Q & A: Conductor Daniela Candillari Discusses Her Met Debut Conducting ‘Eurydice’ and Her Approach to Score Study

(Photo credit: Damjan Svarc) Conductor Daniela Candillari makes her Met Opera podium debut on Wednesday, December 8th, pacing Matthew Aucoin and Sarah Ruhl’s ‘Eurydice.’ OperaWire connects with Candillari to discuss her creative process leading up to ‘Eurydice’ and how she constructs her perspective. OperaWire: What moments in Aucoin’s work do you enjoy most and how do they resonate with you? Daniela {…}

Dec 1, 2021

Q & A: Conductor Steven Fox on the Clarion Choir, ‘Judas Maccabeus’ & Live Performances

On Dec. 1, the Clarion Choir and Clarion Orchestra will join forces for a free concert with Isabel Leonard and Anthony Roth Costanzo to perform a suite from “Judas Maccabeus” at historic Temple Emanu-El in celebration of Hanukkah. The program will also include arias, duets, and choruses from Händel’s “Esther,” “Israel in Egypt,” and “Rodelinda.” OperaWire had a chance to {…}

Nov 22, 2021

Q & A: Rafael Payare on his Big Dreams for the San Diego Symphony

Rafael Payare dreams big. The Venezuelan conductor arrived in San Diego during the 2019-20 season ready to make his mark with the orchestra and to establish it as one of the leading American orchestras in the world. But that dream was slowed down in March 2020 when the pandemic struck. But it didn’t stop the conductor from creating. During that {…}

Nov 18, 2021

Q & A: Soprano Elise Caluwaerts On Her Love For Mozart, Alma Mahler’s Songs and The Future of Opera

(Credit: Lalo Gonzalez) Elise Caluwaerts simultaneously studied at the conservatories of Antwerp with Lucienne Van Deyck (classical singing) and Brussels (early music), followed by the Royal Conservatory in The Hague, where she graduated cum laude with Diane Forlano. She took master classes with Peter Kooij, Elly Ameling, David Wilson Johnson, Jozef De Beenhouwer and Gemma Visser. She also coached in {…}

Oct 30, 2021

Q & A: Amy Crankshaw on Pauline Viardot, ‘Cendrillon’ & Orchestrating the Iconic Work

On Nov. 1, 2021, Guildhall School’s Opera will present a double bill of Bizet’s “Le Docteur Miracle” and Pauline Viardot’s “Cendrillon.” The production will fulfill Viardot’s desire with a new chamber orchestration by Amy Crankshaw, Guildhall doctoral composer and a graduate of the school’s MA Opera Making & Writing program presented in an association with the Royal Opera House. The {…}

Oct 29, 2021

Q & A: ‘Zombie Opera’ Creators on Putting on Performance Featuring Undead

Zombies and Opera… Raise your hand if that’s a combination that immediately comes to mind? Yeah me neither. In fact they couldn’t feel more different could they? Zombies are the incarnation of chaos. The texture of zombie films and art is grimy, decayed. It could not be further from popular culture’s opera references. The opulent. The high art. The sublime. {…}

Oct 28, 2021

Q & A: Composer Felix Jarrar and BARN Opera’s Creative Team on ‘Cask of Amontillado’

Prolific young composer and pianist Felix Jarrar’s ninth opera will premiere virtually on Oct. 31, 2021, and in keeping with the Halloween season, his latest chamber opera is based on an Edgar Allan Poe story. This time around, Jarrar’s libretto is an adaptation of “The Cask of Amontillado” which relates the tale of a quest for a bottle of Spanish {…}

Oct 20, 2021

Q & A : Conductor Marlon Daniel on Developing Young Talent in Cuba through his New Discovery Opera Project

In most countries around the world, once you leave the conservatory setting, you have a number of options through which you can build your career. Whether it be working with independent companies, engaging with young artist programs, or even doing residencies, there are options, albeit competitive ones, available to the burgeoning opera artist. In some countries, there are even the {…}

Oct 9, 2021

Q & A: Fergus Sheil on the Irish National Opera, Reinvention & the 2021-22 Season

Founded in 2018, the Irish National Opera has put itself on the map for its innovation, operatic productions, and world premieres. During the pandemic, the company was forced to halt live performances, only two years into its work. However, due to its recent founding, the organization was able to pivot to virtual performances with ease, creating such works as “20 Shots {…}

Sep 18, 2021

‘The Last Stand’ – Dr. Kamala Sankaram Discusses her Opera for Trees

Credit: Dario Acosta It has the elements of opera: singing; a story communicated through sound; and a hero that is born, faces obstacles, makes a sacrifice, and dies. The work in question is the public sound installation and experimental opera “The Last Stand” by Dr. Kamala Sankaram, to be presented by Creative Time in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park from September 18 {…}

Aug 14, 2021

Q & A: Barbara Hendricks on the UNHCR, Compassion & Refugees

(Credit: © UNHCR/Markel Redondo) Opera audiences may know Barabra Hendricks for her historical operatic performances and her forays into jazz. But for the past 35 years, Hendricks has dedicated her work to the UNHCR as the longest-serving Goodwill Ambassador. She has traveled to Mozambique, Zambia, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Ethiopia, Burkina Faso, and Cote D’Ivoire as an ambassador and visited refugee {…}

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