Mark Campbell News

Washington National Opera (WNO) presents the sixth season of its acclaimed American Opera Initiative, a comprehensive commissioning program that brings contemporary American stories to the stage while fostering the talents of rising American composers and librettists. All of the program's world premiere operas are presented during the American Opera Initiative Festival weekend,January 19 21, 2018, all in the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater. The festival begins with the world premiere of a new hour-long work by composer Missy Mazzoli and librettist Royce Vavrek, Proving Up, on January 19 and 21, 2018, directed by Alison Moritz and conducted by Christopher Rountree, both in their WNO debuts. Three new pairings of opera composers and librettists Nathan Fletcher and Megan Cohen, Gity Razaz and Sara Cooper, John Glover and Erin Bregman offer new, one-act operas during the festival. Two semi-staged concert performances of each 20-minute opera are presented on January 20, 2018.

As a complement to its summer Festival, The Glimmerglass Festival has announced Breaking Glass, a series of national forums and a five-episode podcast sparking discussions about how opera and the arts respond to present-day issues.

American Lyric Theater presents ALT Alumni: Composers and Librettists in Concert on January 14, 2018 at 8pm at Merkin Concert Hall, Kaufman Music Center, 129 W. 67th Street, NYC. Tickets are $25 and are available by phone at 212-501-3330 or online at www.kaufmanmusiccenter.org/mch/event/alt-alumni-composers-and-librettists-in-concert.

Seattle Opera's 2018/19 season offers something new for everyone. Every production is new to Seattle, and the offerings span the entire repertoire from the standard European classics Il trovatore and Carmen to the twentieth- century masterpieces The Gershwins' Porgy And BessSM and The Turn of the Screw. The season also reaches into the twenty-first century with The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs, which comes to Seattle after its world premiere and rave reviews in Santa Fe where it was hailed as the best-selling new production in the company's history.

Casting has been announced for the Atlanta return engagement of Disney's The Lion King, which will leap onto the Fox Theatre stage on January 10 for a limited three week engagement through January 28 as a special to the Fifth Third Bank Broadway in Atlanta 2017/2018 season.

Chicago Opera Theater (COT) presents 'Elizabeth Cree,' a suspenseful and thrilling tale set in Victorian London, based on the novel 'The Trial of Elizabeth Cree' by Peter Ackroyd.

Julie Taymor may not be a household name, but her magical staging and mesmerizing creativity is most likely the reason why THE LION KING has become a world wide phenomenon. The termed blockbuster is tossed about all too frequently but the Disney stage production of their 1994 animated musical has garnered such praise that even on repeat viewing, audiences still are captivated.

American Lyric Theater presents ALT Alumni: Composers and Librettists in Concert on January 14, 2018 at 8pm at Merkin Concert Hall, Kaufman Music Center, 129 W. 67th Street, NYC.

Alumni of American Lyric Theater's Composer Librettist Development Program are changing the landscape of contemporary opera. ALT's annual alumni concert showcases scenes from three exciting new operas taking the stage around the country, written by alumni of the CLDP.

OPERA America, the national service organization for opera and the nation's leading champion for American opera, is pleased to announce that it has awarded grants to 11 opera companies through the Repertoire Development Grants program, supported by The Opera Fund. These grants provide vital financial support to opera companies developing new American opera and music-theater works.

OPERA America, the national service organization for opera and the nation's leading champion for American opera, is pleased to announce that it has awarded grants to 11 opera companies through the Repertoire Development Grants program, supported by The Opera Fund. These grants provide vital financial support to opera companies developing new American opera and music-theater works.

American Lyric Theater presented A Toast to Ten Years, a wine tasting recital in celebration of the 10th Anniversary of the company's lauded Composer Librettist Development Program (CLDP), on Friday, November 17, 2017 at 7pm at The Players, 16 Gramercy Park South, NYC.

Recognized as a leading voice in choral and musical theatre composition, composer/theatre-maker/singer Marisa Michelson is hailed for writing and/or performing profound works with a rich tapestry of complicated choral and musical stylings.

Recognized as a leading voice in choral and musical theatre composition, composer/theatre-maker/singer Marisa Michelson is hailed for writing and/or performing profound works with a rich tapestry of complicated choral and musical stylings. The upcoming 2018 season cements her role as a vital contemporary artist with the world premiere of three works: The Desire/Divinity Project by Constellation Chor February 1-3, One Thousand Nights and One Day musical April 2-29, and Naamah's Ark oratorio featuring Tony Award winner Victoria Clark concluding The River to River Festival June 17. (Please scroll down for Marisa's complete schedule.)

American Lyric Theater presented A Toast to Ten Years, a wine tasting recital in celebration of the 10th Anniversary of the company's lauded Composer Librettist Development Program (CLDP), on Friday, November 17, 2017 at 7pm at The Players, 16 Gramercy Park South, NYC. Tickets were $125 ($50 tax-deductible) and $250 ($175 tax-deductible), and tables of four were available at $500 ($200 tax-deductible) and $1,000 ($700 tax-deductible).

New York Festival of Song continues its 30th anniversary season today, December 2, 2017 from 1:00 p.m.-9:00 p.m., when NYFOS co-founder Michael Barrett hosts a monumental eight-hour concert to celebrate Leonard Bernstein as part of the worldwide 'Bernstein at 100' festivities.

Only in the magical land of Broadway can you take a 1994 animated Disney movie thinly based on Shakespeare's HAMLET and possibly based on a 1960s Japanese anime series and transform it into a 6-Tony-Award-winning and highest grossing Broadway production in history. Yes, it's 'The Lion King,' which has reached more than 19 million theater goers in its North American tour, playing more than 70 cities across the continent, including Baltimore-'The Lion King' performs on Baltimore's Hippodrome stage now through Sunday, Dec. 10th.

New York Festival of Song continues its 30th anniversary season on Saturday, December 2, 2017 from 1:00 p.m.-9:00 p.m., when NYFOS co-founder Michael Barrett hosts a monumental eight-hour concert to celebrate Leonard Bernstein as part of the worldwide 'Bernstein at 100' festivities.

Des Moines Metro Opera opens its 46th Season on November 17 with As One, a one-act chamber opera for two voices and string quartet with music by Laura Kaminsky and libretto by Mark Campbell and Kimberly Reed.

As part of the 2017/2018 CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield Hippodrome Broadway Series, Disney's The Lion King opens tonight, Thursday, November 16, at the Hippodrome Theatre for a limited engagement of four weeks through Sunday, December 10.