Susanna Phillips News

Fathom Events and The Metropolitan Opera present "The Met: Live in HD' 2016 Summer Encores," a series of four encore performances from past Live in HD seasons in select U.S. cinemas nationwide.

?After a months-long series of competitions at the district, regional, and national levels, a panel of expert judges named five young singers as the winners of the nation's most prestigious vocal competition, the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. Each winner receives a $15,000 cash prize and the prestige and exposure that come with winning the competition that launched the careers of many of opera's biggest stars.

Under the direction of Bartlett Sher (whose work is currently represented on Broadway with Lincoln Center Theater's revival of The King and I, Charles Gounod's 1867 French opera ROMEO AND JULIET comes to opulent, dramatic life--with the quality and grandiosity that characterize Lyric Opera's productions. This production of Gounod's opera--with libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carre and which was first performed at the Lyric in 1981--retains the original Renaissance setting of Shakespeare's classic play and renders it larger-than-life. The inherently dramatic nature of the play makes it a fitting choice for an operatic adaptation--Romeo and Juliet's tragic love story becomes even more heightened when set to Gounod's decadent score.

Music Director Michael Tilson Thomas (MTT) and the San Francisco Symphony (SFS) today announce their 2016-17 season.

Lyric Opera of Chicago continues its 61st season with ROMEO AND JULIET in a new-to-Chicago production created by Tony Award-winning director Bartlett Sher, tonight, February 22, through Saturday, March 19 (nine performances). This is the eighth and final mainstage opera production of the widely acclaimed 2015/16 season. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the company in action below!

The 2000 opera by the Finnish composer is inspired by the he legend of 12th Century troubadour Jaufre Rudel.

The Metropolitan Opera's 2016-17 season, the 50th anniversary of its home at Lincoln Center, will feature 225 opera performances of 26 operas in a varied repertory that ranges from 18th century masterpieces to one of the most acclaimed operas in recent years. Repertoire for the company's 132nd season will include the Met premiere of Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho's 2000 opera L'Amour de Loin, as well as new stagings of Wagner's Tristan und Isolde, Rossini's Guillaume Tell, Gounod's Romeo et Juliette, Dvo?ak's Rusalka, and Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier. A gala concert on May 7, 2017 will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the company's Lincoln Center location with performances by opera's leading stars honoring the Met's past and future. Ticket prices will not increase, remaining the same as in the current season, and audience development programs instituted by the company in recent years will continue.  

Classical Action: Performing Arts Against AIDS continues the 2015-16 Michael Palm Series of house concerts in New York City on Saturday, February 27, 2016, with a performance featuring a stellar quartet of vocalists: bass-baritone Luca Pisaroni, soprano Anita Hartig, baritone Mariusz Kwiecien, and tenor Matthew Polenzani. Held at the magnificent Tribeca loft of Simon Yates and Kevin Roon, the event begins at 6:30pm with wine and hors d'oeuvres, followed by the concert at 7:30pm. Tickets may be purchased online at classicalaction.org or by calling 212-997-7717.

Carnegie Hall today unveiled its 2016-2017 season consisting of more than 170 concerts as well as wide-ranging education and community programs created by Carnegie Hall's Weill Music Institute. The upcoming season includes performances by many of the world's greatest artists, including Tony winner Kelli O'Hara making her solo headlining debut at the renowned venue on Oct. 29, as well as ensembles representing classical, pop, jazz, and world music, with events presented on Carnegie Hall's three stages, in the Hall's Resnick Education Wing, and throughout New York City.

Sometimes, the Metropolitan Opera seems like an endless Puccini festival. It's particularly apparent this season, when top dogs LA BOHEME, TOSCA and MADAMA BUTTERFLY are joined by TURANDOT and MANON LESCAUT, which are not second drawer, though certainly less popular than the first three. (Let's see how that descriptor applies to the latter when Jonas Kaufmann steps on stage for the new production of LESCAUT.)

Lyric Opera of Chicago continues its 61st season with Romeo and Juliet in a new-to-Chicago production created by Tony Award-winning director Bartlett Sher, Monday, February 22 through Saturday, March 19(nine performances). This is the eighth and final mainstage opera production of the widely acclaimed 2015/16 season.

Lyric Opera of Chicago presents a new-to-Chicago production of Romeo and Juliet, Feb. 22-March 19, 2016, helmed by Tony Award-winning director Bartlett Sher-who makes his Lyric debut fresh off directing the four-time Tony Award-winning revival of The King and I at Lincoln Center Theater. Lyric's Romeo and Juliet is presented in conjunction with the Shakespeare 400 Chicago international arts festival, for which Lyric is a partner organization.

Andrey Nemzer will sing the role of Orlofsky in this evening's performance of Johann Strauss, Jr.'s Die Fledermaus, replacing Susan Graham, who is ill.

Mireille Asselin will sing the role of Adele in this evening's season premiere performance of Johann Strauss, Jr.'s Die Fledermaus, replacing Lucy Crowe, who is ill.

After a 44-year career at the Met, during which he has led performances of more than 85 operas, James Levine expands his company repertory with his first-ever Met performances of the sparkling Johann Strauss operetta Die Fledermaus.

New York, NY (November 11, 2015) – Franco Zeffirelli's production of Puccini's La Bohème, the most-performed opera in Met history, returns to the Met stage on Monday, November 23 for the first of seventeen performances throughout the season. The November and December performances, conducted by Paolo Carignani,will star Barbara Frittoli and Ramón Vargas as the lovers Mimì and Rodolfo, opposite American soprano Ana María Martínez as the spitfire Musetta in her first Met performances since 2005. Romanian baritone Levente Molnár makes his Met debut as the painter Marcello, with Alexey Lavrov as Schaunard, Christian Van Horn as Colline, and John Del Carlo as Benoit and Alcindoro. 

The 2015 TCS New York City Marathon will air live in New York on WABC-TV, ABC7 and for the rest of the nation on ESPN2 today, Nov. 1, at 9 a.m. ET.

The Oratorio Society of New York opens its 2015-16 season and Carnegie Hall subscription series on Monday, November 2, 2015, with a work that has become closely identified with its music director.  Kent Tritle led the U.S. premiere of Juraj Filas' Requiem, Oratio Spei (Prayer of Hope), at the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola in 2011 (with a choir of 60 singers), and he conducted the work's debut recording, a project of the New York-based Harmony Foundation, in Prague with the Prague Symphony and Kuhn Mixed Choir in 2013.  On November 2, he leads the Oratorio Society in a performance of the work with soloists Susanna Phillips, soprano; Matthew Plenk, tenor; and John Moore, baritone.

Following the success of its first series at City Winery in the 2014-15 season, cp2 (Chicago Philharmonic Chamber Players) returns to the venue for a fall series pairing unique mixed instrumental groups with vocalists. Three one-hour programs at noon on October 25, November 22, and December 20 each feature a different singer showcasing styles including classical, soul, and jazz. Brunch will be available for purchase before and during the performances, and patrons are encouraged to dress casually.

Starting Sunday, Grammy Award-winning mezzo-soprano Susan Graham - praised as 'singing beautifully' by Huffington Post for her recent star turn in the Metropolitan Opera's Merry Widow - returns to San Francisco Opera to reprise her signature role of Dido in Berlioz's epic Les Troyens (June 7-July 1). The Associated Press has declared Graham's 'the ideal voice for Berlioz - a mezzo with a dark richness that blossoms into lush soprano-like tones.' The singer will be starring in San Francisco Opera's premiere presentation of the David McVicar production, hailed at its Covent Garden debut as 'a major event' by The Guardian. Graham will perform alongside Bryan Hymel as Aeneas, with Donald Runnicles conducting. Two seasons ago, when the Met broadcast a starry revival of Les Troyens to cinema audiences worldwide in the company's hit Live in HD series, Graham was widely acknowledged as its standout star. The New York Times said: 'The big news is mezzo-soprano Susan Graham ... whose portrayal is sumptuous, regal and impassioned.'