San Francisco Performances has announced its 2024-25 season. This article features vocal pieces only. For the company’s 45th Anniversary Gala tenor Nicholas Phan and composer and pianist Jake Heggie take the stage. Performance Date: October 4, 2024 Opening the “Art of Song” series is the world premiere of new works by Caroline Shaw and Gabriel Kahane. Performance Date: November 14, {…}
(Photo credit: Jiyang Chen) In celebration of its 25th anniversary Music of Remembrance will give the world premiere of “Before It All Goes Dark,” a new opera by Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer. The creative team based the opera on “Mac’s Journey,” the true story of Gerald “Mac” McDonald, a gravely ill and deeply troubled Vietnam War veteran, which was {…}
(Credit: Frances Marshall ) Music of Remembrance has received a $30,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) for its production of “Before It All Goes Dark.” The grant will support the commission, tour, and recording of the new opera by composer Jake Heggie and librettist Gene Scheer. “Before It All Goes Dark” is set to world premiere {…}
(Photo credits: Niebuhr, Steiner, Marshall Light Studio, © Chuck Thomas 2012) The National Opera Association’s 69th annual national conference is scheduled for Jan. 3-6, 2024 at in Tempe, Arizona. The conference kicks off with a performance of “Sanctuary and Storm” by Tawnie Olson and Roberta Barker, the winner of the 2023 Chamber Opera Competition. Jake Heggie will give the Keynote {…}
Photo: Michael Bishop Houston Grand Opera’s season premiere, “Intelligence,” is not just another opera to take in – it’s an experience to be absorbed. It masterfully fulfills art’s big-picture role: sparking dialogues and bridging emotional divides, even when the discussions are challenging and the ties seem broken. This riveting work is realized through the collective genius of composer Jake Heggie, {…}
(Photo credit: Madi Nguyen) Lyric Opera of Orange County will reprise its 2023 production of Jake Heggie’s “Two Remain.” Bass Phil Meyer and Soprano Diana Farrell take on the main roles of Gad Beck and Krystyna Zywulska. They are joined by sopranos Yewon Ella Yoon, Kiana Hamzehi, and Alexandra Burdick; mezzo-soprano Kathryn Krasovec; and baritone Michael O’Halloran. Kristin Roach conducts and {…}
No doubt Musica Solis’ newest release is a labor of love initiated in 2010 by writer and musical scholar Lucy Miller Murray whose well curated selection of 15 of her own poems lies at the very heart of “Turning into Song.” Thematically, they are inspired by the likes of Paul Verlaine and French writers from the Symbolist orbit. Miller Murray {…}
On August 30, 2023, soprano Alison Saporta took to OPERA America’s Scorca Hall stage in New York City, showcasing her artistry as a recitalist. Beside her, collaborative accompanist Felix Jarrar impressed on the piano, exhibiting his talents as a composer with a new song cycle and an intriguing toccata and fugue inspired by a theme from Mozart’s Requiem. Saporta, a {…}
OPERA America Onstage has announced its 2023-24 season with a lineup of big name artists Terence Blanchard, Anthony Davis, Samantha Hankey, and Jake Heggie are just a few of the luminaries included in this year’s season. Audiences can either attend events in-person at OPERA America’s National Opera Center in New York, or watch the free livestreams. Here’s what OPERA America {…}
Seattle, Washington-based Music of Remembrance (MOR) has unveiled its 2023-24 season, which remembers the victims of the Holocaust, and explores cultural vandalism with Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer’s new opera “Before it All Goes Dark.” For this article, only vocal performances are listed. MOR brings together three community organizations: University of Washington Chamber Orchestra, Northwest Boychoir, and Seattle Girls Choir {…}
Credit: Ben VanHouten The grass was pristine. The houses lined up along manicured lawns. The street signs sparkled, and the paths swept to perfection. Around each corner and through the trees, the magnificent Golden Gate Bridge stood. Inside the Presidio Theater, a performance titled “Music of Remembrance (MOR)” featured the works “Another Sunrise” and “For a Look or a Touch” {…}