Sondra Radvanovsky News

After a months-long series of competitions at the district, regional, and national levels, a panel of expert judges named five singers as the winners of the 2020 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. Each winner receives a $20,000 cash prizea?"up from $15,000, the first increase since 1998a?"and the prestige and exposure that come with winning the competition that launched the careers of many of opera's biggest stars.

Opera Philadelphia launches the 2020-2021 season with the fourth iteration of the trailblazing Festival O, the only American festival nominated for a 2020 International Opera Award. O20 comprises a wide variety of operatic happenings at multiple venues across the city this September. The company announced its full 2020-21 season, which includes the world premiere of a new commission, a major new production of one of opera's great classics, and a host of A-list artists making their company and role debuts.

Following yesterday's semi-final competition, nine young singers have advanced to the final round of the Metropolitan Opera's 2020 National Council Auditions. In the public concert, finalists perform on the Met stage Sunday, March 1 at 3 p.m., for an audience of judges, agents, industry leaders, and the general public (in the auditorium and live on the radio). The finalists, chosen by a panel of opera administrators from the Met and other companies, each perform two arias with the Met Orchestra conducted by Bertrand de Billy. Prize money will increase for the first time in 20 years, with the winners receiving individual cash prizes of $20,000 (previously $15,000), and the prestigious and potentially career-launching title of National Council Auditions Winner. The remaining finalists receive $10,000 (previously $7,500).

a?oeI have known for three generations how difficult the career of an opera singer remains,a?? said George London Foundation President Nora London at the announcement of the 2020 George London Award winners. a?oeThis all started because George wanted to help a?" and now we have been giving these awards for almost 50 years.a??

On February 21, 2020, some of the best young American and Canadian opera singers will perform with pianist Lydia Brown before a panel of judges and an enthusiastic audience at The Morgan Library & Museum. At the event's conclusion, a few of them will be named this year's winners of the George London Award, an honor that has been conferred upon hundreds of the best young singers since 1971. The award, currently a $10,000 prize, is named for the legendary Canadian-American bass-baritone, one of the greatest opera singers of 20th century.

On February 21, 2020, some of the best young American and Canadian opera singers will perform with pianist Lydia Brown before a panel of judges and an enthusiastic audience at The Morgan Library & Museum. At the event's conclusion, a few of them will be named this year's winners of the George London Award, an honor that has been conferred upon hundreds of the best young singers since 1971. The award, currently a $10,000 prize, is named for the legendary Canadian-American bass-baritone, one of the greatest opera singers of 20th century.

The 23 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 Monday, February 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 1.

A season filled with thrilling music, captivating stories, world-class singers, and exciting productions goes on sale by subscription Thursday, February 13. Eight new-to-Chicago productions, including three Lyric premieres plus two original Lyric productions, will entertain and thrill audiences from September 2020 through June 2021.

For the first time in decades, a fully staged production of Richard Wagner's Parsifal will be presented in Canada, opening the Canadian Opera Company's monumental 2020/2021 season with a company premiere at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts. Cast with more than 100 singers, an orchestra of 110 musicians, and a nearly six-hour run-time, this journey of one knight's quest for the Holy Grail offers Canadian audiences a rare opportunity to experience Wagner's thrilling final masterpiece in Toronto, in a celebrated COC co-production directed by François Girard.

San Francisco Opera General Director Matthew Shilvock today announced the Company's 98th season, which opens on September 11, 2020 with an Opening Night Celebration featuring soprano Albina Shagimuratova and tenor Pene Pati in concert with the San Francisco Opera Orchestra conducted by Music Director Designate Eun Sun Kim. Opening Night festivities include San Francisco Opera Guild's Opera Ball, BRAVO! CLUB's annual Opening Night Gala and two new events: the Opera Supper in the Veterans Building's elegant Green Room and, for the entire audience, a celebratory, post-concert toast to the season.

On February 21, 2020, some of the best young American and Canadian opera singers will perform with pianist Lydia Brown before a panel of judges and an enthusiastic audience at The Morgan Library & Museum. At the event's conclusion, a few of them will be named this year's winners of the George London Award, an honor that has been conferred upon hundreds of the best young singers since 1971. The award, currently a $10,000 prize, is named for the legendary Canadian-American bass-baritone, one of the greatest opera singers of 20th century.

The impetuous, unstable Gherman is a man obsessed a?" with gambling, with Lisa (who's engaged to someone else), and with the secret of winning at cards, which is closely held by Lisa's grandmother, an elderly countess. His all-consuming passion eclipses his sense of reason and reality at a terrible price.

THE AMERICAN FRIENDS OF THE DONIZETTI OPERA FESTIVAL (AFDOF) has been formed to support the efforts of the Donizetti Opera Festival, an international celebration held each November in Bergamo, Italy, the birthplace of Gaetano Donizetti. AFDOF is charged with encouraging the collaboration of scholars, artists, and Donizetti devotees in the United States and worldwide. Based in New York City, the non-profit organization's mission is to work closely with its Italian counterparts to raise awareness of the Festival and the works and life of the great Italian composer and of his hometown of Bergamo.

Gaetano Donizetti wrote three bel canto operas about three extraordinary women a?"  passionate Anne Boleyn, proud Mary Stuart, and mighty Queen Elizabeth I. Each of these brilliant operas offers a stupendous role for a true singing actress with incredible technique, charisma, and dramatic power.

The Canadian Opera Company's RUSALKA utilizes Lyric Opera's 2014 production under the direction of Sir David McVicar, making his COC debut. This retelling of Hans Christian Andersen's 'The Little Mermaid' draws on a more sinister angle of the folk tale than what most people might know, utilizing composer Antonín Dvořák's multi-faceted score to convey emotion and fantasy at the leadership of conductor Johannes Debus.

Sir Andrew Davis, Interim Artistic Director, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and Johannes Debus, Music Director, Canadian Opera Company, will be among the musical luminaries taking part in the Neil Crory Tribute Concert on Friday, October 11, 7 PM, at Jeanne Lamon Hall, Trinity-St. Paul's Centre. With their recorded and live spoken tributes, Davis and Debus join an unprecedented lineup of singers, instrumentalists, CBC broadcasters, and guest speakers for this extraordinary celebration of music and the human voice in honour of the legendary CBC Music producer, mentor, impresario, colleague, and friend who died on January 10 at the age of 68. Tickets and program information are available at tafelmusik.org/crory.

The program has been unveiled for the Neil Crory Tribute Concert on Friday, October 11, 7 PM, at Jeanne Lamon Hall, Trinity-St. Paul's Centre. An unprecedented lineup of stellar Canadian singers whose careers Crory nurtured will take part in this extraordinary celebration of music and the human voice in honour of the legendary CBC Music producer, mentor, impresario, colleague, and friend who died on January 10 at the age of 68.

Widely regarded as the pinnacle of bel-canto operas, Melbourne Opera's upcoming production of Norma boasts a superb cast of singers and musicians - led by international opera sensation Helena Dix. Melbourne Opera is thrilled to be working with Helena once again, hot off the heels of her principal role debut at the Metropolitan Opera (The Met) in New York earlier this year, while she also recently covered the role of Norma for the world-famous Sondra Radvanovsky.

A classic mermaid myth dives to new depths when soprano Sondra Radvanovsky takes on the title role in a spellbinding new production of Dvořák's Rusalka at the Canadian Opera Company. Water nymph Rusalka lives an idyllic, immortal life until a charming, earth-bound prince changes everything. Desperate to join him on land, she enlists the dark magic of a witch, sacrificing her shimmering voice for a chance at love. But Rusalka soon discovers this prince has a fickle heart a?" and there's only one terrible solution to reversing her fate. Rusalka runs for seven performances at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts on October 12, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26, 2019.

Lyric Opera of Chicago launches its 65th season with the 19th annual Stars of Lyric Opera at Millennium Park concert at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion on Friday, September 6, at 7pm. The free outdoor performance, presented in cooperation with The City of Chicago and Millennium Park, annually attracts capacity crowds to the pavilion, great lawn, and surrounding areas of the park.