Leontyne Price News

Robert ('Bob') Ullman (left), the legendary theatre press agent, whose career included Ethel Merman and Mary Martin: Together on Broadway, A Chorus Line (from workshop to Public Theater to Broadway), Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne in The Visit, Lauren Bacall in Cactus Flower, The Dining Room, Driving Miss Daisy, Sunday in the Park with George, and over 150 additional Broadway and off-Broadway plays and musicals, died on July 31, 2019 in Bayshore, Long Island, New York. He was 97. The cause of death was cardiac arrest. Bob's death was announced by Rev. Joshua Ellis, a long-time Ullman friend, a former Broadway press agent, and now, an Interspiritual minister.

Juilliard's Ellen and James S. Marcus Institute for Vocal Arts, under the leadership of artistic director Brian Zeger, announces its 2019-20 season of opera and vocal arts performances. Highlights of the upcoming season include three mainstage operas: Mozart's Così fan tutte, conducted by alumnus Nimrod David Pfeffer and directed by faculty member David Paul, on November 13, 15, and 17, 2019, in Juilliard's Peter Jay Sharp Theater; Virgil Thomson's The Mother of Us All, in collaboration with the Metropolitan Museum of Art's MetLiveArts and the New York Philharmonic with Juilliard singers, conducted by Daniela Candillari and directed by Louisa Proske, on February 8, 11, 12, and 14, 2020, in the Charles Engelhard Court at the Metropolitan Museum of Art; and Puccini's La bohème, conducted by Keri-Lynn Wilson and directed by Stephen Wadsworth, on April 22, 24, and 26, 2020, in Juilliard's Peter Jay Sharp Theater.

The Richard Tucker Music Foundation presents one of the most highly anticipated events of the opera season, the 2019 Richard Tucker Gala, on Sunday, October 27, 2019 at 6:00pm in Stern Auditorium Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall.

The Los Angeles Philharmonic Association today announced a new exhibition at the Hollywood Bowl Museum, Tapes Rolling: David Swedlow Records the Hollywood Bowl, 1954-1959. Launching June 15 in conjunction with the opening of the 2019 summer season and the continuing Centennial celebrations of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the exhibit showcases recordings of the orchestra made by David Swedlow. It will be on view through the spring of 2020.

The little OPERA theatre of ny will present a FREE concert of scenes from American operas in collaboration with Bronx Opera and operamission on Saturday, June 22, 2019. The concert will showcase the diversity of music and stories written for the opera stage by both native born and immigrant composers and librettists. The concert will take place outdoors on Governors Island in Nolan Park, in front of building 25. The performance is at 5pm and is FREE to the public. (Rain date: Sunday, June 23 at 4pm.)

The little OPERA theatre of ny will present a FREE concert of scenes from American operas in collaboration with Bronx Opera and operamission. The concert will showcase the diversity of music and stories written for the opera stage by both native born and immigrant composers and librettists. The concert will take place outdoors on Governors Island in Nolan Park, in front of building 25. The performance is at 5pm and is FREE to the public. (Rain date: Sunday, June 23 at 4pm.)

You'd never know that the Met's production of Francis Poulenc's DIALOGUES DES CARMELITES is over 40 years old, except for a few giveaways. There are no dancing nuns, no nudity, no screeching train whistle as the women go to their deaths (a la SWEENEY TODD). This fictionalized version of the story of Carmelite nuns who were martyred during the French Revolution, sent to the guillotine, is certainly the most simple and eloquent work on the Met's stage these days.

Legendary soprano Leontyne Price was tonight [29 April 2019] awarded the prestigious Lifetime Achievement award at the 2019 International Opera Awards (IOA) at a glittering red-carpet gala event at London's Sadler's Wells theatre. The Awards, considered opera's answer to the Oscars, celebrate achievements in opera around the globe over the last calendar year in a wide range of categories. The IOA acknowledged the pioneering singer's many achievements over her illustrious career, stating in a ground-breaking career that for the first time placed a great African-American artist at the very pinnacle of the operatic profession, both in her native United States and throughout Europe, Leontyne Price upheld the highest vocal standards that led to her receiving universal acclaim wherever and whatever she sang.

Judging by the number of small opera companies in New York alone--see the 2019 New York Opera Fest that starts performances next month--there's no shortage of up and coming opera singers trying to make their way on the scene. But there's no showcase like the Finals Concert of the Metropolitan Opera's National Council Auditions to give a singer a leg up--and this year's group of talented performers seemed to give us more hope than usual that all's right with the world…at least when it comes to opera.

The little OPERA theatre of ny(LOTNY) presents the New York Premiere of Benjamin Britten's opera in two acts, OWEN WINGRAVE, with libretto by Myfanwy Piper, at GK Arts Center, 29 Jay Street, Brooklyn, NY, from May 9-12, 2019, with performances Thursday through Saturday at 7:30pm and Sunday at 3pm. Tickets are $20-$45 and are available at www.ticketcentral.com.

 Coyote StageWorks, the Coachella Valley-based award-winning Actors' Equity professional theater company, announced that it has added three more FREE plays to its popular free "Play Dates" Reader's Series. Play Dates is a free Educational Community Outreach Program that features fresh or classic, compelling scripts read by new and established actors and are offered at the Camelot Theatre/Palm Springs Cultural Center. The upcoming new Play Dates are "Eugene Walter At Large" (a new, original work) on December 16, "Lips Together, Teeth Apart" (a revisiting of a modern classic on the 25th anniversary of its original Off-Broadway production) on February 24, and "A Doll's House, Part 2" (a 2017 Tony Award winner and recently listed as 'The most produced play of the season in the US.') on June 2.  All events start at 2 PM and are free and open to the public. Tickets are available on the day of the reading at the Palm Springs Cultural Center/Camelot Theatre on a 'first-come, first-served' basis.

On Sunday, October 21, the Richard Tucker Music Foundation's annual gala concert - one of the most highly anticipated operatic events of the season - will bring a galaxy of opera stars to the stage of Carnegie Hall. And opera-lovers around the world unable to make it in person will still have the opportunity to watch the performance live. Thanks to the foundation's partnership with medici.tv, the gala concert will be webcast live (6pm ET/3pm PT), free of charge, both on medici.tv and on medici.tv's Facebook page; the stream will subsequently be available for on-demand viewing for a limited period. In addition, the Richard Tucker Music Foundation continues its collaboration with WQXR 105.9 FM, New York's sole dedicated classical radio station, which will broadcast the performance to listeners in the New York metropolitan region and online at www.wqxr.org on November 10 at 1pm ET/10am PT.

American Symphony Orchestra's 2018-19 season will open with A Walt Whitman Sampler on October 17 at Carnegie Hall, and has announced that rising American soprano Angel Blue will sing the New York premiere of Franz Schreker's Vom ewigen Leben (From Eternal Life). Dubbed by Placido Domingo as "the next Leontyne Price," the young opera singer and BBC Proms host/presenter will next appear in September at the Metropolitan Opera as Musetta in La Boheme, and in the Royal Opera's production of La Traviata as Violetta in January 2019. Edward Nelson is the guest soloist for the New York premiere of Kurt Weill's Four Walt Whitman Songs. Both vocalists will also perform in Ralph Vaughan Williams' A Sea Symphony.

American Symphony Orchestra's 2018-19 season will open with A Walt Whitman Sampler on October 17 at Carnegie Hall, and has announced that rising American soprano Angel Blue will sing the New York premiere of Franz Schreker's Vom ewigen Leben (From Eternal Life).

Opera Memphis' 30 Days of Opera returns September 1-30, 2018. This annual event features dozens of TOTALLY FREE opera performances across Memphis and the MidSouth, turning the opera house inside out and taking the music to you! This year will include performances of Movin' Up in the World, an opera featured in last season's Midtown Opera Festival as a part of the McCleave Project, as well as the return of the Levitt Shell concert - back by popular demand-on Sept. 23. Follow Opera Memphis on Twitter and Facebook, and check out 30daysofopera.com for all the info.     

Opera Memphis' 30 Days of Opera returns September 1-30, 2018. This annual event features dozens of TOTALLY FREE opera performances across Memphis and the MidSouth, turning the opera house inside out and taking the music to you! This year will include performances of Movin' Up in the World, an opera featured in last season's Midtown Opera Festival as a part of the McCleave Project, as well as the return of the Levitt Shell concert - back by popular demand-on Sept. 23. Follow Opera Memphis on Twitter and Facebook, and check out 30daysofopera.com for all the info.     

Country Music Hall of Fame member and Mississippi native Charley Pride, was honored with another industry accolade recently, celebrating his legendary career as a pioneering Country musician. Pride was inducted into the Mississippi Arts + Entertainment Experience Hall of Fame class of 2018, on August 25th in Meridian, Mississippi, along with four other recipients; singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett, Photographer William Eggleston, Writer and editor Willie Morris, and Blues musician Howlin' Wolf. Pride also received a 'Walk of Fame' star as part of the ceremony.

Amas Musical Theatre (Donna Trinkoff, Artistic Producer) and The Amas Song Salon will offer a special event as part of the company's celebratory 50th Anniversary Season. 'The Art of Managing a Career in the Theatre' with actress/singer/producer N'Kenge (Motown), will be held on Monday, September 24 in a spectacular, sky-high penthouse on Central Park West. The evening will begin at 6pm with cocktails and supper, followed by the presentation at 7:30pm. Tickets are $150 (tax deductible as allowed law) and may be purchased online at www.amasmusical.org or by calling 212-563-2565. This is a one-time event and the seating is limited.

I want to stretch my technical and artistic capabilities as far as they will go. It's wonderful for me to play around with different emotional journeys

Pretty Woman begins previews today, get to know the cast below!