Singing Penguins – Composer Allen Shearer & Librettist Claudia Stevens on the Inspiration for ‘Prospero’s Island’

https://operawire.com/singing-penguins-composer-allen-shearer-librettist-claudia-stevens-on-the-inspiration-for-prosperos-island/

“O brave new world that has such creativity in’t!’ “Prospero’s Island,” the forthcoming chamber opera by composer Allen Shearer and librettist Claudia Stevens, tells the tale. Ninth Planet, in co-production with InTandem, will present the world premiere at San Francisco’s Herbst Theater on March 25, 2023. It is to be performed by a cadre of young and exceptionally talented musical {…}

News

Obituary: Artistic Director & Mezzo-Soprano Willene Gunn Dies Following Heart Surgery

https://operawire.com/obituary-artistic-director-mezzo-soprano-willene-gunn-dies-following-heart-surgery/

Brava! Opera has announced the passing of Artistic Director and mezzo-soprano Willene Gunn on August 10, 2022, due to complications following surgery. For 30 years, Gunn served on the faculty of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music as Director of the Conservatory Opera Program. She was granted an honorary doctorate in music from the Conservatory upon her retirement in 2005. {…}

News

Lawrence Brownlee, Nicholas Phan, Gabriel Kahane Join San Francisco Performances’ July Music Session

https://operawire.com/lawrence-brownlee-nicholas-phan-gabriel-kahane-join-san-francisco-performances-july-music-session/

San Francisco Performances has announced three new vocal performances as part of its July music sessions. “Our planning for the Summer Music Sessions has been in the works for some time, and all along we had hoped to be able to include vocal performances in the complete line-up. However, at the time we announced this series, COVID guidelines for singers {…}

Special Features

The Ring in San Francisco – Remembering Kirsten Flagstad, Wagnerian Brünnhilde for the Ages

https://operawire.com/the-ring-in-san-francisco-remembering-kirsten-flagstad-wagnerian-brunnhilde-for-the-ages/

San Francisco Opera is in the midst of its month-long festival dedicated to Wagner’s “Ring Cycle.” In the coming weeks, Lois Silverstein will explore her experience not only revisiting the 2018 opera production but several of the events and panels presented by the company. Paul Thomasen and Anika E. Englehart gave a fine lecture on foremost Wagnerian soprano of the 2oth {…}

News, Special Features

The Ring in San Francisco – The History of Wagner’s Tetralogy in San Francisco

https://operawire.com/the-ring-in-san-francisco-the-history-of-wagners-tetralogy-in-san-francisco/

San Francisco Opera is in the midst of its month-long festival dedicated to Wagner’s “Ring Cycle.” In the coming weeks, Lois Silverstein will explore her experience not only revisiting the 2018 opera production but several of the events and panels presented by the company. Senior Communications Manager of San Francisco Opera Jeffery McMillan and San Francisco Opera Archivist Barbara Rominiski gave {…}

Behind the Scenes, Interviews

Q & A: San Francisco Conservatory of Music Voice Chair César Ulloa On the Art & Craft of Voice Instruction

https://operawire.com/q-a-san-francisco-conservatory-of-music-voice-department-chair-and-master-teacher-cesar-ulloa-on-the-art-craft-of-voice-instruction/

(Credit: Valentina Sadiul) What makes a master singing teacher? Is it someone who knows the art of singing from both sides of the curtain? Or is it someone who cultivates a singer’s natural gifts, enabling the budding artist to bring out her/his inner voice? Perhaps it is both of these. César Ulloa is Voice Department Chair at the San Francisco {…}

Behind the Scenes, Interviews

Q & A: Lina Gonzalez-Granados, Lidiya Yankovskaya, & Elizabeth Askren On How The Hart Institute For Women Conductors Helped Shape Their Careers

https://operawire.com/q-a-lina-gonzalez-granados-lidiya-yankovskaya-elizabeth-askren-on-how-the-hart-institute-for-women-conductors-helped-shape-their-careers/

For five years, the Dallas Opera’s Linda and Mitch Hart Institute for Women Conductors has done something that few other major companies have done – champion women conductors. The program, the first ever designed to meet the needs of women opera conductors, has allowed participants an opportunity to engage in a wide-range of musical opportunities alongside some of the most {…}

Opera Wiki

Artist Profile: Dolora Zajick, A Major Verdi Mezzo Of the Late 20th & Early 21st Century

https://operawire.com/artist-profile-dolora-zajick-a-major-verdi-mezzo-of-the-late-20th-early-21st-century/

Dolora Zajick is one of the famed Verdi mezzos of the late 20th and early 21st century. Born on March 24, 1952, Oregon, she actually started off as a pre-med student at the University of Nevada before switching over to voice. She wound up graduating from the University of Nevada with both a Bachelor’s and Master’s music. From there, she {…}