(Photo Credit: Victor Santiago) Francesco Meli is one of the world’s leading tenors and has performed some of the most demanding Italian repertoire at every major international opera house. During the pandemic Meli has remained visible thanks to many online concerts performed both from his home and from the concert hall. He has also been busy in the recording studio {…}
(Credit: Marco Borggreve) On April 11, the Staatsoper Stuttgart will present “A day with Ariadne auf Naxos: In Search of Lost Closeness.” The interactive day will feature Cornelius Meister conducting Richard Strauss’ “Der Bürger als Edelmann” and “Ariadne auf Naxos” and a number of other interactive activities including interviews, a backstage tour, and a virtual foyer with artists and performers. {…}
When the COVID crisis has hit literally every opera company — big or small – every manager was forced on deciding how to overcome it, based on their own experiences. Tenor and Opera Manager Chase Hopkins didn’t have much under his belt when in February 2020, just before the pandemic hit the United States, he was offered the position of {…}
Italy, the homeland of opera, is getting its own international vocal competition with the inaugural Vincerò World Singing Competition. The event which commemorates the 100-year anniversary of the great Enrico Caruso’s death in 1921, is a celebration of the artist, his hometown of Naples, and Italy’s opera culture. The competition is sponsored by the Ministry of Culture and organized by {…}
On March 26, award-winning composer Evan Mack’s new album of art song, “The Travelled Road” released worldwide on all major streaming platforms. The recording came about organically after Mack invited mezzo-soprano Megan Marino and pianist John Arida to Skidmore College in New York State to noodle around and explore some ideas. Marino and Arida had worked together, and with Mack, {…}
A former chief conductor of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and former music director of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, David Robertson has served in numerous artistic leadership positions. To this day he occupies some of the most prominent platforms of the international music scene and has been named an “American musical visionary.” His work in opera has reached new heights {…}
Grammy® Award-winning baritone Lucas Meachem and his wife, pianist, Irina, saw injustice up close this past summer. While many of us watched the aftermath of George Floyd’s death on television, the Meachem’s are Minneapolis residents. As calls for racial justice grew, and opera companies began taking stock of their own diversity, equity, and inclusivity, the Meachem’s knew they had a {…}
Perth’s West Australian Opera may be the remotest opera company in the world, situated by the side of the Indian Ocean on the other side of a treeless plain (the Nullarbor) that separates WA (as it is colloquially known) from the more populous east coast of Australia. That may partly explain its greater control over the more devastating effects of {…}
(Photo credit: Alisabeth Von Presley) For opera artists around the world, COVID-19 was a major blow. Not only did they lose the opportunity to work, but in most cases, they have often been the last to get the chance to make their return. While several industries around the world have opened and closed repeatedly with the differing waves of the {…}