Stephanie Blythe News

The Collegiate Chorale announces its encore performance with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra of Arnold Schoenberg's Kol Nidre and Israeli composer Noam Sheriff's Mechaye Hametim (Revival of the Dead), which they performed this summer at the Salzburg Festival. The October 25 performance will be the New York premiere of Mechaye Hametim.

Anthony Freud, general director of Lyric Opera of Chicago, announced today that Gianna Rolandi will retire as director of The Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center on April 15, 2013, following the annual "Rising Stars in Concert" performance April 13. Rolandi has held that position since May 2006, and served as director of vocal studies for the Ryan Opera Center for the previous four years, following a distinguished international career as a coloratura soprano. Rolandi will continue her association with the Ryan Opera Center as vocal consultant, a new position.

The Collegiate Chorale, led by music director James Bagwell, announces its 71st Season, which will include three Chorale-presented concerts, five collaborative concerts, and a summer tour to the Verbier Festival.

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.

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.

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!

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

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.