Opera Index has announced the winners of its 2026 Vocal Competition, awarding $100,000 in grants to emerging opera singers. Five singers received $10,000 awards: mezzo-soprano Hannah Jones (the Jessie Walker Memorial Award), tenor Angel Gomez (the Lois Kirshenbaum Memorial Award), countertenor Jake Ingbar (the Maude Davis Memorial Award), tenor Matthew Sink (the Opera Index Membership Award) and baritone Dominic Townsend {…}
Lyric Fest will present “An die Nacht” (“To the Night”) on Nov. 7 at Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church and Nov. 8 at First Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia. Curated by co-artistic director Randall Scarlata, both performances begin at 3 p.m. and feature soprano Meredith Wohlgemuth, tenor William Ferguson, Scarlata, and pianist Laura Ward. The program includes works by Schubert, Robert Schumann, {…}
The Barbican will present the UK premiere of Prach Boondiskulchok’s chamber opera “Burmese Days” on June 19, 2027, at LSO St Luke’s. Commissioned by La Monnaie, “Burmese Days” marks the first time a major European opera house has commissioned a Thai composer. The opera, based on George Orwell’s novel, has a libretto by poet Sarah Howe. The world premiere at {…}
The Mozartists have announced five new Associate Artists. The artists include soprano Bella Marslen, mezzo-soprano Ellen Pearson, countertenor Zheng Jiang, baritone Sam Hird and pianist Yihan Zhao. Marslen, Pearson and Hird will make their full company debuts in “The Truth About Love” at Cadogan Hall on Jan. 27, 2027, joining current Associate Artists Ava Dodd and Hugo Brady. Presented in {…}
EastWest Artistry NYC will present “Salon de Lumière,” an evening of vocal and instrumental performances, on Nov. 19 at OPERA America in New York. The event is curated and artistically directed by Lena Wu, founder and artistic director of EastWest Artistry NYC. Croatian soprano Jelena Štefanić will travel from Croatia to perform Pablo Luna’s “De España vengo” and Reynaldo Hahn’s {…}
The American Prize has named Landlocked Opera of Columbia, Mo., the winner of the professional division of its 2026 Opera Performance competition for its production of “The Elixir of Love.” In the professional division, Painted Sky Opera of Oklahoma City took second place for Mazzoli and Vavrek’s “Proving Up,” and Opera Modesto of Modesto, Calif., placed third for Sotelo and {…}
Soprano Zoe McCormick of Ponoka, Alberta, won first prize at the Canadian Opera Company’s 13th annual Centre Stage: Ensemble Studio Competition, held Oct. 22 at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts in Toronto. McCormick received $12,500 for her performance of “Adieu, notre petite table” from Massenet’s “Manon.” She is a member of Calgary Opera’s McPhee Artist Development Program {…}
Gil Rose, alongside the Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP), will open its season with a concert at NEC’s Jordan Hall in Boston, on Nov. 6, 2026. The concert will feature soprano Julia Bullock in her BMOP debut, weaving poetry and voice in Samuel Barber’s iconic “Knoxville: Summer of 1915” and two movements from Matt Aucoin’s “The No One’s Rose.” The {…}
(Photo: Patrick Redmond) In 2011, Colm Tóibín’s play, “Testament,” premiered at the Dublin Theatre Festival. The piece required only a single actress, who, cast as Mary, recalls the life of her son, Jesus, as she remembers it. It is a very personal recollection, one that does not always correspond to his life as presented in the gospels. Fast forward to {…}
Jintian Ma took first place at the Schmidt Vocal Arts Southern California Regional Competition, held Oct. 24 at Chapman University in Orange, California. Lucy Glow placed second and Keanu Ho third. Ma, of Irvine, California, received $2,500, Glow, of Phoenix, Arizona, received $2,000, and Ho, also of Irvine, received $1,500. All three advance to the organization’s National Competition at Sarasota {…}
A forensic review commissioned by Bard College found a “strong substantive basis” for questioning two emails in the Justice Department’s Epstein files. The emails purportedly show former Bard president Leon Botstein corresponding with Jeffrey Epstein about an individual identified as Jane Doe. FTI Consulting delivered its report to Bard’s Board of Trustees on Oct. 19, 2026, responding to an Oct. {…}