Jack Swanson News

American Symphony Orchestra comes to Alice Tully Hall for the holiday season with a concert titled Sons of Bach on Thursday, December 19 at 8 PM. The program will offer rarely-performed works by four of J.S. Bach's sons, showcasing the compositional mastery the young men learned from their father, and also revealing how each was able to develop his own unique style.

Opera Lafayette is proud to announce its 25th anniversary season featuring its most diverse lineup to date. This year's season of three operas to be performed in both New York City and Washington, DC, includes John Blow's Venus and Adonis, Ludwig van Beethoven's Leonore, and an adaptation of François André Danican Philidor's Le Maréchal Ferrant (The Blacksmith). Opera Lafayette is renowned for its performances of both lost masterworks, once popular and culturally significant to the history of the 17th through 19th centuries, and early opera that is already part of the modern canon. In addition to this memorable season, Opera Lafayette will mark its 25th anniversary by unveiling a brand new website along with a celebratory video on October 29. 

American Symphony Orchestra announced the 58th season of its three-concert Vanguard series at Carnegie Hall, now expanded to include an additional performance at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall. The season also marks the return of the Orchestra's popular series to New York City's Symphony Space-which originally took place between 1998 and 2015-with a performance of Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 in conjunction with the ASO's celebration of the great composer's 250th birthday. This series combines complete concerts of well-known, major orchestral works with interactive educational demonstrations. The full 2019-20 season runs from October 31, 2019 through March 12, 2020.

Portland Opera is thrilled to bring its production of Gioachino Rossini's The Barber of Seville to the stage this June. Considered one of the greatest comic operas of all time, Rossini's opera tells the story of the Count Almaviva, who has fallen for the charming Rosina, and enlists the help of the town barber Figaro to assist in winning her affection. Together they try to outwit her guardian Dr. Bartolo, who also vies for her hand. Portland Opera will present four performances of The Barber of Seville on June 7, 9m, 13, 15 at the Keller Auditorium.

Portland Opera is thrilled to bring its production of Gioachino Rossini's The Barber of Seville to the stage this June. Considered one of the greatest comic operas of all time, Rossini's opera tells the story of the Count Almaviva, who has fallen for the charming Rosina, and enlists the help of the town barber Figaro to assist in winning her affection. Together they try to outwit her guardian Dr. Bartolo, who also vies for her hand. Portland Opera will present four performances of The Barber of Seville on June 7, 9m, 13, 15 at the Keller Auditorium.

Portland Opera is thrilled to bring its production of Gioachino Rossini's The Barber of Seville to the stage this June. Considered one of the greatest comic operas of all time, Rossini's opera tells the story of the Count Almaviva, who has fallen for the charming Rosina, and enlists the help of the town barber Figaro to assist in winning her affection. Together they try to outwit her guardian Dr. Bartolo, who also vies for her hand.

The Santa Fe Opera's General Director Robert K. Meya today announced repertory and casting for the company's exciting 64th Season in 2020. On the panel joining Meya for the announcement were the President of the Board of Directors Susan G. Marineau, Andrea Fellows Walters, Director of Community Engagement, and Cori Ellison, the company's first, recently appointed Dramaturg.

Palm Beach Opera presents Johann Strauss II's high-spirited opera "Die Fledermaus" in a colorful production at Kravis Center for the Performing Arts for one weekend only, March 22-24.

Daniela Mack is Isabella, an Italian pilot, who makes an emergency landing in Algiers and is captured by its ruler, the Bey. He wants an Italian girl for a wife but she loves Lindoro, the Bey's Italian slave. L'ITALIANA has lots of good bel canto singing and plenty of comedy to keep you smiling all evening. There are three more performances, Aug 3, 9 and 17.

Portland Opera is pleased to announce programming for the company's 55th season, scheduled to begin in November 2018. The season will launch with the recently announced "November classic" - Verdi's heartbreaking romance La Traviata - bringing opera back to Portland in the fall months. In March, Portland Opera will present Laura Kaminsky's brave and beautiful coming-of-age story, As One, where two voices, a mezzo-soprano and a baritone, share the role of the transgender heroine Hannah. The season will continue in the spring with the company's annual Big Night concert and a bright and vibrant production of Rossini's great Il Barbiere di Siviglia. In July, the company will present Mozart's La Finta Giardiniera for the first time, followed by the company premiere of Philip Glass's exploration of the nature of justice, In the Penal Colony, based on Franz Kafka's short story.

Lyric Opera's production of 'The Barber of Seville' or 'The Useless Precaution' by Rossini opened Saturday evening at the Kauffman Center in the first of four performances. As is usual for the Lyric, this 'Barber' is slyly updated from the original 1816 version first performed in Rome.

The Richard Tucker Music Foundation announced today that Christian Van Horn – “one of those treasurable singers in whose presence one can entirely relax, assured that everything he does will be delivered with solid interpretive insight and unfailingly attractive tone” (Opera News) – has been named as the winner of the 2018 Richard Tucker Award.

Lyric Opera of Kansas City concludes its 2017- 2018 season with Rossini's comedic jewel, The Barber of Seville, April 28; May 2, 4, and 6 at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. The production will be sung in Italian with English subtitles. High-resolution production and artists' photos can be downloaded here.

General Director and CEO Deborah Sandler today announced the final performance in 2017-2018 Lyric Opera's ExplorationsSeries. The company will close the second season of this new and innovative series with American Voices on Saturday, March 24 with a 7:30 p.m. performance in the Michael and Ginger Frost Production Arts Building. Continuing the theme of featuring eclectic performances in intimate spaces, this recital will feature Lyric Opera's Resident Artists performing art songs by prominent American composers, past and present.

LA Opera will present its premiere of Candide, Leonard Bernstein's 1956 musical comedy classic. Music Director James Conlon will conduct a cast led by Emmy winner Kelsey Grammer and Tony winner Christine Ebersole, both making their company debuts. Performances take place at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion (135 North Grand Avenue, Los Angeles CA 90012).

Due to ticket demand, LA Opera has scheduled an additional matinee performance of Candide, Leonard Bernstein's 1956 Broadway classic. The added performance will take place on Saturday, February 17, at 2pm.

On January 27, 2018, Los Angeles Opera presented the Bernstein work at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion with a cast that included Emmy-winning television star Kelsey Grammer. He is best remembered for his two-decade-long portrayal of psychiatrist Dr. Frasier Crane on the situation comedies Cheers, Wings, and Frasier. As Voltaire and Pangloss, Grammer had a huge speaking role that he acquitted with a commanding personality and considerable wit. Surprisingly, he sang quite well, too.

From the moment the amazing James Conlon-conducted orchestra began their crisp, lively 'Overture' to 'Quartet Finale,' the close of Act One; this remarkable production of CANDIDE entranced the Dorothy Chandler audience. Then after a short intermission, these talented performers and musicians had the audience right back in the palms of their skilled hands, beyond the tears-inducing finale 'Make Our Garden Grow,' to the extended and most deserved standing ovation for the cast, orchestra, and creatives.