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Obituary: Legendary Mezzo-Soprano Mignon Dunn Dies at 98

https://operawire.com/obituary-legendary-mezzo-soprano-mignon-dunn-dies-at-98/

American mezzo-soprano Mignon Dunn has died at the age of 98. Dunn was born on June 17, 1928 in Memphis, Tennessee and grew up in Tyronza, Arkansas. Dunn went on to study with Karin Branzell and Beverley Peck Johnson and made her professional debut, in the title role of Bizet’s opera “Carmen,” on Sept. 8, 1955, at the New Orleans {…}

Behind the Scenes, Interviews

Bringing Her Home – Composer Leonard Lehrman on the Decades-Long Journey to Get ‘Sima’ its NYC Premiere

https://operawire.com/bringing-her-home-composer-leonard-lehrman-on-the-decades-long-journey-to-get-sima-its-ny-premiere/

(Photo by Jonathan Slaff) In the 1970s, Leonard Lehrman, a Kansas-born but Long Island-raised composer of 12 operas and seven musicals whose major mentors include Elie Siegmeister, Lenore Anhalt, and Olga Heifetz, wrote “Sima,” an opera about a Jewish girl orphaned by a pogrom in 1905 in Ukraine. For decades, the composer attempted to bring the opera to a New {…}

Obituary: Legendary Mezzo Mildred Miller Dies at 98

https://operawire.com/obituary-legendary-mezzo-mildred-miller-dies-at-98/

(Credit: Met Opera Archives) Mezzo-soprano Mildred Miller has died at the age of 98. Born in Cleveland, Ohio, she attended the Cleveland Metropolitan School District and graduated from West High School in 1942. She then studied at the Cleveland Institute of Music and the New England Conservatory. She also went on to study at the Tanglewood Music Center and {…}

Special Features

Starring ‘The Inalienable Property of Genius’: Maria Callas’ Celestial Onstage Quests

https://operawire.com/starring-the-inalienable-property-of-genius-maria-callas-celestial-onstage-quests/

(Callas greeting fans. Credit: © Archiv Lebeck.) Editor’s Note: In anticipation of the release of “The Callas Imprint: A Centennial Biography” on Dec. 2, 2023, OperaWire is sharing a preview. “Greatness” is a noun too frequently assigned to humans. Victims of this label view the happening of “genius” as a capricious, “limited time only” gift. Here we follow Callas on {…}

Behind the Scenes, Interviews

Q & A: Sarah Kirkland Snider on Composing & Recording ‘Mass for the Endangered’

https://operawire.com/q-a-sarah-kirkland-snider-on-new-recording-mass-for-the-endangered-writing-the-piece/

On Sept. 25, Composer Sarah Kirkland Snider released her latest album “Mass for the Endangered,” a celebration of, and an elegy for, the natural world—animals, plants, insects, the planet itself—an appeal for greater awareness, urgency, and action. The piece is a six-movement Mass for the Endangered and is a rumination on the concept of the traditional Catholic Mass. It features {…}

Eurasia Festival Set to Present Scenes From ‘Don Giovanni’ This March

https://operawire.com/azatt-sessions-set-to-present-scenes-from-don-giovanni-this-march/

The Eurasia Festival’s Opera Studio is set to shift their focus on scenes and ensembles from Mozart and Da Ponte’s “Don Giovanni” throughout February and March. The Eurasia Festival, which is led by Aza Sydykov and Marc Verzatt at the Eurasia Cultural Center in Manhattan, will take place on Feb. 29, March 7, 14, and 21, culminating in a performance {…}

Interviews, Stage Spotlight

New Life With Hearing – How Soprano Anne Walker Overcame Hearing Loss To Revive Her Singing Career

https://operawire.com/new-life-with-hearing-how-soprano-anne-walker-overcame-hearing-loss-to-revive-her-singing-career/

“This is the greatest miracle of science and technology,” said lyric soprano Dr. Anne Walker in a recent chat with OperaWire. “I’m not sure where it’s going, but I know it’s not for nothing.” Though her destination may be uncertain, she has come from a place of feeling isolated and ashamed. Artistically Compromised Over 15 years ago, before she turned {…}

Eurasia Festival To Present ‘Azatt Sessions’

https://operawire.com/eurasia-festival-to-present-azatt-sessions/

Marc Verzatt and Aza Sydykov are set to join forces to create the “Azatt Sessions,” a regular series of masterclasses and workshops for singers presented by the Eurasia Festival in New York City. Verzatt, a renowned stage director, will work with students on dramatic interpretation and stage comportment while Sydykov, a conductor and pianist, will focus on musical interpretation as {…}

Artist Profile: Samuel Ramey, A Versatile Bass

https://operawire.com/artist-profile-samuel-ramey-a-versatile-bass/

Samuel Ramey is one of the most versatile singers of his time. The bass was born on March 28, 1942, and studied at Kansas State University. From there he studied further at Central City and was an apprentice artist at the Santa Fe Opera. He had a major breakthrough in 1973 at the New York City Opera in “Carmen.” From {…}