, classic songs from movies, and pieces written expressly for her by leading contemporary composers.

American Lyric Theater (ALT), home to the nationally acclaimed Composer Librettist Development Program, has announced the 2011-2012 public performance season, featuring workshop performances of seven new operas by Resident Artists; as well as lectures and master classes with some of the country's leading operatic writers. While the majority of ALT's programs are dedicated to mentorship of gifted emerging composers and librettists, six public events will take place over the course of the season to introduce these writers, their work, and other exciting trends in American opera to New York City audiences.

Bramwell Tovey brings the Los Angeles Philharmonic's Tuesday Classical series to a conclusion, marking the 10th anniversary of 9/11 with Mozart's choral masterpiece, his Requiem, Tuesday, September 13, at 8 pm.

The first London production for 90 years of St John Ervine's searing Belfast tragedy Mixed Marriage, first seen at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin, plays for a four-week season from Tuesday, 4 October 2011 at the multi-award-winning Finborough Theatre, with an outstanding cast including Daragh O'Malley (Sergeant Harper in ITV's Sharpe) and Nora-Jane Noone, the award-winning star of The Magdalene Sisters in her professional stage debut.

Bramwell Tovey brings the Los Angeles Philharmonic's Tuesday Classical series to a conclusion, marking the 10th anniversary of 9/11 with Mozart's choral masterpiece, his Requiem, Tuesday, September 13, at 8 pm.

With four Tony Awards and two Grammy Awards, the Juilliard-trained Audra McDonald returns to performing live full-time this month following four seasons playing Dr. Naomi Bennett on ABC's hit television series Private Practice.

The Metropolitan Opera and The Juilliard School jointly announced plans today for a semi-staged concert performance of Gluck's Armide, the second collaboration between the two institutions, following last season's acclaimed new production of The Bartered Bride, conducted by James Levine and staged by Stephen Wadsworth.

A.R.T. American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) will present The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess, opening the A.R.T.'s 2011-2 season on August 117 at the Loeb Drama Center. The Gershwin's Porgy and Bess, by George Gershwin, DuBose and Dorothy Heyward, and Ira Gershwin, is adapted by Suzan-Lori Parks and Diedre Murray, and directed by A.R.T. Artistic Director Diane Paulus.

Anna Deveare Smith, who received a MacArthur Genius Award for her unique 'blend of theatrical art, social commentary, journalism, and intimate reverie,' is bringing her latest one-woman show Let Me Down Easy to The Broad Stage. There will be Previews on July 20 and Opening Night is July 22.