Joshua Conyers is recognized as one of the leading dramatic baritones of today. Described by the New York Times as having a “sonorous baritone that wheedled and seduced” and by the Washington Post as having a “show stealing performance;” his is a remarkable story that starts in abject poverty, from the shelters, drug abuse, and violence of his childhood home {…}
(Photo: Welmer Keesmaat) Director Jorinde Keesmaat is working on the concept and staging of a new project, “SHE/HER/ME,” an opera film installation with film and dialogue by Jean Cocteau, music by Philip Glass, and new composition by Molly Joyce. Keesmaat was invited as the keynote speaker to a Women’s Leadership event, ahead of International Women’s Day, to the Consulate General {…}
(Photo: Tomas Kullström) Swedish mezzo-soprano Alexandra Olsson Andersen’s work spans opera, concert, theater, and film, with a growing reputation for physically demanding roles and a strong presence in the trouser repertoire. She studied at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm, the Norwegian National Academy of Opera in Oslo, and the Manhattan School of Music in New York, where she {…}
Opera history is full of lost works. It is also missing champions with the interest and desire to find the missing pieces and give these operas a second life. That’s not the case with Lawrence H. Levens, custodian and guardian of the Barnes/Dixon/Myers Historical Harlem Papers, who has worked tirelessly to restore a work by Will H. Dixon, a pioneering African-American {…}
Tonight, Pittsburgh Opera will set the stage to “Time to Act’s” world premiere. A new opera whose setting is a modern day high school and whose characters are teenagers, the opera’s slogan is “build the world you want to see.” The students’ preparation for a production of Sophocles’ classic Greek tragedy, “Antigone,” quickly turns into a parallel story of {…}
(Photo: Press Image) Included in the TOP TEN rising stars of opera by OperaWire in 2022, soprano Francesca Pia Vitale has won numerous international awards after graduating in 2020 from the Accademia Teatro alla Scala in Milan. She is renowned for her eclectic repertoire that in recent months ranges from “Tancredi” to “Rigoletto” and “Orfeo ed Euridice.” She is currently {…}
(Credit: Gemma Escribano) This month Ruth Iniesta is set to return to the Teatro de la Zarzuela, where she will sing the role of La duquesa de Medina in “Jugar con Fuego.” The zarzuela by Francisco Asenjo Barbieri, which premiered in 1851, is relatively unknown and for this production, the Madrid theater will present a new production. Throughout the past {…}
Valeria Sepe is one most sought-after Italian sopranos of her generation. A graduate of the Conservatory “G. F. Ghedini” in Cuneo, she has performed at leading house in Firenze, Naples, Palermo, Parma and Verona, growing her reputation as a major Verdi, Puccini, and verismo interpreter. This season, Sepe will make her debut as Maddalena in “Andrea Chénier” and will sing {…}
(Photo credit: J. Kraemer) Following the release of the Spanish edition of MaestraMagic!’s comic book, “La Flauta Mágica,” Dr. Elizabeth Askren sat down with OperaWire to discuss this creative journey. The project started as part of Askren’s mixed-media edutainment show that she created with her daughter Lily during the lockdown in 2020. The English version and first edition of the {…}