Lianna Haroutounian News

San Francisco Opera's 2018-19 Season opens Friday, September 7 with the double bill of Pietro Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana and Ruggero Leoncavallo's Pagliacci (or Cav/Pag), and opening night galas hosted by San Francisco Opera Guild and the BRAVO! CLUB. Italian conductor Daniele Callegari makes his Company debut leading an International cast in Jose Cura's production, staged in revival by fellow Argentine Jose Maria Condemi. Opening weekend festivities inaugurating the Company's 96th season continue Saturday, September 8, with Gaetano Donizetti's Roberto Devereux and on Sunday, September 9, with San Francisco Chronicle Presents Opera in the Park, the annual free concert in Golden Gate Park celebrating the new opera season.

Seattle Opera announced today that General Director Aidan Lang will leave the company to become General Director of Welsh National Opera. The third General Director of Seattle Opera, Lang departs at the close of the 2018/19 season following a five-year tenure. Under Lang's leadership, Seattle Opera has: increased its audiences, particularly, young people, created a new civic home for opera at Seattle Center, introduced new chamber opera productions in locations around the city, and made organizational strides toward racial equity.

To inaugurate San Francisco Opera's 96th season and the opening night double bill of Pietro Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana and Ruggero Leoncavallo's Pagliacci (or Cav/Pag), San Francisco Opera Guild presents Opera Ball 2018: ¡Viva La Noche! on Friday, September 7, 2018. Co-chaired by Shannon Cronan and Kathy Huber, this sold out gala benefit to raise funds for the Company's education and outreach programs features event design by J. Riccardo Benavides and dinner by McCalls Catering & Events. Debuting at this year's event, Chalk Hill Estate Vinyards and Winery is the official Opera Ball Wine Sponsor, joining Roederer Estate as the Sparkling Wine Sponsor and Neiman Marcus, the Dinner Sponsor. Honorary Chairs for Opera Ball 2018 are John A. & Cynthia Fry Gunn and Diane B. Wilsey.

San Francisco Opera celebrates the opening of its 96th Season with the annual San Francisco Chronicle Presents Opera in the Park on Sunday, September 9 at 1:30 p.m. The free concert in Golden Gate Park features vocal artists and conductors from the Company's fall season performing with the San Francisco Opera Orchestra in a program of arias, duets, popular songs and orchestral favorites. San Francisco Opera General Director Matthew Shilvock serves as master of ceremonies for the afternoon.

San Francisco Opera announces updated casting for its 96th Season, which opens Friday, September 7, with the double bill of Pietro Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana and Ruggero Leoncavallo's Pagliacci, and two galas, Opera Ball 2018: ¡Viva La Noche! and the BRAVO! CLUB Opening Night Gala. The 2018-19 Season features eight productions that are new to the War Memorial Opera House stage, including a new staging of Giacomo Puccini's Tosca and the West Coast premiere of Jake Heggie's It's a Wonderful Life. Highlights also include Placido Domingo in Concert on October 21 and a roster of returning artists, debuting soloists and conductors.

Details were announced today for Opera Ball 2018: ¡Viva La Noche!, San Francisco Opera Guild's signature gala benefit inaugurating San Francisco Opera's 96th season on Friday, September 7. Presented in conjunction with the season-opening double bill of one-act operas, Pietro Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana and Ruggero Leoncavallo's Pagliacci (or Cav/Pag), Opera Ball 2018 is co-chaired by Shannon Cronan and Kathy Huber and features event design by J. Riccardo Benavides and a sumptuous dinner by McCalls Catering & Events. Last presented by San Francisco Opera 15 years ago, Cav/Pag returns next season in a staging by Argentine tenor, conductor and director Jose Cura that sets both Italian classics in La Boca, the Buenos Aires neighborhood known for its colorful architecture and live tango performances. Honorary Chairs for Opera Ball 2018 are John A. & Cynthia Fry Gunn and Diane B. Wilsey. The official wine sponsor is Chalk Hill Estate Vineyards and Winery.

On Sunday, March 4 at 8 p.m., the Bay Area's Classical KDFC will broadcast a San Francisco Opera performance from November 2014 of Giacomo Puccini's Tosca starring soprano Lianna Haroutounian in the title role, tenor Brian Jagde as Cavaradossi and bass-baritone Mark Delavan as Scarpia, with maestro Riccardo Frizza leading the San Francisco Opera Orchestra. KDFC radio announcer Dianne Nicolini hosts the archival broadcast presentation, which will be available for on demand streaming at kdfc.com up to four weeks after the March 4 airing.

San Francisco Opera General Director Matthew Shilvock today announced plans for the 2018 19 Season. The Company's 96th Season will open Friday, September 7 with a gala double-bill performance of Pietro Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana and Ruggero Leoncavallo's Pagliacci in Jos Cura's production with an international cast featuring Lianna Haroutounian, Ekaterina Semenchuk, Roberto Aronica, Marco Berti and Dimitri Platanias, conducted by Daniele Callegari. To usher in the new opera season, San Francisco Opera Guild will produce its signature benefit event, Opera Ball 2018.

San Francisco Opera General Director Matthew Shilvock today announced plans for the 2018 19 Season. The Company's 96th Season will open Friday, September 7 with a gala double-bill performance of Pietro Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana and Ruggero Leoncavallo's Pagliacci in Jos Cura's production with an international cast featuring Lianna Haroutounian, Ekaterina Semenchuk, Roberto Aronica, Marco Berti and Dimitri Platanias, conducted by Daniele Callegari. To usher in the new opera season, San Francisco Opera Guild will produce its signature benefit event, Opera Ball 2018.

The 2017 national radio broadcast series of San Francisco Opera performances on the WFMT Radio Network begins on Saturday, September 2 with a 1979 archival broadcast of Amilcare Ponchielli's La Gioconda. The cast features soprano Renata Scotto in the title role and tenor Luciano Pavarotti as Enzo Grimaldi, each singing their role for the first time on any stage.

A number of key company debuts marked Seattle Opera's 2017-18 season opening

With stylized sets inspired by Japanese theater and lush, colorful kimono worn by singers, Seattle Opera's grand production of Madame Butterfly coming this August may seem like business-as-usual. But there's a dramatic difference that sets this Butterfly apart: the broader conversation taking place on cultural appropriation, yellowface, and Asian American representation. While certainly not new to many Asian and Pacific Islanders, these conversations have permeated the Puget Sound theater scene for the past several years following a production of The Mikado that made national news.

The partnership between San Francisco Opera and the Bay Area's Classical KDFC continues with monthly broadcasts of performances captured during the Fall 2016 Season, including the world premiere of Bright Sheng and David Henry Hwang's Dream of the Red Chamber, and a historic broadcast from the Company's archives. All performances were recorded live at the War Memorial Opera House and feature the San Francisco Opera Orchestra and Chorus (Ian Robertson, Chorus Director).

Opera is for everyone-and so is Seattle Opera's 2017/18 season! There's a new bilingual performance for elementary-school students, new performance venues such as Georgetown Steam Plant, a new mainstage collaboration with ACT Theatre and Seattle Symphony leaders, and even an outdoor performance offered free of charge. Regardless of background or socioeconomic status, this season offers ways for a broad audience to be able to experience opera; it's an open invitation for the Pacific Northwest. 

San Francisco Opera's 2016–17 Season continues with ten performances of Giacomo Puccini's heartbreaking drama Madama Butterfly, November 6 through December 4 at the War Memorial Opera House. The cast will feature the much-anticipated American debut of young Italian tenor Vincenzo Costanzo as Lt. B.F. Pinkerton and return of Armenian soprano Lianna Haroutounian as the tragic heroine, Cio-Cio-San. Jun Kaneko's colorful and compelling production, last seen in San Francisco during the 2013–14 Season, will be directed by Leslie Swackhamer and Maestro Yves Abel conducts the San Francisco Opera Orchestra and Chorus.

San Francisco Opera's 2016-17 Season continues with ten performances of Giacomo Puccini's heartbreaking drama Madama Butterfly, November 6 through December 4 at the War Memorial Opera House. The cast will feature the much-anticipated American debut of young Italian tenor Vincenzo Costanzo as Lt. B.F. Pinkerton and return of Armenian soprano Lianna Haroutounian as the tragic heroine, Cio-Cio-San. Jun Kaneko's colorful and compelling production, last seen in San Francisco during the 2013-14 Season, will be directed by Leslie Swackhamer and Maestro Yves Abel conducts the San Francisco Opera Orchestra and Chorus.

San Francisco Opera today announced cast updates for the upcoming productions of Leoš Jana?ek's The Makropulos Case and Giacomo Puccini's Madama Butterfly. The role of Albert Gregor in The Makropulos Case will now feature American tenor Charles Workman in his Company debut, replacing Scott Quinn who has withdrawn due to personal reasons. Italian tenor Vincenzo Costanzo will make his United States opera debut as Lt. B. F. Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly in lieu of Maxim Aksenov who has withdrawn for personal reasons.

Beginning April 1, Met Music Director James Levine conducts Verdi's SIMON BOCCANEGRA, with Plácido Domingo starring in the title role.

Beginning April 1, Met Music Director James Levine conducts Verdi's SIMON BOCCANEGRA, with Plácido Domingo starring in the title role.

San Francisco Opera General Director David Gockley and Music Director Nicola Luisotti today announced the Company's 2016–17 Season repertory and roster of international guest artists, conductors and creative teams scheduled to appear at the War Memorial Opera House, as well as initial programming for SF Opera Lab 2017 presentations at the Diane B. Wilsey Center for Opera's Taube Atrium Theater. The Company's 94th Season will also mark Matthew Shilvock's inaugural year as San Francisco Opera's new general director, succeeding his mentor and internationally respected impresario, David Gockley, who will step down on July 31, 2016.