Stephanie Blythe News

The editors of Opera News have announced the honorees for the 2012 Opera News Awards, paying tribute to five superb artists who have made an invaluable contribution to the art form: sopranos Mirella Freni and Dawn Upshaw, countertenor David Daniels, baritone Simon Keenlyside, and bass-baritone Eric Owens. The eighth annual Opera News Awards ceremony will take place on Sunday, April 21 at The Plaza in New York City. All the winners - and a host of the city's cultural, civic, and social luminaries - will be present at the gala awards dinner, which will feature celebrity presenters speaking about the awardees and introducing video performance clips.

Jane Moss, Ehrenkranz Artistic Director, previously announced the programming for the 46th season of the Mostly Mozart Festival, which runs from tonight, July 28 - August 25, 2012. Spanning seven venues, the Festival will offer more than 37 events including concerts, dance, visual art, film, pre-concert recitals, late-night performances, lectures, and bird-watching tours through Central Park, a special accompaniment to this summer's birdsong theme.

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the crown jewel of Ravinia's classical programming, kicks off its annual summer residency at the festival with a concert of American favorites at 5 p.m. on July 4.

Robert Lepage's acclaimed new production of Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen, will air on Great Performances at the Met, September 11-14 in primetime each night on PBS stations (check local listings), as a major television event.

In a return engagement with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO), The Collegiate Chorale will perform 11 concerts in Tel Aviv and Haifa with the IPO under the baton of renowned conductors Zubin Mehta and Riccardo Muti. They will then travel with the IPO to Austria to make their Salzburg Festival debut, the first performance there by an American choir since the Chicago Symphony Chorus appeared in 1989.

The Collegiate Chorale presents Contemporary Voices tonight, May 21, 2012 at 7pm at St. Bartholomew's Church, 325 Park Avenue, NYC. The concert features five musical gems by 20th and 21st Century masters of choral composition. Single tickets start at $20 and are available online at collegiatechorale.org or by phone at The Chorale office at (646) 435-9465.

The Collegiate Chorale presents Contemporary Voices on May 21, 2012 at 7pm at St. Bartholomew's Church, 325 Park Avenue, NYC. The concert features five musical gems by 20th and 21st Century masters of choral composition. Single tickets start at $20 and are available online at collegiatechorale.org or by phone at The Chorale office at (646) 435-9465.

The Collegiate Chorale presents Contemporary Voices on May 21, 2012 at 7pm at St. Bartholomew's Church, 325 Park Avenue, NYC. The concert features five musical gems by 20th and 21st Century masters of choral composition. Single tickets start at $20 and are available online at collegiatechorale.org or by phone at The Chorale office at (646) 435-9465.

Stuart Skelton will sing the role of Siegmund in Wagner's Die Walkure tonight, May 7, replacing Jonas Kaufmann who is ill.

The Met: Live in HD presents the cinematic premiere of Wagner's Ring Cycle and the behind-the-scenes documentary Wagner's Dream. The two-week event begins today May 7 across the U.S. and Canada. See photos from each of the operas below!

The Metropolitan Opera will present worldwide movie theater screenings of Robert Lepage's new production of Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen, as well as Wagner's Dream, a new documentary chronicling the creation of this ambitious new staging. In the United States and Canada, the series will begin tonight, May 7, with a screening of the documentary, directed by award-winning filmmaker Susan Froemke, and continue on May 9 with Das Rheingold, the first opera in the cycle. The entire four-part Ring cycle and documentary will be screened in many countries this spring and summer, including Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Chile, Colombia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, Spain, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.

Adam Klein will sing the role of Loge in Wagner's Das Rheingold tonight, May 5, replacing Stefan Margita, who is ill.

The Collegiate Chorale presents Contemporary Voices on May 21, 2012 at 7pm at St. Bartholomew's Church, 325 Park Avenue, NYC. The concert features five musical gems by 20th and 21st Century masters of choral composition. Single tickets start at $20 and are available online at collegiatechorale.org or by phone at The Chorale office at (646) 435-9465.

Stuart Skelton will sing the role of Siegmund in Wagner's Die Walkure on Monday, May 7, replacing Jonas Kaufmann who is ill.

The Met: Live in HD presents the cinematic premiere of Wagner's Ring Cycle and the behind-the-scenes documentary Wagner's Dream. The two-week event begins May 7 across the U.S. and Canada. See photos from each of the operas below!

Adam Klein will sing the role of Loge in Wagner's Das Rheingold on Saturday, May 5, replacing Stefan Margita, who is ill.

It took two years, a Pulitzer Prize and an Olivier Award-winning London production before happening, but Bruce Norris' searing satire, Clybourne Park, has finally made the six-block transfer from Off-Broadway's Playwright's Horizon to Broadway's Walter Kerr Theatre.  The original ensemble of director Pam MacKinnon's excellent 2010 production has been reunited for the playwright's scathing telling of the racial integration of a Chicago neighborhood, as seen through the history of one very significant home.

Today, April 29, the seventh annual Opera News Awards will be presented at a gala celebration in the Grand Ballroom of The Plaza in New York City, paying tribute to five extraordinary artists who have made an invaluable contribution to the art form: sopranos Karita Mattila and Anja Silja, baritones Dmitri Hvorostovsky and Peter Mattei, and director Peter Sellars. Acclaimed mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe, who sings Fricka in the Metropolitan Opera's new production of Wagner's Ring, will host the awards. Among the special guests for this year's festivities are conductor James Conlon (a 2005 Opera News Award-winner), who will present the award to Ms. Silja; legendary baritone (and 2008 Opera News Award-winner) Sherrill Milnes, who will present the award to Mr. Hvorostovsky; bass-baritone Eric Owens, another star of the Met's Ring, who will present to Mr. Sellars; Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho, who will present to Ms. Mattila; and soprano Deborah Voigt, a 2007 Opera News Award-winner and the Met's current Brunnhilde, who will present the award to Mr. Mattei. The guest list will also include Her Royal Highness Princess Madeleine of Sweden, who will attend to watch her countryman, Peter Mattei, be honored. Her Excellency, Ambassador Ritva Jolkkonen, Consul General of Finland in New York, will also be a guest at the festivities, honoring Ms. Mattila.