Marilyn Horne News

The Metropolitan Opera will present an audacious new production of Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor, which moves the bel canto masterpiece from 18th-century Scotland to a present-day town in the American Rust Belt, with nine performances April 23–May 21, 2022.

Herbie Hancock – celebrated jazz and crossover artist, 14-time Grammy-winner, and advocate for using culture and the arts to advance peace – will receive the George Peabody Medal for Outstanding Contributions to Music in America and address graduates during the Peabody Conservatory's 2022 Graduation ceremony on Wednesday, May 25.

The Washington National Opera has gathered a company of first rate singers for a portmanteau of four, one-act operas called Written in Stone. Unfortunately, their fine skills and exceptional voices cannot make silk purses out of scores, libretti, and orchestrations that evade aesthetics, emphasize negatives, and ignore the connection implicit in musical theatre between the notes and the text. This world première requires an orchestra to seem to be playing a piece of music that is not the same piece of music as the singers are singing. The last time this many groups of unfriendly instruments had a gig in a first run house was probably PDQ Bach's last show in Carnegie Hall. Gesamtkunstwerk this isn't, and it lasts for two and a half hours.

The Music Academy of the West looks boldly to the future in this milestone year. Programming has expanded year-round for community, fellows, and alumni. Classically trained musicians are provided opportunities to unleash their creativity and connect with audiences onstage and offstage.

Nadine Sierra’s childhood intuition – that she was born to sing opera – has proved correct in every way and is reflected in the title of her second solo album, Made for Opera, out today on Deutsche Grammophon. The dramatic presence, searing passion and technical brilliance for which the American lyric soprano regularly scores rave reviews are captured in this new album, which trains the spotlight on three of the most demanding roles in the repertoire.

Next month, FEINSTEIN’S/54 BELOW, Broadway’s Supper Club & Private Event Destination, presents some of the brightest stars from Broadway, cabaret, jazz, and beyond.

Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute today announced that six rising MCs have been selected to participate in a free master class led by legendary hip-hop artist Black Thought from April 4-7, 2022 as part of the Hall’s ongoing series of workshops and master classes for young professional musicians.

Following their sell-out recent debut performances of Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker with the Eglevsky Ballet at the Tilles Center for the Performing Arts on Long Island, the Manhattan-based Park Avenue Chamber Symphony will make its first appearance at the Adelphi Performing Arts Center on March 6th at 3pm, with a program entitled “Ravishing Romantics”.

Mr. Kim was excited to make his North American debut at San Diego Opera and was impressed with the Company's safety protocols enacted to ensure the safety of the artists, staff, and audience, but needs to withdraw for personal reasons. The Company hopes to welcome him in the future. Mr. Brancy recently performed the role of Guglielmo in San Francisco Opera's production of Cosí fan tutte.

The New World Symphony, America's Orchestral Academy and Artistic Director Michael Tilson Thomas have announced I Dream a World: The Harlem Renaissance and Beyond, a multi-disciplinary, multi-tiered festival that celebrates the history and influence of this cultural movement.

Bass-baritone Davóne Tines, who in October was announced as Musical America’s 2022 Vocalist of the Year, will be honored for this achievement at the 61st annual Musical America Awards, to be held virtually via Facebook Live on Sunday, December 5 at 4:00 p.m. ET.

San Francisco's acclaimed Merola Opera Program will continue their Virtual Recital Series with Merola's Home for the Holidays featuring Merola alums soprano Amber R. Monroe ('19), tenor Edward Graves ('21), and bass Kevin Thompson ('10).

The imposing mezzo soprano Stephanie Blythe is known for her roles in Wagner, Verdi and Stravinsky. Why would she begin a Balboa Theatre recital for the San Diego Opera with Johnny Mercer’s 'Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive?” Here’s what she said in a recent interview, “I’ve been a great fan of Johnny Mercer’s and I’ve been singing the music of his Great American Songbook for a very long time.” Rather than a concert-hall recital, Blythe was doing cabaret, and doing it far better than most of the opera singers who try to crossover. Her main problem had to be choosing which songs to include in her tribute to Johnny Mercer. He wrote 1500 of them, most often sticking to lyrics in collaboration with the A-list melodic composers of his era. At one point in the 40s he had five of the top ten on the popular radio show “Your Hit Parade.” (If you remember Snooky Lanson and Dorothy Collins, I wouldn’t mention it in your dating app bio.) Mercer’s honors include nineteen Oscar nominations with four wins. That got him a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Tour members meet on the Flying Opera Magic Carpet for a week of American and international performances. Our first stop is at San Francisco Opera, for Fidelio by Ludwig van Beethoven online October 14, 17, and 30, 2021. Cost- $25.

It would appear that acclaimed baritone Sidney Outlaw is having the busiest year of his career. In addition to starring as composer Antonio Salieri in Opera San José’s new virtual production of Rimsky-Korsakov’s 'Mozart and Salieri,' Outlaw will be performing 'Barber of Seville,' 'Porgy and Bess,' and 'La Bohème.' BroadwayWorld speaks with Outlaw.

Barbara Quintiliani was the first American woman in twenty-five years to be awarded First Prize in the Francisco Viñas Singing Competition in Barcelona. She was also the recipient of the Grand Prize in the National Metropolitan Opera Council Auditions, First Place in the Marian Anderson International Vocal Arts Competition, First Place in the Eleanor McCollum Competition at The Houston Grand Opera, First Place of the Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation Competition in New York, and a Sarah Tucker Study Grant from the Richard Tucker Foundation.

We board the Magic Opera Flying Carpet on Saturday morning, July 24, and go straight to the Bay Area for San Francisco Opera’s production of Richard Strauss’ Elektra.Soprano Christine Goerke stars in the title role. Director Keith Warner’s production blurs the line between past and present, myth, and reality. Conductor Henrik Nánási debuts.

After fourteen years of producing a nationally recognized Festival in the springtime, the organization will return to a year-round format, as it looks to expand its presence and visibility in the growing North Texas arts scene.

Today's top stories: Plaza Suite announces Broadway dates, MJ announces new casting in the title role, first look at photos from Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cinderella, and more!

This week (June 28- July 4) in live streaming: Emma Kingston and Josh Gad visit Backstage Live, Tovah Feldshuh in Becoming Dr. Ruth, a Jenn Colella Masterclass, and so much more!