The nonprofit Guarneri Hall in downtown Chicago is set to present “Pierrot Unmasked.” The concert series, which explores the poetic and theatrical context of Arnold Schoenberg’s seminal melodrama, “Pierrot Lunaire” will be shown on Dec. 9 and 10 2024. “Pierrot Unmasked” presents two different performances around the tragic-comic character Pierrot from Commedia dell’Arte, one with a reading of Albert Giraud’s {…}
The Jackson Heights Orchestra is set to present a full orchestra arrangement of Vaughan Williams’ “On Wenlock Edge” on Dec. 11, 2024. The performance, which will be presented at Trinity Lutheran Church in Astoria, NY, will feature tenor Ryan Allais as Housman’s protagonist. A New Mexico native, Allais is a media consultant for the Art Song Center for Poets and {…}
The Fourth Wall Ensemble has announced its return to Carnegie Hall. This time the Fourth Wall Ensemble performs with Irish tenor and leading member of Celtic Thunder, Emmet Cahill. The program consists of songs from the Emerald Isle woven together on the emigrant journey to America. The program is directed by Christopher Allen. The Ensemble recently made its Carnegie Hall {…}
(Photo credit: James Matthew Daniel) Michael Hersch’s latest opera, “and we, each,” created in collaboration with poet Shane McCrae, makes its New York premiere at National Sawdust on Feb. 6. Soprano Ah Young Hong and baritone Jesse Blumberg perform the two singing roles. Tito Muñoz will conduct a five-piece ensemble comprised of New York players. James Daniel, who previously staged Hersch’s {…}
Midwinter Revels: The Selkie Girl and the Seal Woman – A Celtic and Cabo Verdean Celebration of the Solstice is to take place Dec. 13-28, at Harvard University’s historic Sanders Theatre. “The Selkie Girl and the Seal Woman” is a meld of Irish and Cabo Verdean traditions by Debra Wise, Patrick Swanson, and Aidan Parkinson. Set in a small fishing {…}
White Snakes Projects will present its third annual “Let’s Celebrate” on Dec. 14-15, 2024. The showcase features three 20-minute operas highlighting family and holiday traditions from various global cultures. “Thirty Angels,” a musical celebration of Navruz—the Uzbek and Persian New Year—was composed by Uzbekistan-born pianist Liliya Ugay, whose heritage includes Korean and Tatar roots. The opera narrates the story of {…}
Opera Birmingham will present its annual holiday concert “Sounds of the Season” on Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024, at 2:30 p.m. at Brock Recital Hall, Samford University. The showcase will star bass Won Cho, sopranos Meg Jackson and Allison Sanders, and Opera Birmingham Studio alumni DeLee Benton and Lauren Tinsley. Caitlyn Walters, Opera Birmingham’s current artist-in-residence, will also perform. The Opera Birmingham {…}
Marble City Opera has announced the 2025 Pop-Up Opera Party, an annual fundraising gala. The gala will take place on Jan. 25, 2025, at the Dogwood Center at the Knoxville Botanical Gardens. The event will feature several opera performances popping up during the course of the evening and different arias will be performed by singers who have been mingling among {…}
Beth Morrison Projects (BMP) has announced Harriet Steinke and Anuj Bhutani as the finalists for the third edition of BMP: NEXTGEN, the company’s composer competition for contemporary vocal works. The announcement follows a semifinal round held on Nov. 23-24, 2024, at National Sawdust in New York City, where 10 semifinalists presented their compositions during live performances. The finalists were chosen {…}
The Rutgers Presbyterian Church will be the site of “Remembering Gheorghe Costinescu” on Dec. 7, 2024. The showcase will shine the spotlight on the composer, conductor, pianist, musicologist, and artist with live performance and live performance videos featuring a number of artists. Soprano Lucy Shelton will appear in a live performance video of “Jublius” and there will also be a {…}
Opera Revue is set to present “Bach – Humbug” on Dec. 8, 2024. The show is described as being for those who aren’t ardent lovers of the holiday season. “Tired of hearing the same old holiday tunes on repeat every time you walk into a department store? Us too. So, we are gathering our friends, donning our finest holiday attire, {…}