Mark Campbell News

The new incarnation of Skylark Opera Theatre, under new Artistic Director Robert Neu, is presenting their third work of accessible, intimate opera. As someone who usually stays on the musical theater side of the music-theater spectrum, this approach seems like a good one for me, sort of bridging that gap between opera and music theater. After last year's stripped down adaptation of CARMEN and an immersive DON GIOVANNI, they're now presenting a contemporary opera about a very timely subject. AS ONE is a two-person 90-minute English language opera about Hannah, a transgender woman becoming herself. She is played by both a man and a woman, pre- and post-transition. It's a beautiful, heart-breaking, inspirational, ultimately hopeful story gorgeously told through music. The intimate new space that is North Garden Theater, in St. Paul's West 7th neighborhood, is the perfect location to experience this sparse-in-spectacle but rich-in-substance opera. But act fast - only three more performances remain this weekend.

The upcoming April 26 concert by American Modern Ensemble represents two firsts: it is the ensemble's first concert at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall (or any of the Carnegie halls) in its 13-year history, and it is the first program devoted completely to the vocal works of composer and AME founder Robert Paterson (and the second all-Paterson program). About the program, which features six works for voice and piano, including three world premieres, Paterson says, "The texts are wildly diverse, and include poems constructed from reCAPTCHA texts (those texts you type online to prove that you're human), songs about the life of baseball catcher Mike Piazza, online dating, and settings of poems by W. H. Auden, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Richard Wilbur, William Carlos Williams, Sara Teasdale, David Cote (my collaborator on the opera Three Way), and others."

When Opera Philadelphia's inaugural Festival O launched the present season, the opera world responded with a standing ovation, welcoming it as 'one of the most enjoyable additions to the fall calendar in years'

When Opera Philadelphia's inaugural Festival O launched the present season, the opera world responded with a standing ovation, welcoming it as "one of the most enjoyable additions to the fall calendar in years"

There is no comparison to the amazing creative expression director Julie Taymor has woven into Disney's 'The Lion King.' This beautiful presentation of the iconic animated film is built on a collective of striking theatrical elements indicative of theatre styles found on a global scale. The artistic expression found in this touring company is candy for your eyes and ears that you cannot get enough of.

The Living Libretto: Opera in Eden gives audiences a first glimpse at three new one-act operas being written by first year resident artists in American Lyric Theater's Composer Librettist Development Program (CLDP)

World premieres of an oratorio about the Underground Railroad that sets narratives of slaves running for freedom and their lives, and a work that sets poems calling for peace in Farsi, Spanish, Hebrew, Arabic, and English: Sanctuary Road, music by Paul Moravec and text by Mark Campbell based upon the writings of William Still, a conductor for the Underground Railroad; and We Are One for chorus and orchestra by Behzad Ranjbaran, both completed within the last year, will be given their first performances by the Oratorio Society of New York (OSNY) led by Music Director Kent Tritle as the culminating concert of the OSNY's 145th season on Monday, May 7, 2018, at Carnegie Hall.

Ahead of the opening of priority booking for Friends of the Festival on Saturday, 24 March, details of the full programme for the 67th Wexford Festival Opera are announced. Continuing its tradition of presenting the 'best operas rarely seen', this year's Festival includes a verismo double-bill, a European premiere and a classic Wexford offering involving kidnapping, murder, arson and a posh New York dinner party that doesn't quite go to plan! All this plus three daytime ShortWorks operas, concerts, recitals, theatre and talks. 62 public events over the autumn 17-day period.

American Lyric Theater presents The Living Libretto: Opera in Eden on March 18, 2018 at 3pm at The National Opera Center, 330 Seventh Avenue, NYC.

The Art of the Score, exploring some of the most distinctive uses of music in film, will return for its fifth season with Amadeus: Live, the New York Premiere screening of Amadeus with the Mozart-centered score performed live to the complete film. Conducted by Richard Kaufman in his Philharmonic debut and featuring Musica Sacra, directed by Kent Tritle, Amadeus: Live will take place Wednesday, April 11, 2018, at 7:30 p.m.; Thursday, April 12 at 7:30 p.m.; Friday, April 13 at 11:00 a.m.; Saturday, April l4 at 7:30 p.m.; and Tuesday, April 17 at 7:30 p.m. On April 11 actor Alec Baldwin - Philharmonic Board Member and Artistic Advisor of The Art of the Score - and special guest F. Murray Abraham - who won an Academy Award for his portrayal of Salieri - will introduce the film.

SKYLARK OPERA THEATRE IS THRILLED TO PRESENT The Minnesota premiere of AS ONE. Music and Concept by Laura Kaminsky. Libretto by Mark Campbell and Kimberly Reed. Film by Kimberly Reed. Starring Luke Williams as Hannah Before and Bergen Baker as Hannah After Robert Neu, Director Jeffrey Stirling, Music Director

American Lyric Theater presents The Living Libretto: Opera in Eden on March 18, 2018 at 3pm at The National Opera Center, 330 Seventh Avenue, NYC. Tickets are $20.

Rooted in its history as an animated treasure since its release in 1994, 'The Lion King' manages to transform into a visual masterpiece on the stage as well-and has maintained its rightful place in Broadway royalty for nearly 21 years.

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.

In many areas of the arts in New York, January is a quiet month. But in the opera world, the last few weeks certainly have been jumping. It has also been a fine time for asking 'What is an Opera?' For me, January started with Prototype 2018's ACQUANETTA and ended this past weekend--with many in between--with New York City Opera's 'first mariachi opera,' CRUZAR LA CARA DE LA LUNA (TO CROSS THE FACE OF THE MOON).

Casting has been announced for the Orlando return engagement of Disney's The Lion King. The show's first appearance in the Walt Disney Theater at Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, and it's third time to Orlando, the four-week engagement runs from February 14 through March 11.

Austin Opera today announces its 2018-2019 season and unveils Opera ATX, an adventurous new artistic series that will amplify the company's core programming with groundbreaking productions and exciting new talent. The three-opera season at the Long Center includes Verdi's spectacle of passion and betrayal Otello, the company premiere of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Silent Night, and Puccini's enduring romantic masterpiece La boheme. Opera ATX will launch with the innovative Soldier Songs by David T. Little at the Paramount Theatre in downtown Austin.

In the spring of 2018, choral conducting superstar (Time Out New York) Kent Tritle leads two programs featuring world premieres of works with American themes that are resonating especially strongly today: with the Oratorio Society of New York, Sanctuary Road, an oratorio about the Underground Railroad with music by Paul Moravec and text by Mark Campbell (commissioned by the OSNY) based upon the accounts of William Still, as well as Behzad Ranjbaran's We Are One (commissioned by the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra) on May 7; and a program at the Cathedral Choir of St. John the Divine celebrating the immigrant history of New York in collaboration with early/world music group Rose of the Compass that includes the world premiere of a commissioned work by Robert Sirota, text by Reverend Victoria Sirota, on April 9.

Composers and librettists were the stars Saturday night at The Kennedy Center's triple world premiere. For six years, the American Opera Initiative Festival (AOI) has selected three composer-librettist teams to create their own 20-minute operas under the guidance of a seasoned composer and librettist. This year, the teams worked with Kevin Puts and librettist Mark Campbell, who won a Pulitzer prize for their opera 'Silent Night' in 2011. The teams produced what Festival Director Robert Ainsley called, 'A snapshot of the contemporary American music scene.' It's an opportunity for creators and audiences alike to explore what is possible in opera today.

Mikaela Bennett with NYFOS; photo by Karli Cadel On February 27 at 8:00 p.m., New York Festival of Song and Merkin Concert Hall at Kaufman Music Center present a new program devised by Steven Blier, entitled, simply, PROTEST. A cast of young, diverse and brilliant singers that includes Mikaela Bennett who just wowed the world in Michael Gordon's opera Acquanetta at the Protoype Festival performs songs by a panorama of composers, from Marc Blitzstein and Joni Mitchell to Randy Newman and Mohammed Fairouz. (View the complete program below.)