Michael Fabiano News

In the midst of this COVID-19 crisis that is gripping the world--and keeping so many people in quarantine--the Metropolitan Opera managed to pull off a brilliantly executed music coup. It connected stars, chorus members and orchestral musicians in an “At-Home Gala”--a combination fund-raiser for the Met with wonderful entertainment. And the technology worked!

For all you lovelorn, “live opera”-lovers, the Met is coming to the rescue from COVID-19 this afternoon, Saturday April 25, at 1pm New York time, with a gala concert featuring over 40 artists performing direct from their homes around the world.

Mathew Anchel will be a special guest on Faithful Friday with Angel Blue today, Friday, April 24 at 12:00 p.m. ET. A popular bass with Stuttgart Opera, American-born Anchel also runs his own successful voice studio, teaching a range of styles from pop to opera. In a new development for 'Faithful Fridays', Mr Anchel will also perform.

The Broad Stage at Home is a destination offering new, live-streamed content from artistic partners and archival footage, highlighted by new, recurring series and content broadcast live.  This Saturday, April 25 at 8:00 p.m. The Broad Stage at Home presents readings and conversation on the Red Hen Press Poetry Hour, hosted by author Sandra Tsing Loh.

The Broad Stage at Home is a destination offering new, live-streamed content from artistic partners and archival footage, highlighted by new, recurring series and content broadcast live.  Each program is archived following the live stream for on-demand viewing.

The 19th annual Tribeca Film Festival, presented by AT&T, today announced its 2020 Shorts Program lineup. Setting a record with over 6,100 submissions, the final program roster includes 64 diverse and captivating short films from 20 countries around the globe, and features 46 world premieres, including DreamWorks Animation's new animated short, To Gerard. The short films will be presented in 10 distinct competition programs which include five narrative, four documentary, and one animation program. For the fourth consecutive year, 40 percent of the selections are directed by female filmmakers. Queen Collective by Procter & Gamble in partnership with Queen Latifah, Flavor Unit Entertainment and Tribeca Studios is back, a program dedicated to supporting gender and racial equality behind the camera. The 2020 shorts lineup is programmed by Sharon Badal and Ben Thompson. The 2020 Tribeca Film Festival takes place April 15 - April 26.

After a months-long series of competitions at the district, regional, and national levels, a panel of expert judges named five singers as the winners of the 2020 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. Each winner receives a $20,000 cash prizea?"up from $15,000, the first increase since 1998a?"and the prestige and exposure that come with winning the competition that launched the careers of many of opera's biggest stars.

Festival Napa Valley, recognized for transforming California Wine Country into a cultural destination, announces its 2020 summer season, July 17a?" 26. The Festival's 15th anniversary will be commemorated with more than 40 concerts and events in an inspiring season of reflection, celebration and enthusiasm for the years to come. 

Following yesterday's semi-final competition, nine young singers have advanced to the final round of the Metropolitan Opera's 2020 National Council Auditions. In the public concert, finalists perform on the Met stage Sunday, March 1 at 3 p.m., for an audience of judges, agents, industry leaders, and the general public (in the auditorium and live on the radio). The finalists, chosen by a panel of opera administrators from the Met and other companies, each perform two arias with the Met Orchestra conducted by Bertrand de Billy. Prize money will increase for the first time in 20 years, with the winners receiving individual cash prizes of $20,000 (previously $15,000), and the prestigious and potentially career-launching title of National Council Auditions Winner. The remaining finalists receive $10,000 (previously $7,500).

The 23 young opera singers who have won regional auditions around the United States will compete in the semifinal round of the country's leading vocal competition, the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, on Monday, February 24. The closed semifinal competition, held on the Met stage before a panel of judges, will determine the select group of finalists who will advance to the final round of the competition-the Grand Finals, which is open to the public and will be held on the Met stage on Sunday, March 1.

For the first time in decades, a fully staged production of Richard Wagner's Parsifal will be presented in Canada, opening the Canadian Opera Company's monumental 2020/2021 season with a company premiere at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts. Cast with more than 100 singers, an orchestra of 110 musicians, and a nearly six-hour run-time, this journey of one knight's quest for the Holy Grail offers Canadian audiences a rare opportunity to experience Wagner's thrilling final masterpiece in Toronto, in a celebrated COC co-production directed by François Girard.

San Francisco Opera General Director Matthew Shilvock today announced the Company's 98th season, which opens on September 11, 2020 with an Opening Night Celebration featuring soprano Albina Shagimuratova and tenor Pene Pati in concert with the San Francisco Opera Orchestra conducted by Music Director Designate Eun Sun Kim. Opening Night festivities include San Francisco Opera Guild's Opera Ball, BRAVO! CLUB's annual Opening Night Gala and two new events: the Opera Supper in the Veterans Building's elegant Green Room and, for the entire audience, a celebratory, post-concert toast to the season.

This Sunday at 12 p.m. on PBS (check local listings), season 14 of Great Performances at the Met premieres with Massenet's French tale, Manon. Soprano Lisette Oropesa stars as Manon, alongside tenor Michael Fabiano as Chevalier des Grieux, and Artur Ruciński (Lescaut), Brett Polegato (de Brétigny), Kwangchul Youn (Comte des Grieux) and Carlo Bosi (Guillot de Morfontaine). Maurizio Benini conducts.

The Academy of Vocal Arts (AVA) has unveiled details for BrAVA Philadelphia! in celebration of its historic 85th Anniversary. On Saturday, March 28, 2020, AVA will present BrAVA Philadelphia!, a spectacular concert of opera stars at 'The Met Philadelphia', the beautifully restored opera house on North Broad Street.

On Wednesday, December 4, at 8:00 pm, let yourself be enchanted by the mesmerizing artistry of world-renowned tenor Michael Fabiano and participate in the launch of a new initiative at Merkin Hall. Classical Vocal Arts (CVA) International inaugurates its series with 'A Passion for Song,' a Benefit Program that includes works by Duparc, Liszt, Barber, Tchaikovsky, and selections from the American Songbook. Michael will be joined by members of the ArtSmart program and will be accompanied by pianist Kamal Khan.

It's hard to imagine the logistics in putting together a complex program like the one that the audience at Carnegie Hall was treated to on Sunday evening for the 2019 RICHARD TUCKER GALA. But New York-born conductor James Gaffigan pulled it off wonderfully with the help of members of the Met Orchestra and the New York Choral Society--and a gaggle of amazing singers, beginning with this year's winner of the Tucker Award, Lisette Oropesa.

Manon's storya?"from innocent country girl to celebrated courtesan to destitute prisonera?"is one of the great tragic tales in literature and music. Lisette Oropesa stars as the irresistible title character, the tragic beauty who yearns for the finer things in life, in Laurent Pelly's revealing production of Manon for The Metropolitan Opera. Michael Fabiano is the besotted Chevalier des Grieux, whose desperate love for Manon proves their undoing. Maurizio Benini conducts Massenet's sensual score. Manon comes to the big screen, simulcast LIVE in HD at The Ridgefield Playhouse Saturday, October 26th at 12:55pm, part of the Classical Series, underwritten by Jeanne Cook, Liz & Steven Goldstone, and Sabina & Walter Slavin, with support from Whistle Stop Bakery.

The Broad Stage announces an expanded number of American Sign Language (ASL) interpreted performances for the 2019-2020 season in an effort to create an inclusive environment for all audience members and ensure that as many people as possible are able to experience the magic of live performance. The first ASL interpreted performance will be The Moth Mainstage in Los Angeles on October 4.

The 2019-2020 season of The Met: Live in HD will continue at the Warner Theatre on Saturday, October 26 with Massenet's MANON at 12:55 pm in the Nancy Marine Studio Theatre. The 2019-2020 season is sponsored by Viron Rondo Osteria. A complimentary 45 minute pre-opera lecture by Nunzio DeFilippis will be offered in the Studio Theatre Lobby two hours before the broadcast, sponsored by Land Rover Hartford.

Lisette Oropesa, where have you been all my life? Of course, I've heard her before--she's appeared 100 times or so at the Met so one could hardly miss her--but never in a showpiece like the title role of Jules Massenet's MANON, opposite tenor Michael Fabiano's Chevalier des Grieux on the second night of the Met's new season.