(Credit: Ken Howard) Though I think most in the Northeast, where I live, look forward to the coming colors and crispness of fall…still, the fading of summer is always bittersweet. For me, regularly covering the major opera festivals that are part of summer in this part of the world, the last opera of the season is always special. And for {…}
The Berkshire Opera Festival has announced the appointment of Natalie Johnsonius Neubert as its new President and CEO. Johnsonius Neubert comes to BOF with long and extensive experience in all facets of arts administration, with particular focus on development and marketing. Most recently, she served four years as Director of Development for Shakespeare & Company in Lenox, followed by three years {…}
The Berkshire Opera Festival announces its 10th anniversary season. A free family concert kicks off the 2025 season. Performance Date: March 2, 2025 (Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center) The “Young Verdi in Love” recital features performances by soprano Kathleen O’Mara, tenor Lawrence Barasa, bass-baritone Alan Williams, and pianist Francesco Barfoed. Performance Date: April 27, 2025 (St. James Place in Great Barrington) {…}
Let’s briefly address the elephant or rather demon in this particular review, as it were. Namely, what is it with the fascination of so many 19th century composers with this classic Romantic literature – often considered the greatest work of German literature – Goethe’s “Faust”? There is Hector Berlioz’s masterpiece, “La damnation de Faust”, which I recently reviewed in a {…}
The Berkshire Opera Festival is set to present a new production of Charles Gounod’s “Faust.” The production will star tenor Duke Kim, Raquel González, Justin Hopkins, Sun-Ly Pierce, and Abbegael Greene. In a statement, conductor and Berkshire Opera Festival Co-Founder Brian Garman said, “BOF enters the realm of French grand opera for the first time with these performances of Faust. {…}
Berkshire Opera Festival is set to celebrate its 10th anniversary season in 2025. The company will present Verdi’s masterpiece “La Traviata” with a cast that includes Vanessa Becerra, Joshua Blue, and Darren Drone. The festival will present the work on August 23, 26, and 29 at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center. In recent years, the company has presented productions of {…}
The Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center in Great Barrington, Massachusetts will be the new home of the Berkshire Opera Festival. The two organizations announced that they had reached an agreement through a multi-year residency. The Mahaiwe will showcase the Berkshire Opera Festival’s upcoming production of “Faust” in August with a preview led by Brian Garman and Jonathan Loy, the co-founders of {…}
The Berkshire Opera Festival has announced its 2024 season. BOF proudly presents the first workshop performance of a brand new opera from the Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Anthony Davis. The opera in question is “The Reef” and the workshop will be held at Merkin Hall at Kaufman Music Center, New York City. The libretto is by Joan Ross Sorkin and adapted {…}
For the Berkshire Opera Festival’s first “La Bohème,” OperaWire interviewed two of the leads, Yongzhao Yu (Rodolfo) and Véronique Filloux (Musetta). The festival, not far from the historic site of Tanglewood, has over the years gained a reputation for exciting and powerful productions. It is also known for spotting rising talent poised to reach an ever wider audience around the globe. {…}
The Berkshire Opera Festival is set to open its 2023 summer season with “Breaking the Mold: Baroque, Bel Canto, and Beyond.” The concert will showcase arias and ensembles spanning 300 years, on July 22 at Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center. Audiences will get hear music that ranges from Händel to Heggie. The performance will feature a cast of some of BOF’s {…}
The Berkshire Opera Festival has announced its 2023 season. The season includes Puccini’s “La Bohème” at Colonial Theater. The cast will include Whitney Morrison, Yongzhao Yu, Benjamin Taylor, Veronique Filloux, Evan Lazdowski, Ethan Vincent, and James Demler. Brian Garman conducts the production by Jonathon Loy. In a statement, Loy said, “This will be a production with a fresh take that {…}
