For over a year and a half, Jason Duika has not appeared on stage due to the pandemic. During that time, he found ways of performing and even founded his own company PorchOpera to create opportunities to reach audiences around his home. But the time has now come for the baritone to return to the stage to open West Bay {…}
(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 {…}
In 2019, Matilda Sterby graduated from the University College of Opera in Stockholm ready to begin her professional career. But 2020 was hit with a pandemic and Sterby’s operatic engagements were canceled including house and role debuts. As a result, the soprano was forced to take a job as a teacher and shift her career path in order to make {…}
(Credit: Sim Canetty Clarke/ Christina Raphaelle) Gerald Finley and Susan Bullock are two world-class artists who have performed at all the major opera stages the world over. Collectively, they have appeared at The Metropolitan Opera, the English National Opera, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Wiener Staatsoper, Canadian Opera Company, Carnegie Hall, Opera North, La Scala, Sydney Opera, La Monnaie, {…}
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 {…}
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. {…}
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 {…}
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 {…}
On Oct. 16, Michelle DeYoung will make her San Diego Symphony debut singing Mahler’s “Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen.” But the debut will be extra special because the concert will take place at the Rady Shell, a new bayside venue at Jacobs Park which has seen more than 88,000 visitors since its inauguration on August 8, 2021. OperaWire recently spoke to {…}
