Q & A: Puerto Rican Soprano Kresley Figueroa on Her Upcoming Metropolitan Opera Debut, the Mid-Atlantic Symphony Orchestra & Performing with Regional Orchestras

(Credit: Soloman Howard) Puerto Rican soprano Kresley Figueroa is a graduate of the Cafritz Young Artist with Washington National Opera where she has performed in numerous productions including “The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs,” “Partenope,” “La Périchole,” and “The Lion, The Unicorn, and Me.” She has also appeared alongside Renée Fleming, Thomas Hampson, and Denyce Graves in WNO’s annual gala. Figueroa {…}

Dec 5, 2025

Q & A: Sara Jakubiak on her Debut at the Teatro alla Scala, ‘Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk’ & Opening Night

The Teatro alla Scala’s opening night is one of the most important evenings in the opera world. The opening is always held on December 7, which celebrates the feast of Sant’Ambrogio. It is also streamed globally, creating much buzz around the world. For this year’s celebration, the Milan theater has chosen Shostakovich’s masterwork “Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk” with Sara Jakubiak {…}

Dec 4, 2025

In Less Than Five Minutes, Get To Know Soprano Francesca Aspromonte

(Photo: Andrea Chemelli) OperaWire recently met up with the Italian soprano Francesca Aspromonte while she was preparing for her role as Servilia at Venice’s Teatro La Fenice. In spring 2026, her new CD, dedicated to the beautiful music of Alessandro Scarlatti, will be released on the Aparté label, in which she will be accompanied by her husband, Boris Begelman, on {…}

Dec 2, 2025

Q & A: Katharina Konradi on Her New Album, Liszt & Collaboration with Daniel Heide

Earlier this month, soprano Katharina Konradi and pianist Daniel Heide released their new album, the third volume of their complete recordings of Liszt’s art songs. Since Liszt was one of the few Central European composers of his time who had mastered the French language in addition to German, the project is exclusively devoted to vocal settings of poems in French. Konradi is the {…}

Nov 25, 2025

Q & A: Sonya Yoncheva on Giordano, ‘Andrea Chenier,’ ‘Marina’ & HD Recordings

(Credit: Manfred Baumann) Soprano Sonya Yoncheva is one of the most unique modern opera stars in the world. Where most take the conventional path, the soprano tends to experiment and move in directions that are constantly surprising. She’s engaged with the baroque repertoire, the bel canto, works by Mozart, romantic repertory, and verismo with a fluidity and mastery that few {…}

Nov 18, 2025

Q & A: Ilanah Lobel-Torres on What Inspires Her Most as an Opera Singer

(Photo: Angéline Moizard) As a young singer from New York, Ilanah Lobel-Torres never imagined that a few bars of music in a supporting role {…}

Nov 14, 2025

Q & A: Soprano Emily Michiko Jensen Singing Cio-Cio San, the Role ‘That Started it All’

In childhood soprano Emily Michiko Jensen performed as a “super” for San Diego Opera’s production of “Madama Butterfly,” along with her sister. Now, she will star as Cio-Cio San in Opera San José’s “Madama Butterfly”, which opens on Nov. 16 and runs through the 30th. Jensen, a Japanese-American San Diego native who draws from her rich heritage as a woman {…}

Nov 12, 2025

In Less Than Five Minutes, Get To Know Soprano Jane Burnell

The up-and-coming British soprano Jane Burnell recently made her role debut as Countess Cortese in “Il Viaggio di Reims” at the Wexford Festival Opera. OperaWire was lucky to meet up with her for a quick interview to get to know more about her. OperaWire: What was the first opera you went to see? Jane Burrell: I was about 11 years {…}

Nov 8, 2025

Q & A: Composer Missy Mazzoli & Author George Saunders on ‘Lincoln in the Bardo’

(Photo: Missy Mazzoli is an acclaimed composer of experimental chamber operas whose oeuvre ranges from electronic avant rock to short-form chamber operas. One of the first two women to receive a commission from the Metropolitan Opera, she joined forces with her longtime collaborator, Pulitzer Prize-winning librettist Royce Vavrek, to created the highly anticipated “Lincoln in the Bardo,” premiering at the {…}

Interviews