Michael Mayes News

DALLAS, MAY 21, 2015 – The Dallas Opera is pleased to announce the winner of the 2015 “Maria Callas Debut Artist of the Year” Award: incandescent Russian soprano Ekaterina Scherbachenko.

WILMINGTON, Del. - OperaDelaware Monday entered rehearsals for its spring opera festival, which begins May 8 and continues over two weekends through May 17.  The festival highlights the best of French opera.

WILMINGTON, Del. - OperaDelaware Monday entered rehearsals for its spring opera festival, which begins May 8 and continues over two weekends through May 17.  The festival highlights the best of French opera.

Reviving important but neglected operas is one of the ways the Bard SummerScape festival has established itself as “a hotbed of intellectual and aesthetic adventure” (New York Times), and this year's immersion in “Chávez and His World” is no exception.

OperaDelaware's sizzling Spring Opera Festival is right around the corner. Don't forget to act now to secure the best seats!

Acclaimed contemporary opera company Opera Parallèle will open its 2015 season with the premiere of a new production of Jake Heggie's landmark work Dead Man Walking-marking the 15th anniversary of one of the most widely performed operas of the 21st century-in three performances this weekend, February 20 and 21, 2015 at 8 pm and February 22, 2015 at 2 pm at YBCA Theater in San Francisco.

In anticipation of its February 20-22 YBCA Theater premiere of a new production of Jake Heggie's Dead Man Walking, award-winning contemporary opera company Opera Parallèle will present a special free public event tonight, January 21, 7-8:30 pm at Temple Emanu-El in San Francisco. The evening will feature a discussion of the opera—which has had 40 productions, spanning the globe, in its 15-year history—and its controversial topic, the death penalty, along with performances of excerpts from the opera and other works. Opera Parallèle founder and Artistic Director Nicole Paiement and Creative Director Brian Staufenbiel will host special guests including activist and author Sister Helen Prejean, author of Dead Man Walking, which chronicles her relationship with a Louisiana death-row inmate, and which was also made into a celebrated motion picture; composer Jake Heggie, mezzo-sopranos Frederica von Stade and Catherine Cook, sopranos Kristin Clayton and Nicolle Foland, and Roslyn Barak, cantor of Temple Emanu-El. Admission for the event is free of charge and advance reservations are required at opdmw.brownpapertickets.com .

DALLAS — The Dallas Opera is proud to announce the five phenomenal mainstage productions of the 2015-2016 Season, “Seeking the Human Element,” to be presented in the magnificent Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House at the AT&T Performing Arts Center located in the Dallas Arts District.

The Dallas Opera is proud to announce the five phenomenal mainstage productions of the 2015-2016 Season, “Seeking the Human Element,” to be presented in the magnificent Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House at the AT&T Performing Arts Center located in the Dallas Arts District.

In anticipation of its February 20-22 YBCA Theater premiere of a new production of Jake Heggie's Dead Man Walking, award-winning contemporary opera company Opera Parallèle will present a special free public event Wednesday, January 21, 7-8:30 pm at Temple Emanu-El in San Francisco. The evening will feature a discussion of the opera—which has had 40 productions, spanning the globe, in its 15-year history—and its controversial topic, the death penalty, along with performances of excerpts from the opera and other works. Opera Parallèle founder and Artistic Director Nicole Paiement and Creative Director Brian Staufenbiel will host special guests including activist and author Sister Helen Prejean, author of Dead Man Walking, which chronicles her relationship with a Louisiana death-row inmate, and which was also made into a celebrated motion picture; composer Jake Heggie, mezzo-sopranos Frederica von Stade and Catherine Cook, sopranos Kristin Clayton and Nicolle Foland, and Roslyn Barak, cantor of Temple Emanu-El. Admission for the event is free of charge and advance reservations are required at opdmw.brownpapertickets.com .

San Francisco, November 24, 2014 – Acclaimed contemporary opera company Opera Parallèle will open its 2015 season with the premiere of a new production of Jake Heggie's landmark work Dead Man Walking—marking the 15th anniversary of one of the most widely performed operas of the 21st century—in three performances Friday and Saturday, February 20 and 21, 2015 at 8 pm and Sunday, February 22, 2015 at 2 pm at YBCA Theater in San Francisco. Based on Sister Helen Prejean's memoir and passionate statement against capital punishment of the same title, Dead Man Walking plumbs the depths of human emotion, resilience, fortitude, hope, and redemption, making it an ideal subject for the operatic stage and for Opera Parallèle's brand of story-telling, exploring the human experience in provocative and intense stagings. The premiere will be followed by the Company taking to the road for the first time to present a concert version of Dead Man Walking at the Broad Stage in Santa Monica, CA, March 7 and 8, 2015.

OperaDelaware (OD) announced today that it completed its 2014 fiscal year in the black, thanks to increased support from individual donors, the State of Delaware, and others. Moving forward, OperaDelaware will shift the majority of its artistic output to a 'festival' format designed to attract opera lovers to the Brandywine Valley.

Founder and Artistic Director Nicole Paiement has announced details of Opera Parallèle's 2014--2015 season, which will feature the premiere of a new production of Jake Heggie's acclaimed Dead Man Walking--marking the 15th anniversary of one of the most widely performed operas of the 21st century--and the U.S. premiere of vibrant composer Tarik O'Regan's Heart of Darkness. Both operas, based on significant literary works, plumb the depths of human emotion, resilience, fortitude, hope and redemption, making them ideal subjects for the operatic stage and for Opera Parallèle's brand of story-telling and rich exploration of the human experience in provocative and intense stagings. Both original Opera Parallèle productions will be led by Paiement on the podium, with production design and direction by Opera Parallèle Creative Director Brian Staufenbiel and members of the creative team responsible for OP's acclaimed productions of Orphée, The Great Gatsby, Ainadamar, and Trouble in Tahiti.

Central City Opera and Curious Theatre Company present Rated “R” on Stage: Community Panel on Sex, Violence and Nudity in the Performing Arts. The free event will be presented tonight, June 3, 2014 from 6-8 pm at Curious Theatre located at 1080 Acoma Street, Denver. Cocktails, snacks and a video presentation featuring the play Venus in Fur and the opera Dead Man Walking will be offered from 5:30 to 6 p.m.

Central City Opera and Curious Theatre Company present Rated "R" on Stage: Community Panel on Sex, Violence and Nudity in the Performing Arts. The free event will be presented June 3, 2014 from 6-8 pm at Curious Theatre located at 1080 Acoma Street, Denver. Cocktails, snacks and a video presentation featuring the play Venus in Fur and the opera Dead Man Walking will be offered from 5:30 to 6 p.m.

Central City Opera and Curious Theatre Company present Rated “R” on Stage: Community Panel on Sex, Violence and Nudity in the Performing Arts. The free event will be presented June 3, 2014 from 6-8 pm at Curious Theatre located at 1080 Acoma Street, Denver. Cocktails, snacks and a video presentation featuring the play Venus in Fur and the opera Dead Man Walking will be offered from 5:30 to 6 p.m.

Gotham Chamber Opera presents the U.S. Stage Premiere of Baden-Baden 1927: a staged evening of four one-act operas that appeared together at the Baden-Baden Festival in 1927, from tonight, October 23-29, 2013 at the Gerald W. Lynch Theater.

Gotham Chamber Opera presents the U.S. Stage Premiere of Baden-Baden 1927: a staged evening of four one-act operas that appeared together at the Baden-Baden Festival in 1927, from October 23-29, 2013 at the Gerald W. Lynch Theater. Performances: Wednesday,October 23, 2013 at 7:30pm and Friday, October 25; Saturday, October 26; and Tuesday, October 29, 2013 at 8pm. Tickets are $30-$175 and are available at www.ticketcentral.comor (212) 279-4200. For more information visit www.gothamchamberopera.org.

Gotham Chamber Opera presents the U.S. Stage Premiere of Baden-Baden 1927: a staged evening of four one-act operas that appeared together at the Baden-Baden Festival in 1927, from October 23-29, 2013 at the Gerald W. Lynch Theater.