Richard Wagner News

Blue Man Group, in conjunction with the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras (CYSO), will return to the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park for a collaborative performance on Wednesday, July 1 at 6:30 p.m. The free public performance will feature a program of full orchestral works performed by CYSO's inaugural summer orchestra, as well as collaborative performances and thrilling surprises with Blue Man Group.

Skylight Music Theatre is creating a new production based on Wagner's Ring Cycle. The work, titled The Skylight Ring, will run today, May 15 through June 7, 2015 in the Studio Theatre at the Broadway Theatre Center (158 N. Broadway, Milwaukee WI).

Morningside Opera, the NYC-based opera company that most recently presented the acclaimed Here Be Sirens and ¡Figaro! (90210), teams up with Harlem Opera Theater and The Harlem Chamber Players to present a concert of the long-lost and historical opera VOODOO, by African-American composer Harry Lawrence Freeman, with a 30-piece orchestra and full chorus. Gregory Hopkins is the conductor.  Last performed in NYC in 1928, VOODOO, will play two concert performances only on June 26 and 27, 2015 at 7PM at Miller Theatre at Columbia University (2960 Broadway, at the corner of Broadway and 116th street) in Manhattan.

Incest, power trips and a rebel with a cause are a few of the things we see in Houston Grand Opera's production DIE WALKÜRE. I like to think of the opera world as an elaborate wine list. Delectable notes from a fine Merlot, Riesling or Chablis, and Houston Grand Opera's current season is packed full of operas and musicals that are sure to please any musical pallet. We are introduced to DIE WALKÜRE which is the second installment in DER RING DES NIBELUNGEN (The Ring of the Nibelung) better known as The Ring Cycle. The other operas in the cycle include DAS RHEINGOLD, SIEGFRIED and GÖTTERDÄMMERUNG.

Blessed Unrest presents Doruntine, a bilingual international collaboration with Teatri ODA of Kosova, co-written by Matt Opatrny and Lirak Celaj, and co-directed by Jessica Burr and Florent Mehmeti. Doruntine runs from April 23 - May 10, 2015 in a limited engagement at The Interart Theatre, located at 500 West 52 Street (at the corner of 10th Avenue) in New York City. Previews began April 23 for tonight's (April 25) opening. BroadwayWorld has a look at the cast in action below!

Zum Abschluss der Spielzeit 2014/15 und wahrend der Art Basel prasentiert das Theater Basel ab 16. Juni 2015 in Halle 3 der Messe Basel eine Intervention des international bekannten Kunstlers Romeo Castellucci. «The Parthenon Metopes» ist ein raffiniertes Spiel um Kunst und Realitat, das die grossen Menschheitsfragen stellt: Woher kommen wir, wohin gehen wir? Und welche Macht bestimmt uber unser Leben? Wieder einmal erweist sich als wahr, was Kleists Alraune in der «Hermannsschlacht» dem romischen Feldherrn Varus, der mit seinem Heer im Sumpf des Teutoburger Walds feststeckt, auf seine Frage, wo er sich befinde, antwortet: 'Hart zwischen Nichts und Nichts!' Das Ratsel des Lebens ist nicht zu losen.

Blessed Unrest presents Doruntine, a bilingual international collaboration with Teatri ODA of Kosova, co-written by Matt Opatrny and Lirak Celaj, and co-directed by Jessica Burr and Florent Mehmeti. Doruntine runs from tonight, April 23 - May 10, 2015 in a limited engagement at The Interart Theatre, located at 500 West 52 Street (at the corner of 10th Avenue) in New York City. Previews begin tonight, April 23 for an April 25 opening.

Seattle Opera has been selected for the New York-based Wallace Foundation's Building Audiences for Sustainability effort.

Blessed Unrest presents Doruntine, a bilingual international collaboration with Teatri ODA of Kosova, co-written by Matt Opatrny and Lirak Celaj, and co-directed by Jessica Burr and Florent Mehmeti. Doruntine runs from April 23 - May 10, 2015 in a limited engagement at The Interart Theatre, located at 500 West 52 Street (at the corner of 10th Avenue) in New York City. Previews begin April 23 for an April 25 opening. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

Skylight Music Theatre is creating a new production based on Wagner's Ring Cycle. The work, titled The Skylight Ring, will run May 15 through June 7, 2015 in the Studio Theatre at the Broadway Theatre Center (158 N. Broadway, Milwaukee WI).

Blessed Unrest presents Doruntine, a bilingual international collaboration with Teatri ODA of Kosova, co-written by Matt Opatrny and Lirak Celaj, and co-directed by Jessica Burr and Florent Mehmeti. Doruntine runs from April 23 - May 10, 2015 in a limited engagement at The Interart Theatre, located at 500 West 52 Street (at the corner of 10th Avenue) in New York City. Previews begin April 23 for an April 25 opening.

A brass quintet from Pacific Symphony is heading to Fullerton to perform a free concert titled “An American Musical Journey” in celebration of Music Director Carl St.Clair's 25th anniversary season. Presented in partnership with the North Orange County Community Concerts, the afternoon of music takes place on Sunday, April 26, at 4 p.m. at Fullerton First United Methodist Church (114 N. Pomona Ave. at Commonwealth). “An American Musical Journey” includes favorites by Gershwin, Bernstein and other American music icons. The brass quintet is led by Principal Trombonist Michael Hoffman and includes Symphony musicians Russell Dicey on horn, Tony Ellis and David Wailes on trumpet, and Fred Greene on tuba. For this concert, admission is free with no reserved seating. The church is providing free child care during the concert, and the audience is invited to stay for a reception and chance to meet the performers. For more information and directions visit www.northocconcerts.org.

Last August, an agreement was reached to resolve a potential labor crisis at the Metropolian Opera, the nation's largest performing arts organization.

NEW YORK—Seattle Opera and Pacific Northwest Ballet's efforts to build and deepen relationships with audiences were highlighted in two national case studies released today by The Wallace Foundation. The case studies, available online as part of the Wallace Studies in Building Arts Audiences series, include work completed by Seattle Opera and Pacific Northwest Ballet during the Wallace Excellence Awards initiative, aim to generate effective audience-engagement practices that can be applied to arts organizations across the country.

Now in its 19th season, Crested Butte Music Festival (CBMF) continues the tradition of presenting bold new approaches to music that is as exceptional as the picturesque mountain setting of Crested Butte, Colorado. 'Over a seven-week period, we will be introducing two new mini-festivals and inspiring artists who are transforming their arts and offering captivating events, educational programs for all ages and more. The 2015 season will engage, enthrall and leave audiences asking, 'What's next?' says CBMF Director Alexander Scheirle.

Passionate performances by Libor, Morris and Owens are what propel an otherwise adrift Flying Dutchman. Clearer staging and dynamic direction could have made this production of Wagner's classic opera thrilling.

Universal Music Enterprises has announced a rollout of 26 individual soundtrack albums on vinyl

(WASHINGTON)—Washington National Opera (WNO), led by Artistic Director Francesca Zambello, today announced its 60th anniversary season, one that highlights classic, contemporary, and American works. The 2015-2016 season includes a new-to-Washington staging of Bizet's Carmen, the world premiere of a newly revised version of Appomattox by composer Philip Glass and librettist Christopher Hampton, a revival of WNO's charming holiday production of Hansel and Gretel, the company premiere of Kurt Weill's Lost in the Stars in a gripping production from Cape Town Opera, and WNO's first complete staging of Wagner's extraordinary four-part Ring Cycle, with a world-class cast under the direction of Francesca Zambello and featuring the WNO Orchestra conducted by WNO Music Director Philippe Auguin. Highlights from the 2015-2016 season will be performed by the WNO Orchestra and special guests at a free preview concert on Wednesday, May 20, 2015 at 6 p.m. as part of the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage.

The audited financial results for San Francisco Opera's 2013–14 season (FY14) were announced today by San Francisco Opera Association President Keith Geeslin: a deficit of $348,244 on an operating budget of $74,119,493. The Company's 91st season presented eight main stage works at the War Memorial Opera House in addition to numerous concerts, recitals, workshops and community engagement events attracting more than 271,954 individuals.