Sam Helfrich News

Creator and librettist Cerise Jacobs – hailed by Opera magazine as “intrepid and artistically ambitious” – is quickly establishing a body of original operatic work that blends two of her great passions, myth and technology, in compelling and relevant contemporary stories. Her latest venture, premiering at Boston's Cutler Majestic Theater on September 27-29 of this year, is the video game opera PermaDeath, co-written with her son Pirate Epstein, founder of the video game company SqueePlay and a former New England Halo champion. Composed by Dan Visconti, perhaps best known in the opera world as the composer of Opera Philadelphia's recent Andy Warhol-themed ANDY: A Popera, the opera is directed by New York-based opera director Sam Helfrich, who helmed the first performances in New York of Hungarian composer Péter Eötvös's Angels in America at New York City Opera last year. PermaDeath is produced by White Snake Projects, headed by Boston producer and Artistic Director of TEDxCambridge Georgia Lyman, with Jacobs as Executive Producer.

Opera and theater director Sam Helfrich joins Music Director Manfred Honeck, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and The Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh for the third in a series of collaborations bringing to life great musical masterpieces through a provocative and modern-day lens.

Opera and theater director Sam Helfrich joins Music Director Manfred Honeck, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and The Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh for the third in a series of collaborations bringing to life great musical masterpieces through a provocative and modern-day lens.

The 2017-2018 season marks Maestro Manfred Honeck's 10th Anniversary with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. Throughout the season, there will be many opportunities to celebrate this milestone. Please visit pittsburghsymphony.org/Manfred for more information on these programs and events.

New York City Opera concludes the season with the eagerly anticipated New York premiere of Peter Eotvos's Angels in America, based on the play by Tony Kushner.

Can an opera's libretto be true to its literary source without being a carbon copy of it? It not only can—it has to be; otherwise, a work like Peter Eotvos's ANGELS IN AMERICA would end up being as long as the four operas of Wagner's Ring Cycle without saying anything new. I knew that Eotvos's work, which had its New York premiere at New York City Opera last weekend, directed by Sam Helfrich, clocked in at around 2 ½ hours, compared to the seven hours of Tony Kushner's two-part epic. How would it compress all those verbal parries, the humor, the politics, the theatricality, and still be ANGELS?

In its 2016 - 2017 season, New York City Opera presented the New York staged premiere of Rachmaninoff's Aleko, the New York premiere of Tobin Stokes's Fallujah, 10 sold-out performances of Bernstein's Candide, the modern-day revival of Respighi's La Campana Sommersa, and the American premiere of Antonio Literes's Baroque rarity Los Elementos. This June, New York City Opera concludes the season with the eagerly anticipated New York premiere of Peter Eotvos's Angels in America, based on the play by Tony Kushner.

Operas at the House, a showcase of three original operas inspired by the not-for-profit International House and each no longer than the traditional sit-com, will be performed Saturday, May 13 at 5 p.m. at NYU Tisch's Black Box Theater.  Co-sponsored by the Tisch Graduate Musical Theater Writing Program (GMTWP), International House, the NYU Tisch Department of Design for Stage & Film and American Opera Projects (AOP), Operas at the House is free with advance registration and open to the public. 

Pittsburgh Opera is proud and privileged to present the world premiere of Daniel Sonenberg's opera, The Summer King, the story of baseball legend Josh Gibson.

BroadwayWorld has a first look at THE SUMMER KING from Pittsburgh Opera! Check out the photos below! Pittsburgh Opera is proud and privileged to present the world premiere of Daniel Sonenberg's opera, The Summer King, the story of baseball legend Josh Gibson. This very first world premiere in Pittsburgh Opera's distinguished 78 year history hits close to home as Josh went from the sandlots of Pittsburgh's North Side to the pinnacle of greatness in the Negro Leagues, before ultimately being enshrined in the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY. Featuring AlFRed Walker in the title role, Denyce Graves, Sean Pannikar, Kenneth Kellogg, Norman Shankle, Jacqueline Echols and many more, led by Maestro AnTony Walker and directed by Sam Helfrich. Sonenberg collaborated on the libretto with Daniel Nester and Mark Campbell provided additional lyrics. The Summer King runs Saturday, April 29th (8pm), Tuesday, May 2nd (7pm), Friday, May 5th (7:30pm) and Sunday, May 7th (3pm) at the Benedum Center for the Performing Arts.

The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra announces the 2017-2018 season programming for its BNY Mellon Grand Classics and PNC Pops series. The upcoming season of the BNY Mellon Grand Classics marks its 10th season under the musical leadership of Music Director Manfred Honeck and the orchestra's 122nd year since its founding.

The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra announces the 2017-2018 season programming for its BNY Mellon Grand Classics and PNC Pops series. The upcoming season of the BNY Mellon Grand Classics marks its 10th season under the musical leadership of Music Director Manfred Honeck and the orchestra's 122nd year since its founding.

Pittsburgh Opera is proud and privileged to present the world premiere of Daniel Sonenberg's opera, The Summer King, the story of baseball legend Josh Gibson. This very first world premiere in Pittsburgh Opera's distinguished 78 year history hits close to home as Josh went from the sandlots of Pittsburgh's North Side to the pinnacle of greatness in the Negro Leagues, before ultimately being enshrined in the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY. Featuring Alfred Walker in the title role, Denyce Graves, Sean Pannikar, Kenneth Kellogg, Norman Shankle, Jacqueline Echols and many more, led by Maestro Antony Walker and directed by Sam Helfrich. Sonenberg collaborated on the libretto with Daniel Nester and Mark Campbell provided additional lyrics. The Summer King runs Saturday, April 29th (8pm), Tuesday, May 2nd (7pm), Friday, May 5th (7:30pm) and Sunday, May 7th (3pm) at the Benedum Center for the Performing Arts.

On Friday, January 22, 2017, Palm Beach Opera Board of Directors, Board of Governors, as well as dedicated supporters and friends gathered at The Kravis Center for Performing Arts in West Palm Beach for the Opening Night Dinner and opera performance of Madama Butterfly by Giacomo Puccini. 

Palm Beach Opera presents Giacomo Puccini's Madama Butterfly for one weekend only, January 27-29, at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts in West Palm Beach. One of the most popular operas in the repertoire, Madama Butterfly is filled with recognizable melodies and passionate drama.

Palm Beach Opera presents Giacomo Puccini's Madama Butterfly for one weekend only, January 27-29, at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts in West Palm Beach. One of the most popular operas in the repertoire, Madama Butterfly is filled with recognizable melodies and passionate drama.

Three new operas developed by American Opera Projects to premiere:  two on race relations in America and one on the future of sex.

 Pittsburgh Opera announces its 2016-2017 season. The season includes the very first world premiere in our 78 year history and two Pennsylvania premieres. The season will encompass four operas produced at the Benedum Center and two Resident Artist operas - the annual production at Pittsburgh CAPA Theater and the Second Stage Project at Pittsburgh Opera Headquarters.

Under the umbrella of the New York Opera Fest, The Center for Contemporary Opera presented an hour's worth of excerpts from THE WILD BEAST OF THE BUNGALOW, an episodic opera still in development by composer Rachel J. Peters and (the omnipresent) librettist Royce Vavrek. It was, frankly, spellbinding.

“Park and bark” is a term usually used derogatively when speaking about opera--a kind of old-style singing that involves standing still and bursting forth in song, with little or no acting skills involved. There certainly wasn't anything old-fashioned about the operas or the group of young singers who performed them at NYU's black box theatre on May 7 (except perhaps their good training) in “Park and Bark--6 Mini-Operas about Brooklyn's Fort Greene Park.”