Lucas Meachem News

San Francisco Opera General Director Matthew Shilvock today announced repertory and casting for the Company's 97th Season, opening Friday, September 6, 2019, with a gala performance of Charles Gounod's Romeo and Juliet (Rom o et Juliette) starring tenor Bryan Hymel and soprano Nadine Sierra in Op ra de Monte-Carlo Director Jean-Louis Grinda's production. In keeping with the Company's time-honored tradition, the new season will be inaugurated with San Francisco Opera Guild's elegant, signature benefit and celebration, Opera Ball 2019.

The Metropolitan Opera presents a double bill of two rarely performed one-act operas, Tchaikovsky's romantic fairy tale Iolanta and Bartók's harrowing Bluebeard's Castle, with six performances January 24 to February 14, 2019. Iolanta stars Sonya Yoncheva in the title role of a blind princess and Matthew Polenzani as Vaudémont, the knight who loves her. Bluebeard's Castle stars Angela Denoke as Judith, an innocent young bride who discovers the terrifying truth about her new husband, the menacing Bluebeard, sung by Gerald Finley. Henrik Nánási makes his Met debut conducting both operas, which are presented in a production by acclaimed director Mariusz Trelinski.

The Teatr Wielki - Polish National Opera presents the North American premiere of its heralded Voices of the Mountains program at Carnegie Hall in New York in a one-night-only performance on November 14, 2018. Voices of the Mountains is an interactive, multimedia concert featuring projections and inspired by the music of the Polish Highlands. The evening includes works by esteemed Polish composers Wojciech Kilar, Karol Szymanowski, Henryk Miko?aj Górecki, and Mieczys?aw Kar?owicz, in modern arrangements by the young Polish composer Jan Smoczy?ski.

San Francisco Opera Center Director Sheri Greenawald today announced the 12 recipients of the 2019 Adler Fellowship. Selected from participants of the Merola Opera Program, the ten singers and two pianist/apprentice coaches begin their fellowships in January 2019. The multi-year performance-oriented residency offers advanced young artists intensive individual training, coaching and professional seminars, as well as a wide range of performance opportunities. Since its inception in 1977, the prestigious fellowship has nurtured the development of more than 180 young artists, introducing many budding stars to the international opera stage and launching active careers throughout the world as performers, production artists, arts professionals and educators.

In 2019, San Francisco's acclaimed Merola Opera Program will present the first opera commissioned in the Program's history, the world premiere of If I Were You, by distinguished American composer Jake Heggie and noted librettist Gene Scheer. This ground-breaking work will be presented August 1 - 6, 2019, at San Francisco's Herbst Theatre. Today it was announced the opera will be conducted by Nicole Paiement and directed by Keturah Stickann. Information is available at www.merola.org. Tickets will go on sale in Spring 2019.

Even if you've never seen an opera, you know at least one or two of the tunes from Giuseppe Verdi's La Traviata, which has become one of the most popular modern representations for classical opera. While the work was jeered at the time of its premiere, this tragic tale has aged beautifully-with a lush score featuring some of the greatest duets. The Washington National Opera's newest production injects new life into this piece, thanks to smart directorial choices by WNO Artistic Director Francesca Zambello and a top-notch creative team.

Washington National Opera opens its 2018-2019 season with a stunning new production by WNO Artistic Director Francesca Zambello of Verdi's La traviata, October 6-21, 2018, in the Kennedy Center Opera House. Tickets start at $45. From the famous brindisi drinking song to the heartbreaking 'Addio del passato' aria, the original 'Pretty Woman' proves it's better to have loved once than not at all. Verdi's romantic masterpiece and familiar tunes are as timeless as the storyline is contemporary, pitting tensions of social class against Violetta's personal sacrifice.

Concluding its highly successful 61st season, the Merola Opera Program announces the establishment of an Advisory Council, comprised of leaders in  the field of opera performance, young artist training, arts administration, performing arts, and philanthropy.

The Teatr Wielki - Polish National Opera presents the North American premiere of its heralded Voices of the Mountains program at Carnegie Hall in New York in a one-night-only performance on November 14, 2018. Voices of the Mountains is an interactive, multimedia concert featuring projections and inspired by the music of the Polish Highlands. The evening includes works by esteemed Polish composers Wojciech Kilar, Karol Szymanowski, Henryk Miko?aj Górecki, and Mieczys?aw Kar?owicz, in modern arrangements by the young Polish composer Jan Smoczy?ski.

Washington National Opera opens its 2018-2019 season with a stunning new production by WNO Artistic Director Francesca Zambello of Verdi's La traviata, October 6-21, 2018, in the Kennedy Center Opera House. Tickets start at $45. From the famous brindisi drinking song to the heartbreaking 'Addio del passato' aria, the original 'Pretty Woman' proves it's better to have loved once than not at all. Verdi's romantic masterpiece and familiar tunes are as timeless as the storyline is contemporary, pitting tensions of social class against Violetta's personal sacrifice.

Puccini's La Bohème, the most-performed opera in Met history, returns to the repertory in the opening week of the 2018-19 season, with 11 performances of Franco Zeffirelli's beloved production from September 25. Initial performances feature three much anticipated Met debuts

San Francisco Opera announces the winner of the 2018 Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Emerging Stars Competition. Brazilian tenor Atalla Ayan, who made his Company debut as Alfredo in Giuseppe Verdi's La Traviata last fall, was named “2018 Emerging Star of the Year” based on a popular vote conducted online at sfopera.com from July 9–July 31, 2018. As winner of the competition, now in its third year, Ayan receives a $10,000 cash prize.

Tickets go on sale today for the Met's Emmy® and Peabody Award-winning Live in HD series' 2017-18 season, which begins on October 7 with the company's new production of Bellini's Norma.

Season 12 of Great Performances at the Met continues Sunday, May 20 on PBS (check local listings) with one of the world's most popular operas, Puccini's La Bohème, starring Sonya Yoncheva as the fragile Mimì and Michael Fabiano as the poet Rodolfo.

Michigan Opera Theatre CEO and President Wayne S. Brown and Principal Conductor Stephen Lord today announced the company's 2018-19 opera season.  MOT's 48th opera season will be the second under Lord's artistic leadership and celebrates masterworks of literature turned opera, with "Eugene Onegin" (Pyotr Tchaikovsky), "Candide" (Leonard Bernstein) and "The Grapes of Wrath" (Ricky Ian Gordon/Michael Korie). The season also includes a staple of the opera repertoire, "The Barber of Seville" (Gioachino Rossini) and a fairytale opera, "Hansel and Gretel" (Engelbert Humperdinck). The season begins Sept. 29 with a gala concert featuring opera superstar Renee Fleming.  

Elizabeth Caballero will perform the role of Mimì in Puccini's La Bohème for tonight's performance, March 2 at 8:00 p.m., replacing Sonya Yoncheva who is ill.

Washington National Opera (WNO), led by Artistic Director Francesca Zambello, announces its 2018-2019 season, one that continues its focus on bold productions of classic operas, fascinating contemporary perspectives, and the best in American artistry. The season includes a new WNO production of Verdi's classic romantic drama La traviata, the company premiere of Kevin Puts's and Mark Campbell's Pulitzer Prize-winning Silent Night, Tchaikovsky's epic Eugene Onegin, Gounod's devilishly entertaining Faust, and Puccini's towering masterpiece Tosca. The season also features a weekend of four world premieres during the American Opera Initiative Festival; a revival of WNO's hit world-premiere holiday family opera The Lion, the Unicorn, and Me; a special Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist performance of La traviata; and other exciting vocal events, including the annual Mars, lnc.'s Opera in the Outfield.

The Canadian Opera Company's 2018/2019 season presents the world premiere of Hadrian, a new opera from composer Rufus Wainwright and librettist Daniel MacIvor, which features the highly anticipated COC debuts of international opera stars Thomas Hampson and Karita Mattila.

Buffalo Bayou Brewing Co. and Houston Grand Opera (HGO) reunite for a happy hour to celebrate the opening of Rossini's The Barber of Seville on Jan. 26 and Figaro, Figaro, Figaro, FIIIGAAARO beer (Figaro for short). This beer was originally brewed in collaboration with HGO to celebrate the opening night of The Barber of Seville in 2011. When Buffalo Bayou Brewing Company first started testing this creative collab, they knew it needed a secret ingredient as dark, sweet, and tricky as Figaro himself. Hence Figaro, a Belgian quad brewed with Turkish figs, was born.

Houston Grand Opera ( HGO ) presents Richard Strauss's chilling one - act drama, Elektra, January 19 February 2, the first HGO performances in 25 years. The Sir David McVicar production stars internationally acclaimed soprano Christine Goerke, who owns the title role as one of the most fearless and formidable dramatic sopranos of the day ( New York Times ).