(©Alessandro Lodola) Belgian-Italian director Maximilien Seren-Piccinni has deep roots in the history of music as he is a descendant of the famous Italian composer and master of opera buffa Niccolò Piccinni. From a young age, he has been involved in the arts, having been the personal assistant to Mario Monicelli and later studying opera directing at the Polo Nazionale Artistico {…}
(Photo: Alexander Shelley © Rémi Thériault / Joel Ivany © Taylor Long) OperaWire recently attended Canada’s National Arts Centre (NAC) for their National Arts Centre Orchestra (NACO) semi-staged production of Puccini’s “Tosca.” The day after their opening night performance, OperaWire was invited to sit down with the Music Director and Conductor of NACO, Alexander Shelley, and the Artistic Director of Edmonton {…}
Franco Fagioli is one of the leading virtuoso countertenors in the world, who has taken his own path in the repertoire and redefined the term countertenor. Having trained in the Italian school, Fagioli has performed works from the Bel Canto repertoire to great acclaim while also performing the baroque repertoire associated with countertenors. He has performed at the major opera {…}
(Photo: Marquita Lister press) As the Coordinator of the Vocal Studies Program and Director of Opera, soprano Marquita Lister is preparing for the school year at Morgan State University, where she teaches undergraduate and graduate students and directs fully staged operatic performances. She had a busy summer giving Master Classes and preparing professional singers for their operatic, concert, and recital {…}
(Photo: MKImpresari) Former Baritone Marcin Kopec has had a very successful career as an artist manager. In reality, he’s a mover, shaker, fixer, arranger, organizer, (he likes ‘Impresario’), and frequent savior behind the scenes of some of the most famous names in the business on some of the biggest stages in the world. OperaWire met up with Marcin in Covent {…}
(Photo: Ferdia Durkin) On the evening of Friday, September 26th, the Sligo Baroque Music Festival kicks off this year’s festival with a concert entitled “Corelliana” by the Vespres d’Amadi Baroque Orchestra, directed by Dani Espasa, at the city’s St. John’s Cathedral. As its name suggests, it is a festival dedicated to baroque music in all its forms, including opera. Although {…}
(Photo: BSoM Headshots) Baritone Donnie Ray Albert likes to quip that “[he’s] had many Besses in his life and [he’s] survived them all.” At 75, he’s enjoying spending time with Gwen, his wife of 52 years and traveling back and forth between his home north of Dallas to Austin where he’s a Distinguished Senior Lecturer in Voice at the University {…}
Joyce DiDonato has made a mark in the opera industry as a singer, advocate, and mentor, among many other endeavors the mezzo-soprano has done over the years. But she has also made a mark on the recording industry. Ever since, she has been recording with Warner and Erato, DiDonato has been on a mission to discover works in the modern, {…}
(Photo: Iga Beata Mackiewicz) Countertenor Rafal Tomkiewicz first came to the attention of OperaWire in 2018 at the Innsbruck Early Music Festival, where he was competing in the final of the Cesti Competition. It was an event that proved to be a springboard that launched his international career. Since that time, Tomkiewicz has seen his profile rise and now performs {…}