Portland Opera is pleased to announce programming for the company's 56th season, which will open on October 25, 2019. The season will launch with one of the most powerful operas of all time, Puccini's Madama Butterfly, starring internationally acclaimed soprano Hiromi Omura in the title role. In February, the company will present An American Quartet: Four One-Act Operas in an intimate evening in the Hampton Opera Center's black box theatre. These one-acts feature Gian Carlo Menotti's The Telephone, Samuel Barber's A Hand of Bridge, Douglas Moore's Gallantry, and Lee Hoiby's Bon Appetit! The season will continue with a rare presentation of Vivaldi's opera Bajazet in March, which will be a special collaboration with the Portland Baroque Orchestra. In the spring, Portland Opera will present its annual Big Night concert and Leoncavallo's verismo masterpiece, Pagliacci. The 2019/20 season will close with the Portland Opera premiere of Jake Heggie's familial drama, Three Decembers.
Collaborative Arts Institute of Chicago (CAIC) announces the programming for its 2019-2020 season. CAIC's 19/20 season will open with the organization's 8th annual vocal chamber music festival, the Collaborative Works Festival (September 5-8, 2019), which will focus on the songs of living composers. The organization also continues its popular Lieder Lounge series of vocal recitals: Tenor Jonathan Johnson and pianist Craig Terry headline the Winter Lieder Lounge, and Grammy Award winning mezzo-soprano Kelley O'Connor and Chicago-based pianist Brian Locke are featured in the Spring installment. Expanded educational offerings next season include three events: two master classes led by singing expert Lynn Eustis and Ryan Opera Center Music Director Craig Terry, and a three-day workshop on the art of Polish song, led by pianist Michael Pecak.
The Atlanta Opera broke new records this season. Even before its final presentation Francesca Zambello's new take on La traviata, which closed this past weekend 2018-19 was already guaranteed to be the company's highest-grossing season of the past decade, highlighted by last fall's West Side Story, the highest-selling production in the Atlanta Opera's 39-year history (Opera News).
Jo Schuman Silver, producer of Steve Silver's Beach Blanket Babylon, announced today the nine Bay Area high school seniors selected as finalists for The Steve Silver Foundation and Beach Blanket Babylon "Scholarship for the Arts." Each of the finalists will perform live in front of family, friends, and a panel of celebrity judges on Monday, June 3. One winner in each category-singing, dancing, and acting-will be presented with a $15,000 check towards their college education. The nine high school senior finalists who will perform are:
San Francisco Opera joins with the City of San Francisco, the French Consulate and Grace Cathedral for a solidarity concert for the Notre-Dame de Paris on Monday, April 29 at 6 p.m at Grace Cathedral. The free public event will include performances by mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade, San Francisco Opera Adler Fellow countertenor Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen, Adler Fellow pianist Kseniia Polstiankina Barrad, Notre-Dame de Paris organist Johann Vexo, musicians of the San Francisco Symphony, American Bach Soloists & Choir, and Grace Cathedral Choir of Men and Boys.
According to the New York Times, actress Rosemary Harris, musician Harold Wheeler and playwright Terrence McNally will all be honored with Lifetime Achievement Awards at the 2019 Tonys.
Boston Court Pasadena continues its mission of fostering new musical talent with the 3rd Annual Emerging Artists Series, May 30 June 9, 2019. The series will feature up-and-coming pianists, as well as vocalists who have been through a rigorous mentoring curriculum with some of Los Angeles' most prominent musicians and coaches including Mark Robson, Gloria Cheng, Lisa Sylvester, Vicki Ray, Brent McMunn and Paul Floyd.
Soprano Patricia Westley will replace Mary Evelyn Hangley in the final recital of the 2019 Schwabacher Recital Series, presented by the Merola Opera Program and San Francisco Opera Center. Soprano and first-year Adler Fellow Mary Evelyn Hangley has withdrawn from the April 24 recital for personal reasons.
Chicago Opera Theater (COT) caps its 2018/2019 season with the Chicago premiere of "Moby-Dick," an epic adaptation of Herman Melville's 1851 classic "Moby-Dick; or, The Whale" at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance (205 E. Randolph Street) Thursday, April 25 and Sunday, April 28.
Judging by the number of small opera companies in New York alone--see the 2019 New York Opera Fest that starts performances next month--there's no shortage of up and coming opera singers trying to make their way on the scene. But there's no showcase like the Finals Concert of the Metropolitan Opera's National Council Auditions to give a singer a leg up--and this year's group of talented performers seemed to give us more hope than usual that all's right with the world…at least when it comes to opera.
Boston Baroque presents Monteverdi's final opera, L'incoronazione di Poppea, on Friday, April 26th at 7:30pm and on Sunday, April 28th at 3pm at New England Conservatory's Jordan Hall. These will be the first performances of a new performing edition of the opera by Boston Baroque founder and Music Director Martin Pearlman. The all-star cast includes soprano Amanda Forsythe in the title role and countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo making his Boston Baroque debut as Nero.
After a months-long series of auditions involving more than 1,000 singers at the district, regional, and national levels, a panel of expert judges named five singers as the winners of the 65th annual Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. Each winner receives a $15,000 cash prize.
The Schwabacher Recital Series, presented by San Francisco Opera Center and the Merola Opera Program, continues in April with the final two recitals of its 36th season. Showcasing the exemplary young artists who have participated in the prestigious training programs of San Francisco Opera Center and the Merola Opera Program, the series offers music lovers an opportunity to hear opera's next generation of stars in the intimate and state-of-the-art Dianne and Tad Taube Atrium Theater in San Francisco.
Puccini's Madame Butterfly will launch Nashville Opera's 2019-20 season, which is described as "a compelling mix of beloved favorites and important 20th century works."
Following yesterday's highly competitive semifinal competition, nine singers will advance to the final phase of the 65th annual Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, America's largest vocal competition. The winners will receive individual cash prizes of $15,000, while the remaining finalists will receive prizes of $7,500.
Christina Scheppelmann will become Seattle Opera's fourth General Director in the company's 56-year history. Beginning in August 2019, she replaces Aidan Lang, who will become General Director of Welsh National Opera following the end of the 2018/19 season.
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