(Credit: Jonathan Tichler / Met Opera) The Metropolitan Opera’s financial situation has taken another turn with its debt rating downgraded. According to a report in Bloomberg, the company’s Moody’s Rating cut the Met Opera’s debt rating further into junk, lowering it to Caa1 from B3 with a negative outlook. The downgrade was due to the organization’s “pronounced structural deficit” and {…}
(Photo: Lorenza Daverio) The Grosse Messe, or as it is known, the Great Mass in C minor, K. 427 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart occupies a singular place within the sacred repertoire. Monumental, deeply expressive, and paradoxically unfinished–much like his Requiem–the work emerged during one of the most intense periods in the composer’s life. The personal and professional context was complex and {…}
The Borletti-Buitoni Trust has announced its 2026 Awards and Fellowships, with two classical singers among this year’s honorees. Soprano Elisabeth Hetherington has been named a BBT Award recipient, receiving £30,000. The Canadian singer, based in the Netherlands, has built a reputation for her work spanning early and contemporary music. Irish mezzo-soprano Niamh O’Sullivan was named a BBT Fellow, receiving £20,000. {…}
Choral Arts, under the direction of conductor Marie Bucoy-Calavan, will present “From Darkness to Light” on Saturday, April 18, 2026 at the Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall and Arts Center in Alexandria, VA. The program opens with Ralph Vaughan Williams’ “Dona Nobis Pacem” featuring soprano Amy Broadbent and bass-baritone Edmund Milly. Also on the program is Gustav Holst’s “Two Psalms” {…}
Schmidt Vocal Arts has announced the winners of its 2025-26 Northern California Regional Competition, held at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music on Sunday, March 15, 2026. Jane Hasty of Burbank, CA took First Place, followed by Brooks Liang of Campbell, CA in Second Place, and Auralia Manís of Winston-Salem, NC in Third Place. Encouragement Awards went to Samsara Dluzak {…}
(Photo Credit: Natalie Powers / Met Opera) The Metropolitan Opera has announced the 10 singers that have advanced to the final round of the 2026 Metropolitan Opera Eric and Dominique Laffont Competition. The 2026 finalists are soprano Shannon Crowley (Great Lakes, Virginia Beach, VA), soprano Elizabeth Hanje (Northwest, Vestavia Hills, AL), soprano Song Hee Lee (Eastern, Seoul, South Korea), soprano {…}
The Israeli Opera has canceled its upcoming production due to security issues. The company said that it will no longer present “Die Zauberflöte,” which had been scheduled to run for the rest of this month. According to videos posted by the company on instagram, during rehearsals, artists were forced to go from the stage to shelters due to sirens and {…}
The Dutch National Opera has announced its 2025-26 season. Leoncavallo’s “Pagliacci” and Mascagni’s “Cavalleria rusticana” will be conducted by Andrea Battistoni. Leoncavallo’s work will star Corinne Winters, Riccardo Massi, Roman Burdenko, and Hubert Zapiór while Mascagni’s will star Raehann Bryce-Davis, SeokJong Baek, Enkelejda Shkoza, Roman Burdenko, and Maria Warenberg. Performance Dates: Sept. 5 – 23, 2026 Shostakovich’s “Cherry Town” will {…}
Gregory Kunde is set to perform at the Trump-run John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in a concert performance of “Il trittico” alongside the National Symphony Orchestra on April 29 and May 1, 2026. The orchestra announced that he will replace Jonathan Tetelman, who withdrew from the performances. Kunde will also headline the May 3 performance at Carnegie {…}
(Photo: Valentin Daniel Preissler) The annals of Baroque opera are filled with lost masterpieces—works that once dazzled European courts only to be silenced by shifting musical fashions. While the period ensemble Barockwerk Hamburg performs only a few times a year, their contribution to resurrecting rare Baroque gems is peerless. They have become the primary champions of Carl Heinrich Graun, an {…}
The Staatsoper unter den Linden has announced that Ludovic Tézier has withdrawn from Verdi’s “Un ballo in Maschera.” As a result, Amartuvshin Enkhbat will take over for Tézier for the March 29, April 1 and 4 performances in a new production by Rafael R. Villalobos. Enkhbat has performed the role at the San Francisco Opera and Teatro Regio di Parma. The {…}