Decca Classics to Release Aigul Akhmetshina’s First Solo Album

https://operawire.com/decca-classics-to-release-aigul-akhmetshinas-first-solo-album/

Decca Classics has announced that it is signing mezzo-soprano Aigul Akhmetshina and will release her first album “Aigul” on July 26, 2024. The album will feature arias from a number of major operas, including “Carmen,” Akhmetshina’s signature role and one that she has performed around the world. The mezzo opened a new production of the work at the Met Opera, {…}

Interviews

Q & A: Meghan Picerno on Taking Her Career in Stride to Somewhere Extraordinary

https://operawire.com/q-a-meghan-picerno-on-taking-her-career-in-stride-to-somewhere-extraordinary/

(Photo: Murphy Made) Acclaimed coloratura soprano Meghan Picerno is the recipient of several awards in the field of opera, including first-place prize at the Arkadi International Vocal Competition at New York Lyric Opera. She was also a quarterfinalist in Plácido Domingo’s Operalia International Vocal Competition at the Royal Opera House. But Ms. Picerno’s star truly began to rise after her {…}

News

Obituary: Mezzo-Soprano Clara O’Brien Dies at 62

https://operawire.com/obituary-mezzo-soprano-claire-obrien-dies-at-62/

Mezzo-soprano Clara O’Brien has died at the age of 62. In an obituary obtained by Slipped Disc, her husband Lance Hulme said, she died shortly before midnight on December 18, 2023. Born on Dec. 8, 1961, in Sharon, PA, the mezzo graduated Magnum Cum Laude from the Dana School of Music in Youngstown, OH, and went on to receive a {…}

News

Obituary: Conductor Robert Hart Baker Dies at 69

https://operawire.com/obituary-conductor-robert-hart-baker-dies-at-69/

On Nov. 25, 2023, conductor Robert Hart Baker died at the age of 69. Born on March 19, 1954, the conductor went on to study at the Manhattan School of Music for preparatory division, the Academie Internationale d’ete, the Mozarteum Conservatory in Salzburg, Horace Mann School, Harvard University, Yale University, and York College of Pennsylvania He was a student of Herbert {…}

News

Composer Somtow Sucharitkul Honored by Thailand’s National Committee for Culture

https://operawire.com/composer-somtow-sucharitkul-honored-by-thailands-national-committee-for-culture/

Composer Somtow Sucharitkul was honored by the National Committee for Culture of Thailand for his achievements in the performing arts. Somtow was among 12 National Artists honored this year. “I feel very grateful and honored in my life,” Somtow said in an official release issued by News Directory 3. “It also opens many doors, being able to communicate with a wider {…}

News

Obituary: Japanese Composer Akira Nishimura Dies at 69

https://operawire.com/obituary-japanese-composer-akira-nishimura-dies-at-69/

On Sept. 7, 2023, Japanese composer Akira Nishimura died. Nishimura was born in Osaka on Sept. 8, 1953, and went on to study composition and musical theory on a graduate course at Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music. He also studied Asian traditional music, religion, aesthetics, cosmology, and the heterophonic concepts. Following his studies he composed several orchestra {…}

News

Baritone Navasard Hakobyan Among Winners of Music Academy’s Marilyn Horne Song Competition 2023

https://operawire.com/baritone-navasard-hakobyan-among-winners-of-music-academys-marilyn-horne-song-competition-2023/

(Photo: Zach Mendez) The Music Academy’s Marilyn Horne Song Competition has announced that baritone Navasard Hakobyan and pianist Brian Cho are its 2023 winners. The two will receive $5,000 in cash and will also work on a commissioned work by composer Joel Thompson. They will then present the premieres of these works in recital during the 2024 summer festival. Hakobyan {…}

Interviews, Stage Spotlight

Q & A: Ramon Vargas on Celebrating his 40th Anniversary, His Fondest Memories & the Future

https://operawire.com/q-a-ramon-vargas-on-celebrating-his-40th-anniversary-his-fondest-memories-the-future/

On Sept. 10, Ramon Vargas celebrated his 40th anniversary as a singer in a gala at the theater where he first debuted, the Palacio de las Bellas Artes. Since that debut in 1983, Vargas has gone on to sing at every major theater in the world including the Metropolitan Opera, the Royal Opera, Teatro alla Scala, Wiener Staatsoper, and many {…}

News

Obituary: Japanese Conductor Taijiro Iimori Dies at 82

https://operawire.com/obituary-japanese-conductor-taijiro-iimori-dies-at-82/

(Credit: AkiraMuto) On August 15, 2023, Japanese conductor Taijiro Iimori died at the age of 82. According to news reports, the conductor died of acute heart failure and the funeral will be led by his nephew Shintaro Iimori. Born in northeastern China in 1940, Iimori became a student of the renowned musical teacher Hideo Saito at the Toho Gakuen School {…}

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Decca Classics to Release Aigul Akhmetshina’s First Solo Album

Q & A: Meghan Picerno on Taking Her Career in Stride to Somewhere Extraordinary

Obituary: Mezzo-Soprano Clara O’Brien Dies at 62

Obituary: Conductor Robert Hart Baker Dies at 69

Composer Somtow Sucharitkul Honored by Thailand’s National Committee for Culture

Obituary: Japanese Composer Akira Nishimura Dies at 69

Baritone Navasard Hakobyan Among Winners of Music Academy’s Marilyn Horne Song Competition 2023

Q & A: Ramon Vargas on Celebrating his 40th Anniversary, His Fondest Memories & the Future

Obituary: Japanese Conductor Taijiro Iimori Dies at 82