Jesse Donner News

The nominees have been announced for the 2020 Theatre Tampa Bay Awards! 25 plays and 5 musicals were eligible for nomination before the remainder of the 2019-2020 season was cancelled in March.

Fort Worth Opera (FWO) and the McCammon Voice Competition Committee regrettably announced today that the 2020 Competition has been cancelled due to uncertainties surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic.

The McCammon Voice Competition judges have chosen the twenty-nine semi-finalists for the nineteenth biennial competition. Initially scheduled for April 3 and 4, the 2020 competition will be moved to the fall of this year, in light of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

New Philharmonic, under the musical direction of Maestro Kirk Muspratt, opens 2020 with Franz Lehár's popular operetta a?oeThe Merry Widow,a?? featuring a libretto by Viktor Leon and Leo Stein, at the McAninch Arts Center. Due to the growing popularity of New Philharmonic's winter operas, a performance on Friday, Jan. 24 at 7:30 p.m. has been added to the regular two performance run. Other performances are Saturday, Jan. 25 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, Jan. 26 at 3 p.m. This operetta, staged by Michael La Tour, will be sung in English. A free MAC Chat will take place one hour prior to each performance.

New Philharmonic, under the musical direction of Maestro Kirk Muspratt, opens 2020 with Franz Lehár's popular operetta a?oeThe Merry Widow,a?? featuring a libretto by Viktor Leon and Leo Stein, at the McAninch Arts Center. Due to the growing popularity of New Philharmonic's winter operas, a performance on Friday, Jan. 24 at 7:30 p.m. has been added to the regular two performance run. Other performances are Saturday, Jan.

New Philharmonic, under the direction of Maestro Kirk Muspratt, opens 2020 with Franz Lehár's popular operetta 'The Merry Widow,' featuring a libretto by Viktor Leon and Leo Stein, at the McAninch Arts Center. Due to the growing popularity of new Philharmonic's winter operas, New Philharmonic has added a 7:30 p.m. performance on Friday, Jan. 24 to the regular two performance run. Other performances are Saturday, Jan. 25 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, Jan. 26 at 3 p.m. Thisoperetta, staged by Michael La Tour, will be sung in English. A free MAC Chat will take place one hour prior to each performance.

Union Avenue Opera is on a roll! Two homers in a row! First their sublime Candide, and now an equally fine production of Puccini's La bohème. Union Avenue knocked them both right into the bleachers, and those of us who were lucky enough to catch one of those prize performances now own a true treasure. I caught La bohème last night and I think I'll have that experience bronzed.

Over 21 artists will make their Union Avenue Opera (UAO) debut this summer as the company celebrates its 25th Anniversary Season. The seven-week summer season will open Friday, July 5 with Bernstein's hilarious, philosophical, and fast-paced take on Voltaire's 1759 biting satire of the same name, Candide and will feature the return of Christine Brewer to the UAO stage. The season continues through August 24th with performances of Puccini's operatic blockbuster La boheme, a tribute to UAO's tradition of presenting operas in original languages, and the St. Louis premiere of Tom Cipullo's Glory Denied, the true saga of Vietnam veteran Colonel Jim Thompson, the longest-held American POW in US history.

Join the Bohemian Revolution in the heart of 19th-century Paris as a group of struggling artists strive to create beautiful art, find love, and ultimately live life to the fullest in this romantic operatic blockbuster.

Maestro Kirk Muspratt, Illinois Council of Orchestras' 2018 Conductor of the Year, and New Philharmonic, the professional orchestra in residence at the McAninch Arts Center (MAC) are pleased to announce their 2019-2020 Season.

New Philharmonic, under the direction of Maestro Kirk Muspratt, opens 2019 with Johann Strauss II's "Die Fledermaus," libretto by Karl Haffner and Richard Genee, Saturday,Jan. 26 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, Jan. 27 at 3 p.m. The operetta, staged by Michael La Tour, will be sung in English. A free MAC Chat will take place one hour prior to each performance.

Verdi's Nabucco has opened at St. Louis' Union Avenue Opera, and it is a remarkably fine production. Of the many beautiful shows that this amazing small company has presented in its twenty-four seasons Nabucco is, perhaps, the most vocally gorgeous of all. This is due not only to the stellar quality of the principals, but also-and especially-to the quite wonderful work of the chorus. In this opera the chorus plays a starring role.

New Philharmonic, under the direction of Maestro Kirk Muspratt, performs three 'New Year's Eve with an International Twist' concerts at the McAninch Arts Center (MAC), Today, Dec. 31 at 2, 5:30 and 9 p.m.

New Philharmonic, under the direction of Maestro Kirk Muspratt, performs three "New Year's Eve with an International Twist" concerts at the McAninch Arts Center (MAC), Today, Dec. 31 at 2, 5:30 and 9 p.m. The program features classical and pop works plus a celebratory champagne toast and special surprises. Continuing their tradition of featuring soloists from the Lyric Opera Ryan Center for Young Artists, tenor Jesse Donner joins New Philharmonic and Maestro Muspratt for this wonderful New Year's Eve tradition. For the fourth year in a row, 98.7 FM-WFMT will provide a live broadcast of the 5:30 p.m. performance.

New Philharmonic, under the direction of Maestro Kirk Muspratt, performs three 'New Year's Eve with an International Twist' concerts at the McAninch Arts Center (MAC), Saturday, Dec. 31 at 2, 5:30 and 9 p.m.

New Philharmonic, under the direction of Maestro Kirk Muspratt, performs three "New Year's Eve with an International Twist" concerts at the McAninch Arts Center (MAC), Saturday, Dec. 31 at 2, 5:30 and 9 p.m. The program features classical and pop works plus a celebratory champagne toast and special surprises. Continuing their tradition of featuring soloists from the Lyric Opera Ryan Center for Young Artists, tenor Jesse Donner joins New Philharmonic and Maestro Muspratt for this wonderful New Year's Eve tradition. For the fourth year in a row, 98.7 FM-WFMT will provide a live broadcast of the 5:30 p.m. performance.

Lyric Opera of Chicago launches its new season tonight with a new production of Wagner's Das Rheingold, the first opera of the epic four-part Ring cycle, conducted by Sir Andrew Davis and directed by David Pountney.

McAninch Arts Center (MAC) at College of DuPage is pleased to announce its 2016-2017 Season Performance Series. Subscriptions are on sale now for an exciting selection of music, dance, theater, comedy and literature events showcasing a roster of world-class headliners. Single tickets go on sale at the Box Office Saturday, Aug. 6 at 11 a.m.

Carlo Rizzi is ready to enter an exciting period of work in the New Year. The conductor's 2015/16 season continues in January with a return to the Lyric Opera of Chicago for Matthew Ozawa's new production of Verdi's Nabucco. He heads to Milan the following month to begin rehearsals for Teatro alla Scala's eagerly awaited staging of Umberto Giordano's La cena delle beffe, an opera not seen at La Scala for eight decades. Rizzi's rich schedule also includes the world premiere of Iain Bell's In Parenthesis and the double-bill of Cavalleria rusticana and Pagliacci, staged to celebrate the 70th birthday of Welsh National Opera (WNO).

Join the Lyric Opera and the Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center's free, pop-up performance of classic Neapolitan songs tomorrow, December 12 from 5 to 5:15 p.m. at Eataly (2nd floor), 43 E. Ohio, Chicago.