Kathryn Lewek News

The Helpmann Awards, which has recognised the achievements in live performance in Australia since 2001, is the Australian industry's equivalent of the Tony Awards and the Olivier Awards.

Houston Grand Opera capped a financially and artistically successful 2013–14 season by presenting Mieczyslaw Weinberg's The Passenger —the Polish-Jewish composer's long-suppressed Holocaust opera—to wide acclaim at New York's Park Avenue Armory as part of the Lincoln Center Festival, July 10–13. Earlier this year, HGO gave the American premiere of the work in Houston with the same cast. There was special praise for the production and performances, conducted by HGO Artistic and Music Director Patrick Summers. New York magazine described David Pountney's staging as “a multi-story set so vivid you can practically smell the machine oil and coal smoke,” while the Financial Times said: “The production, imported from Houston, is imposing in every way.” The New York Times called the cast “flawless,” adding: “The conductor, Patrick Summers, drew a surging, textured, richly detailed performance of this challenging score (lasting three hours) from the inspired musicians of the Houston Grand Opera.” WQXR's Operavore summed up the import of the performances: “The Passenger shows how a Holocaust opera can hold the stage while examining important, complex issues—and could certainly point the way for future composers to deal with such important but delicate subject matter.”

The Helpmann Awards are Australia's version of Broadway's Tony Awards and London's Olivier Awards. The annual awards recognise achievement in live performance including musical theatre, contemporary music, comedy, cabaret, opera, classical music, theatre, dance and physical theatre.

The Glimmerglass Festival has announced its 2015 Festival, which will celebrate the company's 40th anniversary. The 2015 Festival will feature Mozart's The Magic Flute, Verdi's Macbeth, Vivaldi's Cato in Utica and Bernstein's Candide. The productions will run in repertory in the Alice Busch Opera Theater on Otsego Lake in Cooperstown July 10 through August 23. These mainstage offerings will be complemented by lectures, concerts and other special events.

Houston Grand Opera drew the season to a close with hit new productions of Das Rheingold and Carmen that prompted CultureMap Houston to conclude: 'This is, without doubt, the epitome of early twenty-first century opera production. It's where we are going, and it's thrilling.'

THE MAGIC FLUTE (Die Zauberflote), Mozart's last great work, is sometimes viewed as the precursor to musical theater. Mozart's friend, actor-producer Emanuel Schikaneder, wrote the original libretto in the German vernacular (as opposed to the more upper crust Italian) as a 'singspiel,' a play with music. In fact, THE MAGIC FLUTE has significantly more spoken dialogue than The Phantom of the Opera and certainly far more than Les Miserables.

A winner from start to finish, THE MAGIC FLUTE features Mozart's score, a delightful new translation, superb casting, and the stunning design work of Jun Kaneko. Perfect for fans and novices, this MAGIC FLUTE is a must see.

Washington National Opera (WNO) continues its 2013-2014 season with a new English-language production of one of the most beloved and family-friendly operas in the repertory: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's The Magic Flute, tonight, May 3-18 in the Kennedy Center Opera House. The eye-popping new production features set and costume design by Japanese- American artist Jun Kaneko in his WNO debut, and will be sung in a new English version by WNO dramaturg Kelley Rourke. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

Washington National Opera (WNO) continues its 2013-2014 season with a new English-language production of one of the most beloved and family-friendly operas in the repertory: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's The Magic Flute, May 3-18 in the Kennedy Center Opera House. The eye-popping new production features set and costume design by Japanese- American artist Jun Kaneko in his WNO debut, and will be sung in a new English version by WNO dramaturg Kelley Rourke. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

Washington National Opera (WNO) celebrates its sixth season of free opera simulcasts at Nationals Park with title sponsor Mars, Incorporated for the M&M'S® Opera in the Outfield performance of Mozart's beloved classic The Magic Flute on Saturday, May 3, 2014. Sung in English and featuring a colorful kaleidoscope of sets and costumes by Japanese- American artist Jun Kaneko, The Magic Flute is a perfect opera for the entire family. Gates open at 5 p.m. for “pregame” activities, and the opera will be broadcast live from the Kennedy Center Opera House to the high-definition NatsHD scoreboard at the ballpark at 7 p.m. Free seating will be available in the stands, while access to the outfield will be limited on a first-come, first-served basis when gates open at 5 p.m. More information, including a chance to RSVP to win prizes, is available at OperaintheOutfield.org.

Washington National Opera (WNO) continues its 2013-2014 season with a new English-language production of one of the most beloved and family-friendly operas in the repertory: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's The Magic Flute, May 3-18 in the Kennedy Center Opera House. The eye-popping new production features set and costume design by Japanese- American artist Jun Kaneko in his WNO debut, and will be sung in a new English version by WNO dramaturg Kelley Rourke. The opening-night performance on May 3 will be simulcast free to thousands of fans at Nationals Park as part of M&M'S® Opera in the Outfield. A special

The Metropolitan Opera's 2014-15 season will feature 26 operas, three of them company premieres, in six new productions and 18 revivals showcasing the talents of the world's leading singers, conductors, and theater artists. The three operas that will have their first-ever Met performances, each staged by a director making his Met debut, are John Adams's The Death of Klinghoffer, conducted by David Robertson and directed by Tom Morris, opening October 20; Rossini's La Donna del Lago, conducted by Michele Mariotti and directed by Paul Curran, opening February 16, 2015; and Tchaikovsky's one-act opera Iolanta, conducted by Valery Gergiev and directed by Mariusz Treli?ski. Iolanta will be presented in a double bill with a new staging of Bartok's one-act Duke Bluebeard's Castle, also conducted by Gergiev and directed by Treli?ski.

And so, on Monday, December 23, 2013, at 8:00 PM-the eve of Christmas Eve-at Carnegie Hall, the Oratorio Society of New York will offer its 204th performance of Handel's Messiah in the grand style for which it is celebrated. Music Director Kent Tritle leads the 200-voice chorus, currently marking its 141st concert season, and a quartet of young soloists: Kathryn Lewek, soprano; Rebecca Ringle, mezzo-soprano; Nicholas Phan, tenor, and Dashon Burton, bass-baritone, who was the 2012 first-prize-winner of the OSNY's Lyndon Woodside Oratorio-Solo Competition.

English conductor Jane Glover will make her Met debut on December 16 leading the company's holiday presentation, an abridged, English-language production of Mozart's The Magic Flute, directed by Julie Taymor. The 100-minute version of Taymor's popular staging of the opera will star Alek Shrader as the brave prince Tamino; Heidi Stober as Pamina, the princess he must rescue; Eric Owens as the mysterious Sarastro; Shenyang as the Speaker; and Nathan Gunn as the hapless bird-catcher Papageno. Albina Shagimuratova and Kathryn Lewek will alternate in the role of Pamina's vindictive mother, the Queen of the Night. The Magic Flute launched the recent Met tradition of presenting a family-oriented production each holiday season, with sharply discounted tickets and two special weekday matinee performances. Scroll down for a sneak peek at the production!

Lyric Opera of Kansas City continues its 56th season with a co- production of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's The Magic Flute November 9, 13, 15 and 17, 2013 at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. Check out video highlights below!

The Oratorio Society of New York, the city's standard for grand choral performance, launches its 141st Carnegie Hall concert season with two pillars of choral grandeur: Mozart's Requiem, in the original Sussmayr edition, and Mendelssohn's rarely-performed secular cantataDie erste Walpurgisnacht (The First Walpurgis Night), conducted by Kent Tritle, today, November 4, 2013, at 8:00 PM.

The Oratorio Society of New York will perform defining symphonic choral masterworks of Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, and Mendelssohn, both as part of its annual 2013-14 series at Carnegie Hall under the leadership of music director Kent Tritle, and in a guest appearance with Sir Roger Norrington and the Orchestra of St. Luke's at Carnegie Hall. Mr. Tritle leads the 200-voice chorus, New York's standard for grand choral performance, in its 141st season and his ninth season as music director.

Lyric Opera of Kansas City continues its 56th season with a co-production of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's The Magic Flute November 9, 13, 15 and 17, 2013 at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts.

The Oratorio Society of New York, the city's standard for grand choral performance, launches its 141st Carnegie Hall concert season with two pillars of choral grandeur: Mozart's Requiem, in the original Sussmayr edition, and Mendelssohn's rarely-performed secular cantataDie erste Walpurgisnacht (The First Walpurgis Night), conducted by Kent Tritle, on Monday, November 4, 2013, at 8:00 PM.

The Oratorio Society of New York will perform defining symphonic choral masterworks of Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, and Mendelssohn, both as part of its annual 2013-14 series at Carnegie Hall under the leadership of music director Kent Tritle, and in a guest appearance with Sir Roger Norrington and the Orchestra of St. Luke's at Carnegie Hall. Mr. Tritle leads the 200-voice chorus, New York's standard for grand choral performance, in its 141st season and his ninth season as music director.