James Darrah News

Long Beach Opera has announced an audacious 2022 season that seeks to usher in a new era for the company. In addition to the recent announcements of James Darrah as Artistic Director and Derrell Acon as Associate Artistic Director, LBO has announced the appointment of conductor Christopher Rountree as its new Music Director, beginning immediately. 

Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra Artistic Advisor Derrick Skye has been honored with the prestigious 2021 Princess Grace Award Honoraria in theater.

There are a number of parallels between the two operas I saw in Santa Fe (NM) this past weekend: The Benjamin Britten/Peter Pears treatment of Shakespeare’s A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM and the world premiere of the John Corigliano/Mark Adamo THE LORD OF CRIES. The first was, for me at least, an all-around, marvelous success, while the other was a disappointment.

This fall, the star soprano takes her acclaimed interpretation of Elle from the stage to the screen in a new film adaptation of the French monodrama, streaming on the Opera Philadelphia Channel beginning on Friday, September 24.

The role of Elle, the lone character in Francis Poulenc's La voix humaine, has been called a true tour de force for Patricia Racette, who has brought her characterization of the one-act opera to life in productions in Philadelphia, Chicago, St. Louis, and other cities over the past five years.

The Santa Fe Opera announces the following casting updates for the 2021 Season opening on July 10 and running through August 27: Laurie Feldman will direct The Marriage of Figaro after a concept by French Director Laurent Pelly, who is unable to travel to Santa Fe due to international travel restrictions and has therefore been following rehearsals and the progress of the production from France.

Desert in, created by Darrah and collaborators, is a groundbreaking, eight-part operatic mini-series full of colorful and mysterious characters who populate a supernatural story of love, loss and the price of memories we struggle to keep.

Long Beach Opera announced today that the company is promoting Dr. Derrell Acon to the position of Associate Artistic Director & Chief Impact Officer effective immediately. Dr. Acon has served as the company's Director of Engagement and Equity since 2019, as well as performing the role of Antron McCray in the Pulitzer Prize-winning opera The Central Park Five, and curating and managing the Community Conversations Initiative.

Operabox.tv, the new streaming service from Boston Lyric Opera, released today a clip of Tony-nominated trans activist and multi-hyphenate star Justin Vivian Bond singing 'My Boy,' a centerpiece song by Grammy-winning jazz musician Vijay Iyer in the new, queer-centered operatic streaming series, 'desert in.'

Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra concludes its critically acclaimed CLOSE QUARTERS interdisciplinary digital series melding musical and visual arts with a joyous and optimistic episode featuring Tchaikovsky's enduring masterpiece Serenade for Strings laced with a poignant visual tone poem that reflects the diverse artistic family that LACO built through the series and chronicles Los Angeles' emergence from the global pandemic.

After the successful reimagining of its 2020/21 Season, Lyric Opera of Chicago greatly looks forward to welcoming audiences once again to the Lyric Opera House this fall for the start of the company’s 67th Season. 

New film adaptations of Poulenc's La voix humaine starring Patricia Racette and Henze's El Cimarron starring Sir Willard White presented alongside an Academy of Music production of Verdi's Rigoletto and a Verizon Hall concert pairing Stravinsky's Oedipus Rex with George Walker's Lilacs

In this star-studded episode of Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra's CLOSE QUARTERS interdisciplinary digital series melding musical and visual arts, guest conductor Grant Gershon leads the LACO-commissioned world premiere of Hyo by 2020-21 Sound Investment Composer Peter S. Shin.

Long Beach Opera presents Philip Glass's Les Enfants Terribles, performing May 21, 22 and 23, 2021 at the 2nd and PCH rooftop garage at 2nd Street and Pacific Coast Highway in Long Beach. 

“Desert in” is a groundbreaking new television miniseries that combines the talents of eight extraordinary, award-winning composers and interlocking stories from rising and veteran screenwriters.

Jessie Montgomery, one of America's most relevant and sought-after composers, provides musical curation for two back-to-back episodes of Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra's lauded CLOSE QUARTERS interdisciplinary digital series that melds musical and visual arts premiering on Fridays, April 23 and May 7, 2021, 6:30 pm.

Long Beach Opera has announced a revised 2021 Season, which will include an exciting return to live opera performance in May with an immersive drive-in Phillip Glass opera, the company’s first venture into longform digital content with a world premiere operatic television series in June, and an outdoor live performance of two operas in August.

Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra CLOSE QUARTERS interdisciplinary digital series melding musical and visual arts continues with Concertmaster Margaret Batjer leading a performance of Beethoven's “Serioso” String Quartet in F minor, arranged for string ensemble by Mahler.

The team behind the operatic miniseries 'desert in,” now in production for a June 2021 debut on Boston Lyric Opera’s streaming service, announced today an award-winning roster of composers and performers working on the project.

Gil Shaham makes a special guest appearance with Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra performing Boulogne’s virtuosic Violin Concerto No. 9 in G major, on the Orchestra’s groundbreaking CLOSE QUARTERS interdisciplinary digital series that melds musical and visual arts.