OPERA America has announce the recipients for the 2020 Discovery Grants, which include over $100,000 for Female Composers. This year’s recipients include Lisa Bielawa for “Centuries in the Hours;” Justine F. Chen for “Seven Sisters;” Melissa Dunphy for “Alice Tierney;” Johanny Navarro for “¿Y los Pasteles? Ópera Jibara en Dos Actos;” Milica Paranosic for “Penelope and the Geese;” Kirsten Volness {…}
The Dutch National Opera has launched an online streaming platform showcasing some of the company’s recent productions. The streaming service will include opera and ballet and will also showcase arias, excerpts, and behind the scenes videos. It will also include a full dress rehearsal performance of “Ritratto,” which was filmed before the Dutch National Opera was forced to cancel the {…}
The Pacific Opera Victoria in Canada is launching online programming to continue to share music and knowledge during the COVID-19 quarantine. The company will launch its platform on Friday, March 27 with a Listening Party Podcast Fridays at 4 p.m. on pacificopera.ca. Rebecca Hass will be joined by local and national opera artists with each podcast set to include a {…}
The little OPERA theatre of ny has postponed its upcoming performances of Mozart’s “The Shepherd King (Il re pastore).” The work, which was originally slated for the Baryshnikov Arts Center from May 7-10, 2020, will now be showcased in the fall of 2020. However, those hoping for some snippet of the upcoming production will see a stream this Spring, per {…}
It has not been a particularly good few weeks for the Metropolitan Opera, which is set to lose around $60 million after canceling the remainder of the 2019-20 season, has now seen the ratings on $89 million bonds cut from Baa2 to Ba1. According to Bloomberg News, Moody’s Investor Services downgraded the company’s taxable municipal debt to levels and revised {…}
The Merola Opera Program has announced its 2020 program, which is scheduled between July 9 and August 22, 2020. The program, which will feature 29 artists from six countries and across the U.S., will include two concerts and two opera performances. “We are eagerly anticipating another group of outstanding young artists this summer at Merola,” said Jean Kellogg, Executive Director {…}
Really Spicy Opera in Minneapolis has announced the winners of its Quarantine Opera Initiative. The winners include “6 Feet Apart” by Bea Goodwin and Felix Jarrar; “Aborted Party” by Helena Michelson; “The Handoff” by Daniel Solon and Sean Pflueger; and “Viral” by Cecelia Raker and Keith Allegretti. The scenes submitted will be presented in video form at some point in {…}
Toledo Opera has unveiled its 2020-21 season which will feature two operas and a grand tour for the company. “In the fall, hopefully with this dark period behind us, we will have a greater need than ever for the arts and the unparalleled experience of live opera, so we have decided to announce our season at this time,” stated Suzanne {…}
(Credit: James Glossop) Opera is quivering, twisting, and turning. Could it be that we are in an opera renaissance? There is a new blood pulsing through its veins. Opera and theater makers are pulling at its heart, resuscitating our interest and taking us to diverse locations with as yet unclassifiable languages and forms. The Xen of Opera looks at the {…}
As so much of the world hunkers down during a pandemic that has shuttered live music venues for the foreseeable future, there’s no better time than now to discover new music. “Off the Beaten Track” highlights an album of note–not necessarily a new recording, but one that has caught my attention as I explore the universe of classical vocal music. {…}
(Credit:Javier del Real/© Gregor Hohenberg / Sony Classical/ Bernard Martinez) The Théâtre des Champs-Elysées has announced its 2020-21 season featuring a vast array of programs and stars. Here are opera and vocal performance highlights of the season: Operas Handel’s Messiah is set to be directed by Robert Wilson with Marc Minkowski conducting. The cast includes Elena Tsallagova, Helena Rasker, Richard {…}