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 {…}
Fresh off a successful run of Heggie and Scheer’s “Three Decembers,” the Berkshire Opera Fest is set to open the main stage production of “Don Giovanni” at Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center, Great Barrington, MA, on August 20th. 2022. The show will have additional performances on August 23 and 26. In this round table-style interview, OperaWire spoke with Co-founders Jonathon Loy and Brian {…}
Photos by Matt Madison-Clark This review is of the July 23, 2022, Berkshire Opera Fest Performance “At the heart of what we do is produce the greatest opera at the highest level. The Berkshires is a magical place. There was a void of opera, and so here we are,” Jonathon Loy, Berkshire Opera Fest’s (BOF) Co-founder and Director of Production, {…}
The Berkshire Opera Festival has announced its 2022 season. The company will present three productions in Great Barrington and Pittsfield, MA; and for the first time in the company’s history, Berkshire Opera Festival will bring performances to Chatham, NY. The season will open with Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer’s “Three Decembers” with a cast that includes Adriana Zabala as Madeline {…}
What a wonder Giuseppe Verdi’s final opera “Falstaff” is. After all, he had, outside of his “Quattro pezzi sacri,” retired from the “arena” of composing and opera (with one of the grandest of all grand operas, “Aida”). But then, fate conspired, in a rather unlikely way, to have the maestro cross paths, and then lives, and ultimately work itself, with {…}
The Berkshire Opera Festival has announced cast updates and an indoor, full capacity 2021 summer season. The company announced that its largest and most robust to date will be shown with no seating restrictions. In a press release, it said, “BOF continues to work closely with each venue to refine safety protocols based on the most current state guidelines and {…}
The Berkshire Opera Festival in Massachusetts has announced its 2021 season, which will include two major productions. The season’s main stage production will feature Verdi and Boito’s “Falstaff” starring Sebastian Catana in the title role. He will be joined by Mathilda Edge as Alice Ford, Thomas Glass as Ford, Catherine Martin as Mrs. Quickly, Jasmine Habersham as Nannetta, Jonas Hacker {…}
Minnesota Opera, ADA Artist Management, Austin Opera, Berkshire Opera Festival, Opera Colorado, and San Diego Opera are teaming up to present the world premiere of “The Trial of Susan B. Anthony” on Oct. 26, 2020. The song cycle by Steven Mark Kohn will star mezzo-soprano Adriana Zabala in multiple roles accompanied by pianist Myra Juang. “We find ourselves at a {…}
The Berkshire Opera Festival has canceled its summer 2020 production of “Don Giovanni.” The company announced that the decision was a necessary one due to the continued concerns over COVID-19 around the country. “Throughout the past few months, we have worked tirelessly to develop a number of alternative possibilities for safely producing ‘Don Giovanni,’ given that we did not know {…}
In response to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, Berkshire Opera Festival has announced it is reimagining the original programming for its upcoming 2020 season. In a statement, the festival expressed its desire to create meaningful programming while keeping in accordance with the regulations currently set for by the State of Massachusetts. To this end, the festival has announced the cancellation of {…}
The Berkshire Opera Festival has announced that it will celebrate its fifth anniversary with a special gala scheduled for August 13, 2020 at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center in Great Barrington, MA. The event will feature music from major operas such as “The Marriage of Figaro, Die Fledermaus, and La Bohème.” Moreover, audiences will get a preview of the company’s {…}