Beth Morrison Projects Announces ‘Next Generation’ Finalists

https://operawire.com/beth-morrison-projects-announces-next-generation-finalists/

The “BMP: Next Generation” will showcase works by Michael Lanci and Emma O’Halloran at the National Sawdust on February 20 and 21, 2019. The two works, about 30 minutes in duration, will include Lanci’s satirical operetta “Crude Capital,” which was written by Ajax Phillips, and O’Halloran’s monodrama “Mary Motorhead,” which was based on a play by her uncle Mark O’Halloran. {…}

News

Plácido Domingo, Renée Fleming & Matthew Aucoin Headline LA Opera’s 2019-20 Season

https://operawire.com/placido-domingo-renee-fleming-matthew-aucoin-headline-la-operas-2019-20-season/

The LA Opera has announced its 2019-20 season featuring six new productions, two company premieres, and one world pmiere. Here is a look at what to expect. Main Stage Barrie Kosky directs the first production of Puccini’s “La Bohème” in 25 years. Marina Costa-Jackson makes her LA Opera debut in the title role with Saimir Pirgu as Rodolfo. Erica Petroelli, {…}

Special Features

Best of 2018: OperaWire Staff Picks Most Memorable Opera Performances Of the Year

https://operawire.com/best-of-2018-operawire-staff-picks-most-memorable-opera-performances-of-the-year/

Yes, it’s that time of the year where we wax poetic about transformative experiences we have had over the course of the last 300 or so days. Sometimes we curate these experiences as rankings to fuel some individual emotions, and at other moments we simply do what we are doing with this piece – let a few different people chip {…}

Behind the Scenes, Interviews

Q & A: Niloufar Talebi on ‘Abraham in Flames’ & Being a Multi-Faceted Creator

https://operawire.com/q-a-niloufar-talebi-on-abraham-in-flame-being-a-multi-faceted-creator/

Niloufar Talebi is an author, award-winning translator, multi-disciplinary artist, and producer. She has received commissions from Carnegie Hall, Cal Performances, and the Atlanta Symphony, and her work has been featured at Stanford Live, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Kennedy Center, World Literature Today, PBS Frontline, ArteEast, Bidoun, Poetry International, Rattapalax, and Mother Jones Magazine. {…}

Special Features

Composer Missy Mazzoli On Creating ‘Lincoln In the Bardo’ For the Metropolitan Opera

https://operawire.com/composer-missy-mazzoli-on-working-with-lincoln-in-the-bardo-for-the-metropolitan-opera/

A little over a month ago, the news struck that the Metropolitan Opera would be bringing in a plethora of new works, branching out its operations to new venues, and would be bringing in women composers to expand its creative output. Among those composers is Missy Mazzoli, whose profile as a leading composer has rocketed in the last few years. {…}

IndieOpera

Beth Morrison Projects Announces 2018-19 Season

https://operawire.com/beth-morrison-projects-announces-2018-19-season/

The Beth Morrison Projects has announced its 2018-19 season, featuring a number of world premieres and stops at numerous festivals. Here is a look. New York The Beth Morrison Projects will make a stop in New York at the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Next Wave Festival with “Place’s” world premiere. The opera with music by Ted Hearne and a libretto {…}

Reviews, Stage Reviews

River to River Festival 2018 Review: Naamah’s Ark

https://operawire.com/river-to-river-festival-2018-review-naamahs-ark/

This Review is for the performance on Sunday, June 17th. The River to River Festival, presented by the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (LMCC), showcased Marisa Michelson and Royce Vavrek’s “Naamah’s Ark” in Rockefeller Park at the start of this year’s 76th season. This community oratorio included seven ensembles and six soloists – Victoria Clark, as Naamah, Cantor Rebecca Garfein of Congregation {…}

News

David Hertzberg Wins The Music Critics Association of North America

https://operawire.com/david-hertzberg-wins-the-music-critics-association-of-north-america/

The Music Critics Association of North America is pleased to announce that its second annual award for Best New Opera has been given to composer David Hertzberg for “The Wake World.” The opera, which received its premiere on September 18, 2017, was commissioned by Opera Philadelphia in a co-presentation with The Barnes Foundation and received rave reviews. In fact, all performances {…}