Best of 2018: 11 Singers Who Had A Year To Remember!

https://operawire.com/best-of-2018-11-singers-who-had-a-year-to-remember/

It’s that time of year during which we look back at the past 365-ish days and the big moments that defined them. Every year, the opera world has its share of rising and breakout stars as well as opera singers who solidify or take their careers in new directions. Others make important debuts or create roles that audiences would have {…}

Opera Wiki

Artist Profile: Barbara Hendricks – Soprano, Jazz Singer, Movie Star

https://operawire.com/artist-profile-barbara-hendricks-soprano-jazz-singer-movie-star/

Barbara Hendricks is the textbook example of a singer that can truly do it all. Born on Nov. 20, 1948, in Arkansas, she graduated from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln with a degree in mathematics and chemistry. But from there it was all music. She studied at Juilliard under mezzo-soprano Jennie Tourel and took master classes with Maria Callas. Per the {…}

Behind the Scenes, Interviews

Q & A: Artistic Director Zou Shuang On The Beijing Music Festival & Directing ‘Orfeo’

https://operawire.com/q-a-artistic-director-zou-shuang-on-the-beijing-music-festival-directing-orfeo/

Back in 2016, Zou Shuang joined the Beijing Music Festival as Associate Program Director, initiating the New Wave Program that introduced new works to Chinese audiences, including “Winterreise,” “La Voix Humaine,” “Giovanni and Vixen” and “The Fugitive.” Her work with the music festival led her to become the Artistic Director of the festival. She has only continued to push the {…}

Reviews, Stage Reviews

Beijing Music Festival 2018 Festival Review: Orfeo

https://operawire.com/beijing-music-festival-2018-festival-review-orfeo/

Over the past decade, opera has evolved with many composers experimenting and infusing new ideas into the art form. That was what Fay Kueen Wang and Zou Shuang did when they created the new work “Orfeo.” The work, which was promoted as an “immersive opera,” had its world premiere at the Beijing Music Festival and the results were visually gorgeous {…}

Behind the Scenes, Interviews

Q & A: Fay Kueen Wang On ‘Orfeo’ & The Beijing Music Festival

https://operawire.com/q-a-fay-kueen-wang-on-orfeo-the-beijing-music-festival/

Composer and performer Fay Kueen Wang’s is a multi-faceted performer who has drawn inspiration from avant-garde concert music, theater, film, electronic music, Chinese folk music, and indie pop, garnering rave reviews along the way. She has performed across China, Europe, and the United States in such prestigious venues as the Berliner Philharmonie, Lincoln Center, Arnold Schoenberg Center, Musikverein, Oper Graz, Merkin Hall, Joseph {…}

Special Features

The Beijing Music Festival As A Microcosm For The Great Chinese City

https://operawire.com/the-beijing-music-festival-as-a-microcosm-for-the-great-chinese-city/

The Beijing Music Festival is celebrating its 21st anniversary by bringing a diverse array of repertoire intent on exploring its innovative and boundary-crossing initiatives. This year alone, the festival is showcasing a half-dozen diverse works of music drama and theatre. It opened its festival with “Farewell My Concubine,” a Chinese opera that brings together a classic story with traditional Chinese {…}

Cardiff Singer of the World, News

BBC Cardiff Singer Of The World 2017 Preview: Russian Mezzo Nadezhda Karyazina To Rely On Vital Experience

https://operawire.com/bbc-cardiff-singer-of-the-world-2017-preview-russian-mezzo-nadezhda-karyazina-to-rely-on-vital-experience/

As she enters the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition this summer, Russian mezzo Nadezhda Karyazina can be confident in her experience at a number of other major competitions. Here is a rundown of the career the 30-year-old has amassed to date. Short Bio Born in Moscow, Karyazina graduated from the Russian Academy of Theatrical Arts with a degree in {…}

Black History Month, Special Features

Black History Month 2017 Part 3: Historical Black Singers That Changed the Opera World

https://operawire.com/black-history-month-2017-part-3-historical-black-singers-that-changed-the-opera-world/

For the past two weeks we have honored the black singers making strides in today’s diverse opera world. But unfortunately, as has been the case in many social situations, the opera world was not always that diverse and the black community was not always a lock for representation on the biggest stages. But throughout the years major operatic pioneers manage {…}

News

Landmark Studio Recording of Xiaogang Ye’s ‘Song of Farewell’ Starts in China

https://operawire.com/landmark-studio-recording-of-xiaogang-yes-song-of-farewell-starts-in-china/

(Photo Credit: Rudolph Tang) Fifteen years after its premiere, Xiaogang Ye’s opera “Song of Farewell,” dubbed as the first Chinese opera addressing LGBTQ+ psychological dimensions, has re-emerged with renewed vitality through a concert performance at the Hangzhou Grand Theatre Tuesday evening and an ongoing landmark studio recording project at the Zhejiang Conservatory of Music. Presented in collaboration with the Hangzhou {…}

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