San Francisco's Opera Parallele and SFJAZZ will present their first collaboration: a new, fully staged production of Champion: An Opera in Jazz by Terence Blanchard, SFJAZZ Resident Artistic Director, with eight performances to be given February 19-28, 2016 at SFJAZZ Center. Based on the life of African-American, bisexual boxing champion Emile Griffith (1938-2013), the production marks both Opera Parallele's first foray into an operatic jazz idiom and SFJAZZ's first opera. Performances will be given at 7:30 pm Friday--Sunday, February 19, 20 and 21; Tuesday and Wednesday, February 23 and 24; Friday and Saturday, February 26 and 27; and at 4 pm Sunday, February 28 and tickets are priced $30-$185. For more information, visit www.operaparallele.org and www.sfjazz.org .
San Francisco, CA, December 18, 2015 – San Francisco's Opera Parallèle (OP) has announced its first main stage opera commission, the creation of a new opera by American composer Laura Kaminsky inspired by the life of Georgia O'Keeffe at the time she left New York to embark on her iconic and influential experiences in New Mexico. The company has been awarded a prestigious Repertoire Development Grant from Opera America in the amount of $35,000 to support the work's initial stages of creation and workshopping, and is set for an April 2019 premiere. The opera will feature a libretto by Mark Campbell and Kimberly Reed. The production team will be led by Opera Parallèle Creative Director Brian Staufenbiel, will be conducted by OP Artistic Director and founder Nicole Paiement and will feature a cast of ten, details will be announced. The production is being undertaken by Opera Parallèle in consortium with American Opera Projects and Cornish College of the Arts, and all three co-commissioners will present performances and other activities to be announced. For more information about Opera Parallèle, visit www.operaparallele.org
DALLAS, TX, December 8, 2015 – The Dallas Opera will present opera legend Frederica von Stade, mezzo-soprano, for another magnificent performance in The Robert E. and Jean Ann Titus Art Song Recital Series. The one-time-only recital will be presented Sunday, January 31, 2016 at 2:00 p.m. at City Performance Hall (a 749-seat venue located at 2520 Flora Street in the Arts District, Dallas, TX 75201). Also featured at the exclusive event will be Jake Heggie, composer (Great Scott, Moby-Dick) and accomplished pianist, who has had a long-standing artistic collaboration with Miss von Stade.
This new program, The Institute for Women Conductors at The Dallas Opera, will be inaugurated today, November 28, 2015 and run through December 6, 2015, with generous support from the Richard and Enika Schulze Foundation.
The San Francisco Conservatory of Music will host the Third International Maurizio Biasini Guitar Competition and Festival, an event celebrating the tradition and proclaiming the future of classical guitar, from January 14 to 17, 2016.
San Francisco -- As part of its unique annual Hands-on-Opera education and youth performance program, Opera Parallèle (OP) will present the world premiere of Amazing Grace, by OP composer-in-residence Christopher Pratorius. Based on the children's book of the same name by Mary Hoffman and with a libretto by Opera Parallèle's Brian Staufenbiel and Roma Olvera, three free performances will be presented this weekend, November 12 & 14, at the African American Art & Culture Complex in San Francisco.
The Dallas Opera is proud to present one of the most eagerly anticipated new operas of the year: Jake Heggie and Terrence McNally's GREAT SCOTT, featuring a once-in-a-lifetime cast headed by America's favorite mezzo-soprano, Joyce DiDonato, in the title role of Arden Scott; also starring soprano Ailyn Pérez, mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade, baritone Nathan Gunn, countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo, bass Kevin Burdette, tenor Rodell Rosel and baritone Michael Mayes.
The Dallas Opera is proud to present one of the most eagerly anticipated new operas of the year: Jake Heggie and Terrence McNally's GREAT SCOTT, featuring a once-in-a-lifetime cast headed by America's favorite mezzo-soprano, Joyce DiDonato, in the title role of Arden Scott; also starring soprano Ailyn Perez, mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade, baritone Nathan Gunn, countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo, bass Kevin Burdette, tenor Rodell Rosel and baritone Michael Mayes. BroadwayWorld brings you a first look at the cast in action below!
DALLAS, OCTOBER 2, 2015 – The Dallas Opera is proud to present one of the most eagerly anticipated new operas of the year: Jake Heggie and Terrence McNally's GREAT SCOTT, featuring a once-in-a-lifetime cast headed by America's favorite mezzo-soprano, Joyce DiDonato, in the title role of Arden Scott; also starring soprano Ailyn Pérez, mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade, baritone Nathan Gunn, countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo, bass Kevin Burdette, tenor Rodell Rosel and baritone Michael Mayes.
San Francisco, August 31, 2015 – Acclaimed Opera Parallèle will present its annual gala benefit Today, October 3, at 6:30 pm, at Marines' Memorial Club in San Francisco featuring an original “Jukebox Opera” entitled Heroes, created by the Company's artistic team and performed by baritone Michael Mayes, who performed the role of Joe DeRocher in OP's 2015 production of Jake Heggie's Dead Man Walking. The performance will showcase another side of this charismatic artist together with Opera Parallèle's Founder and Artistic Director Nicole Paiement and Creative Director Brian Staufenbiel, who will trace the journey of a hero in arias by Heggie, Bernstein, Adamo, and others. The evening will also include cocktails, hors d'oeuvres, dinner, performance, and auction presented in The Commandant's Ballroom & Lounge at the classic 1920's Beaux-Arts hotel, Marines' Memorial Club. Tickets are priced from $350, with tables and sponsorships available for $3,500-$10,000 and all proceeds benefit Opera Parallèle and its cutting-edge productions including this season's premiere at SFJAZZ of Terence Blanchard's Champion February 19-28 and Peter Maxwell Davies' The Lighthouse April 29-May 1 at ZSpace in San Francisco. For tickets and information, visit www.operaparallele.orgor call Roma Olvera at 415.626.6279.
San Francisco, August 31, 2015 – Acclaimed Opera Parallèle will present its annual gala benefit Saturday, October 3, at 6:30 pm, at Marines' Memorial Club in San Francisco featuring an original “Jukebox Opera” entitled Heroes, created by the Company's artistic team and performed by baritone Michael Mayes, who performed the role of Joe DeRocher in OP's 2015 production of Jake Heggie's Dead Man Walking. The performance will showcase another side of this charismatic artist together with Opera Parallèle's Founder and Artistic Director Nicole Paiement and Creative Director Brian Staufenbiel, who will trace the journey of a hero in arias by Heggie, Bernstein, Adamo, and others. The evening will also include cocktails, hors d'oeuvres, dinner, performance, and auction presented in The Commandant's Ballroom & Lounge at the classic 1920's Beaux-Arts hotel, Marines' Memorial Club. Tickets are priced from $350, with tables and sponsorships available for $3,500-$10,000 and all proceeds benefit Opera Parallèle and its cutting-edge productions including this season's premiere at SFJAZZ of Terence Blanchard's Champion February 19-28 and Peter Maxwell Davies' The Lighthouse April 29-May 1 at ZSpace in San Francisco. For tickets and information, visit www.operaparallele.orgor call Roma Olvera at 415.626.6279.
San Francisco, CA, August 28, 2015 – As part of its unique annual Hands-on-Opera education and youth performance program, Opera Parallèle (OP) will present the world premiere of Amazing Grace, by OP composer-in-residence Christopher Pratorius. Based on the children's book of the same name by Mary Hoffman and with a libretto by Opera Parallèle's Brian Staufenbiel and Roma Olvera, three free performances will be presented November 12 & 14at the African American Art & Culture Complex in San Francisco. The fully staged and costumed production will be developed during an innovative eight-week residency with fourth and fifth grade students at Saint Martin de Porres Catholic School in Oakland, assisted by the Opera Parallèle creative team and professional singers. The production will be directed by Krista Wigle, and conducted by David Gordon. Performances will be given Thursday, November 12, at 6 pm and Saturday, November 14, at 11 am and 1 pm at the African American Art & Culture Complex, 762 Fulton Street (at Webster) in San Francisco. Admission is free; past Hands-on-Opera performances have filled up quickly, so audience members are encouraged to arrive early. For more information, visit www.operaparallele.org .
Opera Saratoga kicks off its 2015 Summer Festival season, which will run from today, July 2 - July 26, 2015 at multiple venues throughout Saratoga Springs, New York.
The Dallas Opera is proud to announce the names of the six distinguished professionals selected to participate in the inaugural session of the Institute for Women Conductors at The Dallas Opera:
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.
Opera Saratoga announces its 2015 Summer Festival season, which will run from July 2 - July 26, 2015 at multiple venues throughout Saratoga Springs, New York.
San Francisco, CA, April 9, 2015 – Opera Parallèle has announced its 2015--2016 season, which will feature its first collaboration with SFJAZZ, a new production of Peter Maxwell Davies' riveting and mysterious The Lighthouse, and the world premiere of a new children's opera by Chris Pratorius. Opera Parallèle and SFJAZZ will present their first collaboration: a new, fully staged production of Champion: An Opera in Jazz by Terence Blanchard, SFJAZZ Resident Artistic Director, with eight performances to be given February 19-28, 2016 at SFJAZZ Center. Based on the life of African-American boxing champion Emile Griffith (1938-2013), the production marks both Opera Parallèle's first foray into an operatic jazz idiom and SFJAZZ's first opera. The complete schedule of performances will be announced and tickets go on sale to the general public mid-July, 2015. For more information, visit www.operaparallele.org and www.sfjazz.org. Peter Maxwell Davies' three-character opera, The Lighthouse, based on the mysterious and unsolved disappearance of three people off the Scottish coast in 1900 will be given a new production April 29-May 1, 2016 at Z Space in San Francisco. The season will open with the world premiere of a new children's opera by Chris Pratorius entitled Amazing Grace, featuring San Francisco fourth graders and soloists, November 12-14, 2015, at a venue to be announced. For more information about the Opera Parallèle season, visit www.operaparallele.org .
Hard on the heels of the highly successful premiere of its acclaimed new production of Jake Heggie's Dead Man Walking in February, Opera Parallèle will present the U.S. premiere of Tarik O'Regan's Heart of Darkness May 1-3 at Z Space in San Francisco. The opera will be staged in an innovative new production overseen by Opera Parallèle Creative Director Brian Staufenbiel, with Artistic Director Nicole Paiement conducting. Performances are Friday, May 1, at 8 pm; Saturday, May 2, at 2 pm and 8 pm; and Sunday, May 3, at 2 pm; Z Space is located at 450 Florida Street in San Francisco. Tickets are priced $30-$85 and may be purchased at www.operaparallele.org .
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