Opera in Appalachia – How Brevard Music Center Brought Opera to the Mountains

(Photo credit: Chuck Gilmore) Southern Appalachia is typically acknowledged as the heart of traditional American folk music, from old-time string bands to bluegrass, and haunting {…}

Opera Meets Film: The State of American Opera in Peter Rosen’s ‘New American Opera’

Currently, opera in America in a state of unprecedented upheaveal. With the ongoing precarity occurring at the Metropolitan Opera House, from the recent dip into their endowement, {…}

The Person Behind The Opera, Pt. 5: Baroness de Pontalba

For the past few months, you may have noticed the series, ‘The Person Behind The Opera.’ In May, we began the series by looking at the person, Malcolm Little (or {…}

Twilight of the Post-War Order – Understanding a Cruel World through Wagner’s ‘Ring Cycle’

Much ink has been spilled, in varying shades of nostalgia, on the unravelling of the contracts, institutions, and principles that have fostered peace and prosperity since the end of the Second World War. Undoubtedly, much of this concern is justified: in Europe, national borders are once again flexible around the whims of the powerful; Multilateral Organisations have demonstrated their hollowness {…}