Ryan Speedo Green News

Get a first look at rehearsals for James Robinson's new production of the Gershwins' Porgy and Bess, which features choreography by Camille A. Brown and opens the 2019a?"20 season on September 23.

Something old, something new…there's still plenty going on for fans of opera and classical vocal music in the Northeast now that summer is upon us. Here's a taste of what to look for.

The Cecilia Chorus of New York, Mark Shapiro, Music Director will present Brahms, Elgar and The Brothers Balliett, on May 3 at 8:00 PM at Carnegie Hall's Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage, 57th St. and 7th Ave. in Manhattan.

After a months-long series of auditions involving more than 1,000 singers at the district, regional, and national levels, a panel of expert judges named five singers as the winners of the 65th annual Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. Each winner receives a $15,000 cash prize.

Following yesterday's highly competitive semifinal competition, nine singers will advance to the final phase of the 65th annual Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, America's largest vocal competition. The winners will receive individual cash prizes of $15,000, while the remaining finalists will receive prizes of $7,500.

Twenty-one 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 Sunday, March 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 31.

The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center's season-long focus on the music of Russia comes to a highpoint in March with its annual Winter Festival, Russian Panorama, which will present four programs filled with Russian works composed between 1832 and 1979 (Mar. 10, 15, 19 & 24). The Festival's broad survey of repertoire will range from the age of the tsars to beyond the Soviet era, comprising works by Balakirev, Borodin, Glinka, Glazunov, Myaskovsky, Prokofiev, Rachmaninov, Rimsky-Korsakov, Rubinstein, Schnittke, Shostakovich, Stravinsky, Taneyev, and Tchaikovsky. Among the many superlative artists taking part in these concerts are acclaimed pianists Anne-Marie McDermottand Wu Han, violinists Chad Hoopes and Arnaud Sussmann, violist Matthew Lipman, and the legendary Borodin String Quartet, returning to CMS with its interpretation of quartets by several Russian composers, including its namesake, Borodin. Returning lecturer Michael Parloff will inaugurate the Winter Festival's Russian journey with an overview of the country's rich musical tapestry on March 5.

Well, it's that time of the year again--time for a look-back on what was worth making note of during the calendar year that's about to come to an end. It's from a totally personal, subjective point of view, of course, but frankly that's the way opera-lovers always seem to like it, n'est-ce pas? The productions worth noting come from places big, small and in-between, from composers old as the hills to freshly minted or somewhere in between (likewise the performers), from traditional or boldly modern to simply stand up and sing.

The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center starts its 2019 winter/spring season in Alice Tully Hall with two exciting performances. The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses, a Meet the Music!concert for families based on Paul Goble's haunting tale of a Native American girl who understands horses on a mystical level, will be presented on January 13. Led by series creator and host Bruce Adolphe, the performance features flutist Sooyun Kim, clarinetist Romie de Guise-Langlois, cellist Mihai Marica, pianist David Kaplan, percussionist Eduardo Leandro, and a free instrumental petting zoo in the lobby for kids. It will be followed by Esteemed Ensemble, which reunites close friends and colleagues pianist Wu Han, violinist Daniel Hope, violist Paul Neubauer, and cellist David Finckel,performing piano quartet classics by Suk, Brahms, and Dvo?ak on January 27 and 29.

While many people from the current generation don't know the Marx Brothers, the comic geniuses of stage, film and early television, probably even fewer are familiar with one of their masterworks, A NIGHT AT THE OPERA. Filled with the sound of music, it also is brimming with laughs and general silliness. What the film does not provide, however, is to show how opera can change lives--but OPERA America's 10th annual National Opera Week, from Oct. 26-Nov. 4, is attempting to change that perception.

Yonghoon Lee will sing Radamès in tonight's performance of Verdi's Aida, replacing Aleksandrs Antonenko, who is ill.

Ryan Speedo Green will sing Colline in tonight's performance of Puccini's La Boheme, replacing Matthew Rose, who is ill.

Named for the groundbreaking African American contralto, the Marian Anderson Vocal Award recognizes a young American singer in opera, oratorio, or recital repertoire with outstanding promise for a significant career. Washington National Opera (WNO) named bass-baritone Ryan Speedo Green as the 2018 recipient earlier this year and is pleased to present him in concert today, October 4 at 7:30 p.m. in the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater. Tickets are $39.

The synopsis of Verdi's AIDA, with Ghislanzoni's smart libretto, places it in 'Egypt, during the reign of the pharaohs.' For the first performance of the opera this season, on Wednesday, they should have changed that to 'during the reign of soprano Anna Netrebko,' because she owned the stage from the moment she entered.

The Metropolitan Opera's award-winning series of live high-definition cinema simulcasts in 70 countries on 6 continents will begin its 13th season with Verdi's grand production of Aida, starring one of the world's most acclaimed sopranos, Anna Netrebko. It is worth mentioning that the Rialto Theater introduced the program The Met: Live in HD to Cyprus on December 2012, again with the classic masterpiece of Verdi Aida.

Young opera singers from across the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, and for the first time, Mexico, will compete for $15,000 cash prizes and the opportunity to launch major operatic careers, when the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions launches its 65th annual auditions program this fall. Over 1,000 singers between the ages of 20 and 30 will participate in the program, the longest-running singing competition in the country. Finalists will perform on the stage of the Met at the Grand Finals Concert on Sunday, March 31, 2019.

Named for the groundbreaking African American contralto, the Marian Anderson Vocal Award recognizes a young American singer in opera, oratorio, or recital repertoire with outstanding promise for a significant career. Washington National Opera (WNO) named bass-baritone Ryan Speedo Green as the 2018 recipient earlier this year and is pleased to present him in concert on Thursday, October 4 at 7:30 p.m. in the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater. Tickets are $39.

Anna Netrebko makes her Met role debut in the title role of the enslaved Ethiopian princess in Verdi's tragedy of ancient Egypt, Aida, opening September 26. Anita Rachvelishvili sings the role of her formidable rival, Amneris, following the Georgian soprano's critically acclaimed portrayal of Azucena in Verdi's Il Trovatore last season. The cast also features Aleksandrs Antonenko as the warrior Radames, Quinn Kelsey as Aida's father, Amonasro, Dmitry Belosselskiy as the high priest Ramfis, and Ryan Speedo Green as the King, under the baton of Nicola Luisotti. The October 6 matinee will be transmitted worldwide, kicking off the Met's new Live in HD series, now reaching more than 2,000 movie theaters in 73 countries around the world.

The 2018-19 season of The Met: Live in HD will open at the Warner Theatre with Verdi's AIDA on Saturday, October 6 at 12:55 pm in the Nancy Marine Studio. The 2018-19 season is sponsored by Viron Rondo Osteria. A complimentary 45 minute pre-opera lecture by Dr. Marguerite Mullee will be offered in the Studio Theatre Lobby two hours before the broadcast, sponsored by Mitchell Auto Group. In what should be a highlight of the new season, soprano Anna Netrebko sings her first Met Aida, going toe-to-toe with mezzo-soprano Anita Rachvelishvili as Amneris. The cast also features tenor Aleksandrs Antonenko as Radames, Quinn Kelsey as Amonasro, Dmitry Belosselskiy as Ramfis and Ryan Speedo Green as The King. Nicola Luisotti will take the podium for the Met's monumental production.