Richard Tucker News

DALLAS, FEBRUARY 2, 2016 –Twenty of the finest young opera singers in the United States will be competing in the 28th Annual Dallas Opera Guild Vocal Competition presented, jointly, by The Dallas Opera and The Dallas Opera Guild. 

MasterVoices (formerly The Collegiate Chorale)will open its 75th anniversary season with Ricky Ian Gordon's 27, with libretto by Royce Vavrek, starring Stephanie Blythe, Heidi Stober,Theo Lebow, Tobias Greenhalgh, and Daniel Brevik, conducted by Ted Sperling, and directed by James Robinson, with Orchestra of St. Luke's on October 20 and 21, 2016at New York City Center.

Opera singer, Brian Asawa has died following a long illness on April 18, 2016, at the age of 49.  He was a Japanese-American countertenor. 'In his prime', according to Opera News, 'Asawa was an electric performer, his fearless performing style supported by a voice of arresting beauty and expressivity'. 

The Richard Tucker Music Foundation is thrilled to announce that soprano Tamara Wilson – whose “voice of steely beauty and great power” (Houston Chronicle) has already won international accolades – has been named as winner of the 2016 Richard Tucker Award. Dubbed the “Heisman Trophy of Opera,” the Tucker Award carries the foundation's most substantial cash prize of $50,000, and is conferred each year by a panel of opera industry professionals on an American singer at the threshold of a major international career. Featuring such luminaries as Renée Fleming, Stephanie Blythe,Lawrence Brownlee, David Daniels, Christine Goerke and Joyce DiDonato, the list of past winners reads like a who's who of American opera.

The New York Choral Society will present Handel's biblical oratorio Israel in Egypt under the baton of Music Director David Hayes, on Tuesday evening, May 10th, 2016, 8pm at Carnegie Hall's Stern Auditorium. Composed entirely from selected passages from the Bible's Old Testament, Israel in Egypt relates the harshness of the Israelites' captivity in Egypt and their subsequent triumphant escape from the Pharaoh's oppressive regime. Israel in Egypt is atypical in Handel's choral output, as it contains little solo material and is dominated by large-scale virtuosic choruses that exhibit Handel's mastery as a musical storyteller.

New Amsterdam Opera is thrilled to announce its Artistic Advisory Board. These masters in their respective fields have graciously agreed to share their artistic counsel, wisdom, and expertise with New Amsterdam Opera in pursuing its mission of Opera with a Purpose - To Enchant, Enlighten, & Engage!

?After a months-long series of competitions at the district, regional, and national levels, a panel of expert judges named five young singers as the winners of the nation's most prestigious vocal competition, the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. Each winner receives a $15,000 cash prize and the prestige and exposure that come with winning the competition that launched the careers of many of opera's biggest stars.

Following yesterday's highly competitive semi-final competition, nine young singers will advance to the final phase of the Metropolitan Opera's 2016 National Council Auditions, America's most prestigious vocal competition. The selected finalists, chosen by a panel of experts from the classical music industry, will compete on the Met stage on Sunday, March 13 at 3 p.m. The winners will receive individual cash prizes of $15,000 and the prestigious-and potentially career-launching-title of National Council Auditions Winner. The Grand Finals Concert will feature Antony Walker conducting the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra as each finalist performs two arias.

?Commemorating the landmark occasion of its 20th anniversary season, Aurora Theatre is preparing for a festive evening as it presents the Sixth Annual Aurora Gala on Friday, March 4 at 6:30 p.m. Local artists, community members and Aurora staff will be honored for their contributions to the cultural community arts of metro-Atlanta and surrounding areas. All proceeds from the evening will go toward continued funding for the theatre's productions, workshops and events! Tickets are $75 per person and can be purchased online at www.auroratheatre.com.

Classical Action: Performing Arts Against AIDS continues the 2015-16 Michael Palm Series of house concerts in New York City on Saturday, February 27, 2016, with a performance featuring a stellar quartet of vocalists: bass-baritone Luca Pisaroni, soprano Anita Hartig, baritone Mariusz Kwiecien, and tenor Matthew Polenzani. Held at the magnificent Tribeca loft of Simon Yates and Kevin Roon, the event begins at 6:30pm with wine and hors d'oeuvres, followed by the concert at 7:30pm. Tickets may be purchased online at classicalaction.org or by calling 212-997-7717.

 The Dallas Opera resumes the 2015-2016 Season in early spring with Jules Massenet's heart-wrenching and seductive tale of love, lust, and spectacularly bad choices: MANON, opening March 4, 2016 at 7:30 p.m. in the Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House for the first of four performances.

Washington Concert Opera is proud to continue its season of Italian masters with Gaetano Donizetti's LA FAVORITE in its original, rarely performed, French version (with English supertitles). At the height of his career and his creative genius, Donizetti wrote LA FAVORITE - one of the few operas with a mezzo-soprano in the title role. Set amidst the Moorish invasion of medieval Spain, it is filled with the passions of war, love, and sacrifice. 

LIVE FROM LINCOLN CENTER - the multiple Emmy Award-winning performing arts series that for more than 40 years has showcased the best of the wide-ranging programming from the world's leading performing arts center - will broadcast the opera world's most highly anticipated event of the season tonight, February 5, 2016.

The New York Choral Society (NYChoral) and NYChoral Orchestra under the baton of Music Director David Hayes will perform celebrated Estonian composer Arvo Part's 1985 composition Te Deum in conjunction with Beethoven's Mass in C today evening, February 5, 2016, 8 p.m. at Stern Hall at Carnegie Hall.

DALLAS, FEBRUARY 2, 2016 –Twenty of the finest young opera singers in the United States will be competing in the 28th Annual Dallas Opera Guild Vocal Competition presented, jointly, by The Dallas Opera and The Dallas Opera Guild. 

To honor Arvo Part, one of the world's most remarkable and frequently performed composers alive today, the New York Choral Society, the Mannes School of Music at the New School, and the Arvo Part Project have designated Sunday, January 24, 2016 as Arvo Part Day.

The New York Choral Society (NYChoral) and NYChoral Orchestra under the baton of Music Director David Hayes will perform celebrated Estonian composer Arvo Part's 1985 composition Te Deum in conjunction with Beethoven's Mass in C on Friday evening, February 5, 2016, 8 p.m. at Stern Hall at Carnegie Hall.

LIVE FROM LINCOLN CENTER - the multiple Emmy Award-winning performing arts series that for more than 40 years has showcased the best of the wide-ranging programming from the world's leading performing arts center - will broadcast the opera world's most highly anticipated event of the season on February 5, 2016. The annual Richard Tucker Music Foundation Gala concert features some of opera's biggest stars, including Andrea Bocelli, Renee Fleming, Angela Gheorghiu, Isabel Leonard, Christine Goerke, Lawrence Brownlee, Stephen Costello, Nadine Sierra, and Piotr Bezcala, along with this year's Richard Tucker Award winner, Jamie Barton. Supporting the singers will be members of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and New York Choral society under the baton of Eugene Kohn. Live From Lincoln Center's 'From Bocelli to Barton: The Richard Tucker Opera Gala' will air on Friday, February 5, 2016, at 9:00 p.m. on PBS (check local listings), and will be hosted by Audra McDonald.

Mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe returns to Carnegie Hall with pianist Alan Louis Smith to lead an audience sing-slong concert, Sing, America!, on Saturday, January 23 at 2:00 p.m. in Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage as part of Carnegie Hall's annual series The Song Continues. Audience members have the opportunity to join in and sing along to some of America's most popular songs from the early 1900s including "Oh, You Beautiful Doll," "Let Me Call You Sweetheart," "By the Beautiful Sea," and many more.

From January 19 to 23, Carnegie Hall's Weill Music Institute (WMI) presents The Song Continues, an annual series led by renowned mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne, exploring song repertoire through master classes and concerts with the goal of encouraging, supporting, and preserving the art of the vocal recital. The series concludes with the Marilyn Horne Song Celebration, a recital featuring special guest artist soprano Nina Stemme on Saturday, January 23 at 7:30 p.m. in Zankel Hall. The evening's concert also features performances by soprano Julia Bullock, mezzo-soprano Daniela Mack, tenor Andrew Haji, bass-baritone Evan Hughes, and pianists John Arida, Keun-A Lee, Ken Noda, and Jennifer Szeto. Complete program information is listed below.