Q & A: LA Opera CEO & President Christopher Koelsch on the Company’s 2020-21 Season, Renée Fleming & ‘Breaking the Waves’

The LA Opera announced its 2020-21 season featuring five main stage production, four new productions and a number of second stage productions through its Connects and LA Opera Grand sections. Among the composers featured in the programming are Missy Mazzoli, Verdi, Mozart, Handel, and Rossini. In light of the new season announcement, CEO and president of the house Christopher Koelsch {…}

Jan 26, 2020

Returning Home – How Khori Dastoor Went From Resident Artist to General Manager at Opera San José

(Credit: John Hardy) Back in early April 2019, the Opera San José Board of Directors announced that Khori Dastoor would be taking over as General Manager. The announcement was the culmination of a unique relationship that saw Dastoor rise from performer to manager in just a little over a decade. Irene Dalis’ Call Back in 2007, Dastoor was a soprano {…}

Jan 4, 2020

Q & A: Opera on the James General Director Marco Nisticò On His Multi-Faceted Career

Opera on the James, located in Lynchburg, Virginia named singer, director, and teacher, Marco Nisticò General Director this past June. Nisticò summed up his mission on the company’s website, saying, “[Opera] has the capacity to move, inspire, provoke thought, and entertain. It helps us to understand who we are and how we relate to each other. As director of Opera {…}

Dec 29, 2019

Q & A: Conductor Riccardo Frizza On the Transformation of the Donizetti Opera Festival

(Credit: © Joan Tomás – Fidelio Artist) In 2019 the Donizetti Opera Festival celebrated its fifth anniversary after winning the prestigious Best Festival at the Oper! Magazine Awards. The festival showcased three works by the famed composer that brought an international audience and a number of rising stars and international singers. It was also the second year for famed conductor {…}

Dec 15, 2019

Q & A: Conductor Francesco Milioto on Korngold’s ‘Der Ring des Polykrates’ & Numi Opera’s Mission

(Source: Francescomilioto.com) Earlier this year, Numi Opera took on “Der Zwerg” by Zemlinsky, officially launching a project that aimed to shine a spotlight on Jewish composers banned by Hitler. Now the company is set for its second production, “Der Ring des Polykrates” by Erich Wolfgang Korngold, best known for “Die tote Stadt.” In taking on this Korngold work, the company {…}

Dec 5, 2019

The Unexpected Heroine – How Alice Mong, Candace Chong, Eli Marshall & Chu Hei Chan Created ‘Mila’

Alice Mong, the Executive Director of the Asia Society Hong Kong Center never realized how much operatic talent there was in Hong Kong and Asia. That is, until she saw them work in a masterclass with soprano Renée Fleming in 2013. Watching these artists work alongside the famed diva made Mong realize that Hong Kong and Asia was full of {…}

Dec 1, 2019

Q & A: Director Damiano Michieletto on Searching For Truth, Wagner, Janácek, & Putting Drugs into ‘L’Elisir D’Amore’

(Credit: Yasuko Kageyama) Damiano Michieletto is one of the most sought after directors today. Born in Venice, he graduated in modern literature at the Venice University and then went on to study theatre and opera production at the Paolo Grassi School of Dramatic Art in Milan. Success would follow him soon after when he debuted in 2003 at the Wexford {…}

Nov 29, 2019

Q & A: Director Emilio Sagi on ‘Il Pirata’ & His Passion For Bel Canto

(Credit: Javier del Real) Few opera directors have had as much influence as Emilio Sagi. After nearly 40 years, he is not just any other opera director – he is a brand and an icon, his work easily identifiable. He debuted in his native Oviedo with “La Traviata” in 1980 before triumphing in Madrid with “Don Pasquale” in 1982. Since {…}

Nov 20, 2019

Q & A: Julien Bilodeau On ‘Another Brick In The The Wall’ & Roger Water’s Influence On The Opera

(Credit: Philippe Stirnweiss) Since its world premiere in 2017, “Another Brick in the Wall” has garnered popularity throughout North America. The opera, based on the era defining album “The Wall” by Julien Bilodeau and first performed in Montreal before heading to the United Stated. The work, which set out to “give the audience an opportunity to discover a new dimension {…}

Nov 17, 2019

Mother Goose – How Composer Felix Jarrar Created A Subversive Fairy Tale Opera

(Credit: Orlando Mendiola) Once Upon a Time composer Felix Jarrar examined the life of Kiki de Montparnasse in “Tabula Rasa.” He delved into the dark depths of Edgar Allan Poe’s “House of Usher.” He brought Ebenezer Scrooge out of the darkness and into the light with “A Christmas Carol.” He examined the myth of “Apollo and Hermes.” But four operas {…}

Nov 8, 2019

Winds of Change – How Deborah Sandler & Joanne Burns Are Transforming The Lyric Opera of Kansas City

The winds of change are sweeping down the plains. Bring them on, say the directors of The Lyric Opera of Kansas City. Given the chance to re-invent itself with the opening of the Kauffman Center in 2011 and new production-facilities buildings shortly thereafter, the Lyric has grasped the opportunity with an impressive energy, wholly characteristic of the region’s revival. {…}

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