Samuel Ramey News

New York City Opera, under the direction of General Director Michael Capasso, has announced it will return to Bryant Park's highly popular free summer performing arts series with three concert performances: Puccini's La Boheme on Monday, May 20; a special Pride in the Park concert on Wednesday, June 12; and Bizet's Carmen on Monday, August 26.

The 2019-20 season of events presented by the George London Foundation for Singers continues this legacy with two duo recitals featuring four George London Award winners, and the esteemed George London Foundation Competition.

Pride in the Park will feature a diverse program of selections from opera and musical theater sung by stars of City Opera's Pride Series, including a sneak peak of their upcoming world premiere, Stonewall, playing June 21-28 at the Rose Theater at Jazz at Lincoln Center. Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the event, Iain Bell and Mark Campbell's Stonewall is a moving and explosive new American opera that captures the rage, grit, humor and, finally, hope of the LGBTQ community's uprising in a Greenwich Village dance club on one hot night in June 1969.

Be transported to the Latin Quarter of 19th century Paris without leaving Bryant Park as you bask in the lush melodies of Puccini's La Bohème. Hear the stars of New York City Opera sing some of the most famous melodies in opera, all from the comfort of your very own blanket!

Soprano Patricia Westley will replace Mary Evelyn Hangley in the final recital of the 2019 Schwabacher Recital Series, presented by the Merola Opera Program and San Francisco Opera Center. Soprano and first-year Adler Fellow Mary Evelyn Hangley has withdrawn from the April 24 recital for personal reasons.

Francesco Milioto has been named the company's Artistic Advisor. "In this role, Francesco will connect the Florentine with talent from around the world. His breadth of experience in cutting edge and established organizations, collaborative energy and proven track record impressed our board, and we welcome his input on casting, creative team selection, as a conductor and more," Oplinger explains.  Milioto will also help recruit and mentor exceptional young singers as part of the Donald and Donna Baumgartner Studio Artist Program. As part of his role here, we anticipate Francesco spending significant time in Milwaukee as it relates to his advisory responsibilities.

The Schwabacher Recital Series, presented by San Francisco Opera Center and the Merola Opera Program, continues in April with the final two recitals of its 36th season. Showcasing the exemplary young artists who have participated in the prestigious training programs of San Francisco Opera Center and the Merola Opera Program, the series offers music lovers an opportunity to hear opera's next generation of stars in the intimate and state-of-the-art Dianne and Tad Taube Atrium Theater in San Francisco.

The Dallas Opera presents a month-long mini-fest during the month of March, in celebration of one of the greatest and most influential composers in the history of opera: Giacomo Puccini.

The Music Institute of Chicago hosts its 2019 Anniversary Gala on Monday, May 20 at the Four Seasons Hotel Chicago, 120 E. Delaware Street, celebrating its history as one of the largest and most respected community music schools in the nation with a festive evening highlighted by the presentation of the Dushkin Award to acclaimed jazz trumpet player, bandleader, composer, and educator Wynton Marsalis.

San Francisco Opera Center and Merola Opera Program present the 36th season of the Schwabacher Recital Series, opening on February 13 and continuing through April 24. The four-recital series offers music lovers an opportunity to hear opera's next generation of stars in the intimate and state-of-the-art Taube Atrium Theater in San Francisco.

I caught up with rising star bass-baritone Christian Van Horn the other day, to find out what the devil was going on with his starring role in the Met's first performance of Arrigo Boito's MEFISTOFELE in almost 20 years. Were you nervous as hell (pun intended) on the first night, I asked Van Horn, winner of this year's prestigious Richard Tucker Award, in your role as the Devil?

Noted conductor Jason Tramm will lead the  Axelrod Performing Arts Center's upcoming benefit concert "Any Dream Will Do" headlining the Tony award winning actress Christine Ebersole with featured soloists Gary Mauer, one of Broadway's Phantoms, Jim Schubin, who starred in Newsies at the Axelrod, and soprano Claire Leyden. The concert, which takes place at the Axelrod Performing Arts Center on Saturday Evening, October 13 in Deal, New Jersey will support the Axelrod PAC's Education Programming.

New York City Opera, 'The People's Opera,' brings The Barber of Seville, Rossini's great comedic opera, to Bryant Park for the fourth and final performance from City Opera in Bryant Park. Don't miss this chance to hear Rossini's sparkling opera and the the hijinks of Figaro, opera's most famous barber.

Returning to the Morgan Park Summer Music Festival to lead the Long Island Concert Orchestra, following their opening concert of the festival's 59th Season earlier this season, Jason Tramm will conduct 'Music from the Stage and Screen' with featured soloists Claire Leyden, soprano and Jordan Weatherton Pitts, tenor.

Nearly a decade ago a story ran in NJ's most widely circulated print newspaper which opened with the statement "New Jersey doesn't have a state music director, but it would seem that Jason Tramm is out to create the position… as he leads opera, choral and orchestral concerts from Morris County to Ocean Grove." Prescient in their observations, The Star Ledger's 2009 article provided a snapshot of Tramm at the beginning of his career.  In spirit, the image resonates today, albeit with a decidedly expanded geographic reach.

Noted American conductor Jason Tramm takes the podium as the newly appointed Music Director of the Taghkanic Chorale in works by Gabriel Faure and George Frederik Handel on Tuesday August 7 for the chorale's annual concert event "Summer Sing."  The concert heralds the Westchester county based Taghkanic Chorale's fifty second season, with Gabriel Faure's Requiem and a selection of popular choruses from G.F. Handel's Judas Maccabeus. The concert is designed to engage the audience and invites singers of all ages to sing with the Taghkanic Chorale and meet Maestro Tramm in reception afterwards.  Pianist Laura Ravotti will accompany the performance.

Noted American conductor Jason Tramm takes the podium as the newly appointed Music Director of the Taghkanic Chorale in works by Gabriel Faure and George Frederik Handel on Tuesday August 7 for the chorale's annual concert event "Summer Sing."

Celebrating their 45th anniversaries in residence in Ocean Grove, tenor Ronald Naldi and organist Gordon Turk will each perform with the MidAtlantic Orchestra, Jason Tramm, and conductor. Mr. Naldi will sing favorite operatic arias by Puccini, Leoncavallo, and Ponchielli. Dr Turk will open the program with the Concerto in A Minor by Marco Enrico Bossi and later plat the grand Symphony No. 1 by Alexander Guilmant for organ and orchestra, both accompanied by the MidAtlantic Opera Orchestra conducted by Jason Tramm.

The third of four extraordinary hour-long performances produced by New York City Opera in Bryant Park this summer, La Traviata (or 'The Fallen Woman') is Giuseppe Verdi's tragic and revered opera about courtesan Violetta Valéry. New York City Opera, 'The People's Opera,' brings La Traviata, one of the most beloved operas of all time to Bryant Park. Grab a blanket (and a tissue) and find the perfect spot to enjoy a one-hour adaptation of Verdi's classic that inspired Moulin Rouge, with instantly recognizable tunes famously featured in Pretty Woman.

Celebrating their 45th anniversaries in residence in Ocean Grove, tenor Ronald Naldi and organist Gordon Turk will each perform with the MidAtlantic Orchestra, Jason Tramm, and conductor. Mr. Naldi will sing favorite operatic arias by Puccini, Leoncavallo, and Ponchielli. Dr Turk will open the program with the Concerto in A Minor by Marco Enrico Bossi and later plat the grand Symphony No. 1 by Alexander Guilmant for organ and orchestra, both accompanied by the MidAtlantic Opera Orchestra conducted by Jason Tramm.