(Credit: Harold Shapiro) On July 9, the Caramoor Festival will present a Livestream event entitled “Listening to Tom-Tom.” The event will be an in-depth exploration of Shirley Graham Du Bois’ opera, “Tom-Tom,” the first opera written and staged by an African American woman. The work has not been produced since its initial run in 1932 and all that survives of {…}
“I am Khumn!” These were the first words ever spoken on stage by baritone Michael Hewitt. The phrase is one you might expect from the Narrator in “Akhnaten” but not in a fifth-grade educational history play about ancient Egypt. According to Hewitt, his entrance was dramatic and well-received. He recounted striding to center stage, dressed from head-to-toe in black and shrouded in dense fog. {…}
On July 9, the Caramoor Festival will present a Livestream event entitled “Listening to Tom-Tom.” The event will be an in-depth exploration of Shirley Graham Du Bois’ opera, “Tom-Tom,” the first opera written and staged by an African American woman. The work has not been produced since its initial run in 1932 and all that survives of the score is {…}
Since the members of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra were furloughed, the orchestra has launched a fundraising initiative in order to channel its energy into education and engagement through teaching and performing. The fundraising campaign was created in order for the orchestra to be able to do outreach programs and to create new events and concerts during these times of COVID-19. {…}
Back in 2018, baritone Jonathan Estabrooks received a call from Lynne Block, the daughter of pre-eminent bass-baritone Simon Estes. She wanted to see if Estabrooks would work with her on a short documentary about her father’s life. Estabrooks, an internationally renowned performer, was also actively involved in the recording industry, creating music-related documentaries, hybrid music videos, and directing a TV {…}
(Photo: Riccardo Scrocca) The coronavirus has had a huge impact on theaters and live performances, and opera has certainly not been immune from its consequences. With the theatres closed, singers, directors and musicians, set and costume designers and conductors, to name but a few, have all seen their work come to an abrupt halt. For the stars, this may be {…}
The moment Latonia Moore stepped onstage during the Opening Night performance of “Porgy and Bess,” launching the Metropolitan Opera’s 2019-20 season, the audience was mesmerized. The soprano stole the show with her potent rendition of “My man’s gone now.” She received arguably the most applause of the evening and critics praised her for her “intensity.” Moore made her Met debut {…}
“Allure” and “brightness” have been some of the words used to describe mezzo-soprano Varduhi Abrahamyan. The Franco-Armenian mezzo is one of today’s rising stars, having performed at many of the leading theaters in the world including the Gran Teatre del Liceu, Théâtre des Champs Elysées, Opéra de Marseille, and Opernhaus Zürich. She is recognized for her Bel Canto interpretations in {…}
(Credit: Monika Rittershaus) On May 29, Oper Frankfurt will reopen its theater with its first concert in nearly 3 months. To celebrate the occasion, the company chose acclaimed soprano Maria Bengtsson to lead the performance in an all-Strauss program. The soprano was supposed to be performing a production of “Der Rosenkavalier” in Frankfurt. Bengtsson is a well-known soprano who has {…}