Stephen Costello News

Richard Tucker Award-winning tenor Stephen Costello looks forward to singing opera arias and duets al fresco on both sides of the Atlantic this summer, with appearances in New York's Metropolitan Opera Summer Recital Series (tonight, July 16 & 19); with the San Francisco Opera Orchestra at the city's Stern Grove Festival (Aug 18); and at the inaugural Branscombe Festival on England's south-west coast (July 27). In both California and the UK, the tenor's partner will be his wife and frequent co-star, lyric soprano Ailyn Pérez; recently billed as 'opera's hottest couple' at Los Angeles Opera, Vanity Fair says they are 'a match made in verismo heaven.'

The Richard Tucker Music Foundation is happy to note that all three of the singers chosen to launch the Metropolitan Opera's fifth annual free Summer Recital Series are recent Foundation awardees. Presenting a program of arias, duets, and show-tunes at the Central Park SummerStage today, July 16, the singers include two winners of the Foundation's top prize, the coveted Richard Tucker Award: mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard, winner of this year's award, and tenor Stephen Costello, who was similarly honored in 2009. They will be joined by soprano Erin Morley, recipient of a 2013 Richard Tucker Career Grant, and accompanied on piano by Bradley Moore.

The Richard Tucker Music Foundation is happy to note that all three of the singers chosen to launch the Metropolitan Opera's fifth annual free Summer Recital Series are recent Foundation awardees. Presenting a program of arias, duets, and show-tunes at the Central Park SummerStage onTuesday, July 16, the singers include two winners of the Foundation's top prize, the coveted Richard Tucker Award: mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard, winner of this year's award, and tenor Stephen Costello, who was similarly honored in 2009. They will be joined by soprano Erin Morley, recipient of a 2013 Richard Tucker Career Grant, and accompanied on piano by Bradley Moore.

The Canadian Opera Company has closed another successful opera season by recording an average attendance of 90% for 2012/2013. A total of 114,133 patrons attended the 61 performances of the company's seven mainstage productions this season in the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts: Verdi's Il Trovatore, Johann Strauss II's Die Fledermaus, Wagner's Tristan und Isolde, Mozart's La clemenza di Tito, Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor, Richard Strauss's Salome and Poulenc's Dialogues des Carmélites.

Richard Tucker Award-winning tenor Stephen Costello looks forward to singing opera arias and duets al fresco on both sides of the Atlantic this summer, with appearances in New York's Metropolitan Opera Summer Recital Series (July 16 & 19); with the San Francisco Opera Orchestra at the city's Stern Grove Festival (Aug 18); and at the inaugural Branscombe Festival on England's south-west coast (July 27). In both California and the UK, the tenor's partner will be his wife and frequent co-star, lyric soprano Ailyn Pérez; recently billed as 'opera's hottest couple' at Los Angeles Opera, Vanity Fair says they are 'a match made in verismo heaven.'

The Metropolitan Opera and SummerStage continue their long-time collaboration to present some of The Met's finest young singers in showcase recitals taking place across New York City.

The Modell Performing Arts Center at The Lyric's Artistic Director James Harp has announced the third annual opera season at the new Modell Lyric. Two grand operas will be featured-Puccini's Tosca and Verdi's Nabucco-and Toujours L'Amour, the third in our gala concert series celebrating French grand opera.

The Metropolitan Opera announced the return of its two popular series of free summer events, the Summer Recital Series and the Summer HD Festival. For the fifth consecutive year, the Met will present operatic recitals in parks in all five boroughs, as well as a ten-day outdoor festival of encore screenings from the Met's popular HD transmissions.

She releases Poeme d'un jour, her debut solo album presenting French and Spanish songs, on the Opus Arte label (May 28 in the U.S., see full track list below).

The 2013-2014 season of Washington National Opera (WNO) has just been announced by Artistic Director Francesca Zambello. The season includes Tristan and Isolde, a new production of The Force of Destiny, the East Coast premiere of Moby-Dick, The Elixir of Love, and a new production of The Magic Flute. WNO will also present the world premiere of The Lion, The Unicorn, and Me, a holiday-themed family opera commissioned by WNO and written by acclaimed American composer Jeanine Tesori. A second season of the American Opera Initiative will continue WNO's efforts to commission new American works.

Richard Tucker Award-winner Stephen Costello made his role debut as Tonio in La fille du regiment at San Diego Opera last month. This auspicious start marked the first of the tenor's three Donizetti leads this year, the next of which sees him return to the Vienna State Opera to sing Nemorino in L'elisir d'amore opposite his wife and frequent co-star, Ailyn Perez, (March 1-8) before taking on Edgardo in David Alden's groundbreaking staging of Lucia di Lammermoor at the Canadian Opera Company (April 17-May 24).

Richard Tucker Award-winner Stephen Costello made his role debut as Tonio in La fille du regiment at San Diego Opera last month. This auspicious start marked the first of the tenor's three Donizetti leads this year, the next of which sees him return to the Vienna State Opera to sing Nemorino in L'elisir d'amore opposite his wife and frequent co-star, Ailyn Perez, (March 1-8) before taking on Edgardo in David Alden's groundbreaking staging of Lucia di Lammermoor at the Canadian Opera Company (April 17-May 24).

“Go and see her. A huge star in the making is amongst us,” urged the Opera Creep blog after Ailyn Pérez's recital at London's historic St. John's Smith Square last March.

Tenor Stephen Costello will be hitting the high Cs - nine of them, in fact - when he opens San Diego Opera's season, making his role debut as Tonio in Donizetti's La fille du regiment (Jan. 26-Feb. 3). The Philadelphia-born singer - winner of the Richard Tucker Award - performed in the company's production of Faust in 2011, leading San Diego.com to declare that Costello's "polished tenor boasts all the traits we hope for." He is coming off his Berlin State Opera debut in December as Rodolfo in Puccini's La boheme, of which Der Neue Merker observed that he "won over the audience quickly," adding that the singer "has a mellow sweetness in his voice and produces a delightful piano. Yet he has the vocal force required for outbursts of anger and despair." The tenor is looking ahead to more Donizetti, with a March run in L'elisir d'amore at the Vienna State Opera and an April production of Lucia di Lammermoor with the Canadian Opera Company in Toronto.

Houston Grand Opera (HGO)-the only opera company with two Grammys, two Emmys, and a Tony - continues to raise the bar for American opera with next season's gripping new line-up.

The Opera Orchestra of New York presents an opera-in-concert performance of Umberto Giordano's verismo opera, Andrea Chénier conducted by Music Director Alberto Veronesi at Avery Fisher Hall today, January 6, 2013 at 4:00 pm. Tenor Roberto Alagna sings the title role of Andrea Chénier, one of opera's most dramatic lyric-tenor roles, for the first time, with soprano Kristin Lewis as Maddalena di Coigny, baritone George Petean as Carlo Gérard, with a special appearance by mezzo soprano Rosalind Elias as Madelon.

The Opera Orchestra of New York presents an opera-in-concert performance of Umberto Giordano's verismo opera, Andrea Chénier conducted by Music Director Alberto Veronesi at Avery Fisher Hall on Sunday, January 6, 2013 at 4:00 pm. Tenor Roberto Alagna sings the title role of Andrea Chénier, one of opera's most dramatic lyric-tenor roles, for the first time, with soprano Kristin Lewis as Maddalena di Coigny, baritone George Petean as Carlo Gérard, with a special appearance by mezzo soprano Rosalind Elias as Madelon.

American soprano Ailyn Perez earned yet another honor on Wednesday when she was named the winner of the 15th annual Placido Domingo Award. The prestigious award, personally given by Maestro Domingo to an artist of his choosing, celebrates the accomplishments of Hispanic artists as well as those who contribute to the awareness of opera and its educational value in the Latino community of Los Angeles. Earlier this year, Perez also won the namesake award of one of the other legendary tenors in opera's history - the 2012 Richard Tucker Award. Born in Chicago to Mexican parents, Perez is the first Hispanic singer to receive the Richard Tucker Award in its 34-year history.

Soprano Ailyn Pérez, winner of the 2012 Richard Tucker Award, was fresh from a string of European appearances, including her Bolshoi Theater debut and performances at the Hamburg State Opera, when she lit up the stage at New York's Avery Fisher Hall at the Richard Tucker Music Foundation's annual gala on November 11. The gala was filmed for national broadcast in the U.S. as part of the Emmy Award-winning Live From Lincoln Center series on PBS and will air tonight, December 13. Live from Lincoln Center: The Richard Tucker Opera Gala, which is being hosted by singer and actress Audra McDonald, will include a feature on Pérez, backstage access to the artists, and selections from the musical performance.

Many of today's biggest names in opera - such as baritones Dmitri Hvorostovsky and Gerald Finley; mezzo-soprano Olga Borodina; tenors Stephen Costello, Marcello Giordani, and Giuseppe Filianoti; bass Ildar Abdrazakov; and bass-baritone Erwin Schrott - will light up TV screens across the country on Thursday, December 13 at 8 pm (check local listings) for the national broadcast of the Richard Tucker Opera Gala on PBS's Emmy Award-winning Live From Lincoln Center.