Houston, March 7, 2016—After an international search, Houston Grand Opera (HGO) has chosen three new singers and one new pianist/coach for the 2016–17 HGO Studio. The artists are Yelena Dyachek, soprano, the Ana María Martínez Encouragement Award recipient at Concert of Arias 2016; Zoie Reams, mezzo-soprano, the second-place prize winner at Concert of Arias 2016; Sol Jin, baritone, the Audience Choice Award winner at Concert of Arias 2016; and Peter Walsh, pianist/coach. One of the most respected and highly competitive young artist programs in the world, the HGO Studio provides comprehensive career development to young singers, pianist/coaches, and conductors who have demonstrated potential to make major contributions to the field of opera. The HGO Studio received applications from 475 artists; of those, about 275 were heard in auditions in Houston, New York, Philadelphia, Cincinnati, and Los Angeles. For singers, the audition process culminates in HGO's annual Eleanor McCollum Competition for Young Singers, held this year on February 4.
Following yesterday's highly competitive semi-final competition, nine young singers will advance to the final phase of the Metropolitan Opera's 2016 National Council Auditions, America's most prestigious vocal competition. The selected finalists, chosen by a panel of experts from the classical music industry, will compete on the Met stage on Sunday, March 13 at 3 p.m. The winners will receive individual cash prizes of $15,000 and the prestigious-and potentially career-launching-title of National Council Auditions Winner. The Grand Finals Concert will feature Antony Walker conducting the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra as each finalist performs two arias.
Four up-and-coming opera singers will showcase their talents as The Metropolitan Opera Rising Stars Concert Series comes to Mayo Performing Arts Center on Saturday, April 2, 2016 at 8 PM. Tickets are $29 - $59.
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and Washington National Opera (WNO) today announced that soprano Janai Brugger is the 2016 winner of the Marian Anderson Vocal Award. The Award, which honors trailblazing contralto Marian Anderson's personal and humanitarian achievements, celebrates excellence in performance by recognizing a young American singer who has achieved initial professional success in the vocal arts and who exhibits promise for a significant career. In addition to receiving a $10,000 cash prize, Ms. Brugger will perform a recital on Thursday, September 8, 2016 in the Kennedy Center Family Theater and will establish an educational residency at the opera workshop program of Washington's Duke Ellington School of the Arts.
Several stage names are among the recipients of the newly renamed 2016 Lincoln Center Emerging Artist Awards, to be presented at The Appel Room at Jazz at Lincoln Center tonight, March 2, 2016.
The 33rd season of the Schwabacher Debut Recitals continues on Sunday, March 6 at the new Dianne and Tad Taube Atrium Theater with bass-baritone Daniel Okulitch and pianist John Churchwell.
Embracing its deep roots and far-reaching artistry during its 30th Anniversary Season, the Los Angeles Children's Chorus (LACC) honors four esteemed visionaries who have left their indelible stamps on the acclaimed chorus, including five-time Academy Award-winning film composer John Williams and LACC Founding Director Rebecca Thompson, at Gala Bel Canto, its annual fundraiser, on Wednesday, March 16, 2016, 6 pm, at Millennium Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles.
(Los Angeles) February 22, 2016 — LA Opera's 30th Anniversary Season continues with Giacomo Puccini's beloved Madame Butterfly, starring soprano Ana María Martínez as Cio-Cio-San.
Bramwell Tovey returns to the New York Philharmonic to conduct Massenet's Ballet Music from Le Cid; Falla's Nights in the Gardens of Spain, with pianist Joyce Yang as soloist; and Falla's The Three-Cornered Hat (complete ballet), with mezzo-soprano Virginie Verrez in her Philharmonic subscription debut, Wednesday, March 30, 2016, at 7:30 p.m.; Thursday, March 31 at 7:30 p.m.; Friday, April 1 at 11:00 a.m.; Saturday, April 2 at 8:00 p.m.; and Tuesday, April 5 at 7:30 p.m.
Brevard, NC and Aspen, Colo.—Lady Gaga won't be the only one in the musical spotlight at Super Bowl 50. This Sunday, Brevard Music Center and Aspen Music Festival -- two of the country's most prestigious music institutions and summer festivals -- are putting their batons down, and fists up, to defend the honor of their respective football teams, the Carolina Panthers and Denver Broncos.
General Director Plácido Domingo has announced the repertory and artist roster for the company's 2016/17 season. Created by Mr. Domingo in collaboration with Music Director James Conlon and President and CEO Christopher Koelsch, the season will include six mainstage productions and a classic musical presented at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. A total of 40 performances will take place in that venue, while an additional 13 performances will be presented elsewhere through the company's Off Grand initiative.
(Los Angeles) January 14, 2016 — Plácido Domingo, LA Opera's Eli and Edythe Broad General Director, announced today that Matthew Aucoin—the composer, conductor, pianist and writer recently hailed by The New York Times Magazine as 'opera's great 25-year-old hope'—will join the company as its first ever Artist in Residence. The three-year appointment, which will begin in the company's forthcoming 2016/17 season, represents a major step forward in LA Opera's longstanding commitment to the development of music and composers of our time.
BroadwayWorld is excited to report several stage names among the recipients of the newly renamed 2016 Lincoln Center Emerging Artist Awards, to be presented at The Appel Room at Jazz at Lincoln Center on March 2, 2016.
St. Ann's Warehouse will continue the inaugural season in its new waterfront theater with the American Premiere of Irish composer Donnacha Dennehy and writer-director Enda Walsh's thrilling new opera The Last Hotel, in a Landmark Productions / Wide Open Opera production. Singers Claudia Boyle, Robin Adams and Katherine Manley, actor Mikel Murfi, and an ensemble of New York's finest contemporary players, conducted alternately by André de Ridder and Alan Pierson, will deliver this “searingly powerful new chamber work” (The Guardian). Presented by St. Ann's Warehouse and co-presented withPROTOTYPE: Opera/Theatre/Now andIrish Arts Center, The Last Hotel comes to New York after tremendously acclaimed engagements at the Edinburgh International Festival, the Dublin Theatre Festival and the Royal Opera House in London.
New York, NY (December 10, 2015) – OPERA NEWS Editor in Chief F. Paul Driscoll today announced the recipients of the 11th Annual OPERA NEWS Awards. This year's honorees — Joseph Calleja, El?na Garan?a, Waltraud Meier, Anna Netrebko, and José van Dam — will be feted at a black tie gala celebration on April 10th at the Plaza Hotel in New York City.
St. Ann's Warehouse will continue the inaugural season in its new waterfront theater with the American Premiere of Irish composer Donnacha Dennehy and writer-director Enda Walsh's thrilling new opera The Last Hotel, in a Landmark Productions / Wide Open Opera production. Singers Claudia Boyle, Robin Adams and Katherine Manley, actor Mikel Murfi, and an ensemble of New York's finest contemporary players, conducted alternately by André de Ridder and Alan Pierson, will deliver this “searingly powerful new chamber work” (The Guardian). Presented by St. Ann's Warehouse and co-presented withPROTOTYPE: Opera/Theatre/Now andIrish Arts Center, The Last Hotel comes to New York after tremendously acclaimed engagements at the Edinburgh International Festival, the Dublin Theatre Festival and the Royal Opera House in London.
LA Opera's 30th Anniversary Season will include its first performances in nearly two decades of Vincenzo Bellini's Norma, conducted by James Conlon, the company's Richard Seaver Music Director. The production, directed by Anne Bogart, will open tonight, November 21, 2015.
The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO) celebrates the 2015 holiday season with a wide variety of concert programming, from the traditional annual performances of Handel's Messiah with the Concert Artists of Baltimore to a one-of-a-kind experience that pairs world-class acrobats and gymnasts with music by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, in an exciting program titled Cirque de la Symphonie.
'Everyone at CSUN is always delighted to welcome back our alums who have risen to the top of their professions,' said VPAC Executive Director, Thor Steingraber. 'Michelle has conquered the stages at La Scala, the Met, Salzburg and LA Opera, and we welcome this great diva and look forward to her conquering the VPAC stage.'
Young Artists Symphony Orchestra (YASO), led by Artistic Director Alexander Treger, continues its inaugural season with a free concert spotlighting two remarkable artists from its own ranks on Sunday, December 6, 2015, 7 pm, at UCLA's Royce Hall.
