Michael Capasso News

Bryant Park Picnic Performances season of free, ticketed live performances will continue on June 18 at 7pm with New York City Opera's Pride in the Park, a celebration of LGBTQ culture and excellence on the occasion of Pride Month in NYC.

Bryant Park Corporation has announced the current programming schedule for its summer performing arts series, Picnic Performances, featuring artists including Adrienne Warren, the New York Philharmonic, Mykal Kilgore, New York City Opera and many more! 

As the year 2020 draws to a close, stars past and present of New York City Opera (NYCO) have come to the aid of “The People’s Opera” by participating in Un Zoomo in Maschera, a word from the artists of New York City Opera, a special year-end fundraiser which was be released today.

As the year 2020 draws to a close, stars past and present of New York City Opera (NYCO) have come to the aid of “The People’s Opera” by participating in Un Zoomo in Maschera, a word from the artists of New York City Opera, a special year-end fundraiser which will be released on social media today.

New York City Opera under the direction of Michael Capasso, has announced plans to produce the world premiere of Ricky Ian Gordon's THE GARDEN OF THE FINZI-CONTINIS, a co-production with the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene (Zalmen Mlotek, Artistic Director, Dominick Balletta, Executive Director).

New York City Opera celebrates Juneteenth with an excerpt from William Grant Still's Troubled Island, which will be streamed beginning June 19 over all of NYCO's social media, including Facebook and Instagram. 

A celebration of New York City Opera's 75th Anniversary, which will also be the finale to Bryant Park Picnic Performances, presented by Bank of America, will feature NYCO chorus and soloists Lisa Chavez, Glen Seven Allen, Mark Rucker, Brandie Sutton, Won Whi Choi, Kristin Sampson, Christopher Job, Jessica Fishenfeld, Inna Dukach, and Megan Picerno, accompanied by a 30-piece orchestra, and narrated by Michael Capasso, General Director of the company. The performances will be led by a quartet of conductors: Carolyn Kuan, James Meena, Gil Rose, and James Lowe.

New York City Opera (NYCO), under the direction of Michael Capasso, General Director, has announced that it will celebrate its 75th Anniversary with a free concert in Bryant Park on Monday, September 9 at 6pm. The anniversary concert, which will be the finale to Bryant Park Picnic Performances presented by Bank of America, will feature soloists Michael Chioldi, Lisa Chavez, Glen Seven Allen, Mark Rucker, Brandie Sutton, Won Whi Choi, Kristin Sampson, Mark Delavan, Inna Dukach, and Megan Picerno, backed by a 30-member chorus, accompanied by a 30-piece orchestra led by a quartet of conductors: Carolyn Kuan, James Meena, Gil Rose, and James Lowe. The celebratory concert will be narrated by Mr. Capasso.

New York City Opera's (under the direction of Michael Capasso, General Director) co-production of AS ONE will open this Thursday, May 30 at 8pm and run for four performances only through Thursday, June 6. The opera, a co-production with American Opera Projects and Kaufman Music Center, has music and was conceived by Laura Kaminsky, a libretto by Mark Campbell and Kimberly Reed, original film by Kimberly Reed, direction by Matt Gray, and will run at the Merkin Hall (129 West 67th Street).

When I was a child, my father took me to a series of outdoor concerts at a park near our home.  One of the programs featured excerpts from Bizet's opera CARMEN. This was one of my first exposures to opera and since then I have become a major devotee.  I have since joined the Patron Program at the Metropolitan Opera and give backstage tours of that building.  

New York City Opera, under the direction of General Director Michael Capasso, has announced it will return to Bryant Park's highly popular free summer performing arts series with three concert performances: Puccini's La Boheme on Monday, May 20; a special Pride in the Park concert on Wednesday, June 12; and Bizet's Carmen on Monday, August 26.

Was the pairing of Iain Bell and Mark Campbell--respectively, composer and librettist of New York City Opera's (NYCO) world premiere STONEWALL--'love at first sight”? I asked them. We were at the workshop in New York earlier this month that allowed them and director Leonard Foglia to cross the t's and dot the i's (and hear their new work performed).

New York City Opera (under the direction of Michael Capasso, General Director) will present, in a rare New York appearance, beloved soprano Aprile Millo in concert Today, January 30 at 7:30pm at Zankel Hall (881 Seventh Avenue, at 56th Street). 

BWW Previews: APRILE MILLO: A DIVA COMES HOME at Zankel Hall, Carnegie Hall

New York City Opera (under the direction of Michael Capasso, General Director) will present, in a rare New York appearance, beloved soprano Aprile Millo in concert Wednesday, January 30 at 7:30pm at Zankel Hall (881 Seventh Avenue, at 56th Street). 

New York City Opera (under the direction of Michael Capasso, General Director) will present, in a rare New York appearance, beloved soprano Aprile Millo in concert Wednesday, January 30 at 7:30pm at Zankel Hall (881 Seventh Avenue, at 56th Street). 

New York City Opera's 75th-anniversary season opens October 22 at (le) Poisson Rouge with a new production of Astor Piazzolla's María de Buenos Aires. Directed by Tomer Zvulun, the production is based on an original concept created as part of The Atlanta Opera Discoveries Series and is presented in cooperation with the Atlanta Opera. Soprano Catalina Cuervo, the world's foremost interpreter of the title role, headlines the all-South American cast under the musical direction of conductor Jorge Parodi.

The New York City Opera, under the leadership of General Director Michael Capasso, announces three new productions in addition to its previously announced June 2019 premiere of Iain Bell and Mark Campbell's opera, STONEWALL. City Opera's 2018-19 season will open Monday, October 22 at (le) Poisson Rouge with a production of Astor Piazzolla's “tango operita” MARIA de BUENOS AIRES. The fourth installment in the company's popular Ópera en Español series, this co-production with Atlanta Opera features soprano Catalina Cuervo, the world's foremost interpreter of the title role. The intimate production, conducted by Jorge Parodi and directed by Atlanta Opera General director Tomer Zvulun, has been praised by Opera News for its “undeniable authenticity.”

Following the success of last season's production of Peter Eotvos's Angels in America, New York City Opera presents Charles Wuorinen's Brokeback Mountain as the second installment in its annual LGBT Pride Series. Annie Proulx, author of the original short story that also inspired the 2005 blockbuster film, created the opera's libretto. Jacopo Spirei directs the production which premiered in 2016 at Salzburger Landestheater. Conductor Kazem Abdullah leads the New York City Opera Orchestra. The production marks the American premiere of the opera which was commissioned by City Opera in 2008. Four performances of Brokeback Mountain will be presented at the Rose Theater at Jazz at Lincoln Center on May 31 and June 4 at 7:30 p.m., June 2 at 2:00 p.m., and June 3 at 4:00 p.m.

Following the success of last season's production of Péter Eötvös's Angels in America, New York City Opera presents Charles Wuorinen's Brokeback Mountain as the second installment in its annual LGBT Pride Series. Annie Proulx, author of the original short story that also inspired the 2005 blockbuster film, created the opera's libretto.