John Holiday News

Ars Lyrica Houston, the Grammy-nominated early music ensemble, announces its 2018/19 season: Out of the Box: Celebrating Ambition & Innovation. Ars Lyrica Houston takes on its first full-length Baroque opera with Handel's Agrippina plus the complete "Brandenburg" Concertos by J. S. Bach. Artistic Director Matthew Dirst has created a program "that highlights composers and works that are exceptional, definitive, unusual, even infamous." With Bach's six concertos appearing in pairs throughout the season, individual programs explore distinct ways of thinking about the general theme, from unexpected musical gifts to singular collections and composers.

Des Moines Metro Opera (DMMO) announces an exciting concert and reception featuring internationally acclaimed countertenor John Holiday on Sunday, April 8 at 7:00pm. Featuring an eclectic mix of opera, jazz and gospel selections, the concert will be held in the sanctuary at Plymouth Church in Des Moines. Scott Arens, DMMO's director of marketing and public relations, will be joining Mr. Holiday at the piano for the performance.

Des Moines Metro Opera's (DMMO) General and Artistic Director, Michael Egel, is pleased to announce the full casting for the Company's 46th Festival Season, which runs from June 22 through July 15, 2018, and offers 17 performances of four different operas.

Season 3 of Unison Media's acclaimed concert series The Crypt Sessions continues on April 26, with the extraordinary countertenor John Holiday singing a program that will include Italian Baroque arias, French chansons, a song cycle by African-American composer Margaret Bonds, and a selection of spirituals and standards near and dear to his heart.

Conducted by music director Martin Pearlman, the season is anchored by a powerful new performing version of Monteverdi's L'incoronazione di Poppea by Pearlman. The season includes the Boston Baroque debuts of countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo and soprano Layla Claire, with performances by renowned Baroque interpreters such as David Daniels, Nicholas Phan, Amanda Forsythe, and clarinetist Eric Hoeprich.

Western Connecticut State University will host a community birthday celebration for Marian Anderson, a musical and civil rights icon who lived in Danbury.

Ars Lyrica Houston presents the fourth concert of the 2017/2018 Artful Women season with Esther & Jonah in Zilkha Hall at the Hobby Center on Friday, February 16 at 7:30pm. Produced in collaboration with Bach Society Houston as part of the 2018 Houston Early Music Festival, this program comprises two concise music dramas from opposite ends of the 18th century: G. F. Handel's Esther (1718) and Samuel Felsted's Jonah (1775).

It's just about time to wish you all a happy 2018--but I'm not quite ready to put 2017 to rest. Though it won't go into the annals as one of the best years ever, there were quite enough performances and performers that made this year a winner for me, operatically speaking at least, in my corner of the world.

Washington National Opera (WNO) continues its 2017 2018 season with the company premiere of Handel's magical Baroque opera Alcina - starring megawatt soprano Angela Meade in the title role - November 4 19, 2017, in the Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theater.

WE SHALL NOT BE MOVED, which made its NY debut in a pair of performances at the Apollo Theatre in Harlem last weekend, after its world premiere at Opera Philadelphia's O17 festival last month, is more than an opera or performance piece. And it sure as hell isn't an evening's entertainment. Composed by Daniel Bernard Roumarin with libretto by Marc Bamuthi Joseph, and directed, choreographed and shaped by Bill T. Jones, it is by turns incredibly moving and infuriatingly contemporary in a bold performance that I won't soon forget.

Washington National Opera (WNO) continues its 2017 2018 season with the company premiere of Handel's magical Baroque opera Alcina - starring megawatt soprano Angela Meade in the title role - November 4 19, 2017, in the Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theater.

O17, the inaugural edition of Opera Philadelphia's game-changing new annual season-opening festival, launched like a rocket earlier this month, trailing a blaze of critical and popular acclaim. Next Today, one of the three new operas that received its world premiere at the festival - We Shall Not Be Moved, a 'deeply moving' work (Washington Post) that 'succeeds on the level of art and not just polemic' (Opera News) - is set to make its New York premiere at Harlem's Apollo Theater (Oct 6 & 7).

O17, the inaugural edition of Opera Philadelphia's game-changing new annual season-opening festival, launched like a rocket earlier this month, trailing a blaze of critical and popular acclaim. Next Friday, one of the three new operas that received its world premiere at the festival - We Shall Not Be Moved, a 'deeply moving' work (Washington Post) that 'succeeds on the level of art and not just polemic' (Opera News) - is set to make its New York premiere at Harlem's Apollo Theater (Oct 6 & 7).

WE SHALL NOT BE MOVED made its world premiere on September 16, and will play through September 24 at The Wilma Theatre as part of Opera Philadelphia's O17 Festival, and the critics are weighing in!

September marks the launch of O17, the inaugural edition of Opera Philadelphia's game-changing new annual season-opening festival, and We Shall Not Be Moved (Sep 16-24) is one of three world premieres with which the company looks forward to baptizing the festival by fire.

September marks the launch of O17, the inaugural edition of Opera Philadelphia's game-changing new annual season-opening festival, and We Shall Not Be Moved (Sep 16-24) is one of three world premieres with which the company looks forward to baptizing the festival by fire.

There are opera festivals and then there are OPERA FESTIVALS, but none that promise to be the equivalent of Opera Philadelphia's O17, which opens on September 14 for a 12-day run. It's a dazzling array of the old and new, the well-known and emerging, being produced at prestigious venues around the city, from the Academy of Music to the Barnes Foundation. There's even a screening in Independence Park of a hit from the last opera season.

September 14 marks the launch of O17, the first edition of Opera Philadelphia's new annual season-opening festival. Featuring seven operatic happenings, six city venues, three world premieres, many already sold-out performances, and one superstar Festival Artist, this twelve- day immersion will transform the City of Brotherly Love into an urban stage for diverse audiences to gather and connect through the shared experience of opera (Sep 14-25). O17 shines a contemporary light on the genre, tackling daring subject matter, offering cutting-edge takes on the classics, and providing extraordinary artists with the chance to create their most imaginative and inspired work.

September marks the launch of O17, the inaugural edition of Opera Philadelphia's game-changing new annual season-opening festival, and We Shall Not Be Moved (Sep 16-24) is one of three world premieres with which the company looks forward to baptizing the festival by fire.

September marks the launch of O17, the inaugural edition of Opera Philadelphia's game-changing new annual season-opening festival, and We Shall Not Be Moved (Sep 16-24) is one of three world premieres with which the company looks forward to baptizing the festival by fire.