Rising baritone Blake Denson is set to perform a recital with pianist Kevin Miller on April 28, 2024. The concert, which is presented by the George and Nora London Foundation, will be performed at The Morgan Library and Museum and will feature the four-song cycle “I canti della sera” (The Songs of the Evening) by Francesco Santoliquido written c. 1910; {…}
(Photo credit: Ken Benson) The George and Nora London Foundation has been gifted $215,000 from the estate of Lois Kirschenbaum. The foundation made the news public on Jan. 8, which would have been Nora London’s 100th birthday. The contribution goes towards cash prizes for foundation’s competition, allowing approximately a dozen singers to compete for George London Awards of $12,000 each. {…}
The George and Nora London Foundation for Singers has announced its 2023-24 season. The season will open with the George and Nora London Foundation Recital starring mezzo-soprano Lindsay Kate Brown. She is joined by pianist Alex Munger in a program featuring music by Alma Mahler, Joseph Marx, Samuel Barber, and others. Brown won the George London Award in 2022. Performance {…}
The Houston Grand Opera has announced its 2023-24 season, which will feature a world premiere. Jamie Barton, Janai Brugger, J‘Nai Bridges, Caitlin Lynch, Nicholas Newton, Michael Mayes, and Joshua Blue star in Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer’s “Intelligence.” Kwamé Ryan conducts the production by Jawole Willa Jo Zollar. Performance Dates: Oct. 20-Nov. 3, 2024 Reginald Smith, Jr. sings the title role of Vedi’s “Falstaff” with Nicole Heaston, Blake {…}
Baritone Blake Denson has joined the L2 Artists’ roster. Denson will make sever debut performances this 2022-23 season. He will be heard in “La fanciulla del West” with the Bayerische Staatsoper singing the role of Larkens, with Staatsoper Hamburg’s new production of “Carmen” as Morales, and at the English National Opera as Donner in a new production of “Das Rheingold.” {…}
The Zenith Opera Competition has unveiled the winners of its 2022 edition. Taking home first prize and $2,500 was French-American soprano Véronique Filloux. In second place was U.S. baritone Blake Denson, who will obtain a $1,500 cast prize. And rounding out the trio of winners was Mexican baritone Fernando Cisneros, who will get a $750 cash award. In addition to {…}
(Credit: Kia Caldwell / HGO official website) The Houston Grand Opera is set to world premiere Joel Thompson and Andrea Davis Pinkney’s “The Snowy Day.” The opera, which is based on a book by Ezra Jack Keats, will star Karen Slack, Raven McMillon, Nicholas Newton, Elena Villalón, Blake Denson, Cory McGee, Andres Acosta, and Ricardo Garcia. HGO’s Artistic and Music {…}
(Credit: https://www.papercitymag.com/) The Houston Grand Opera has announced that it will present Engelbert Humperdinck’s opera “Hansel and Gretel” on its digital platform on May 28, 2021 at 7:30 p.m. CT. The opera will feature mezzo-soprano Sun-Ly Pierce in the role of Hansel, soprano Raven McMillon in the role of Gretel, tenor Richard Trey Smagur as The Witch, mezzo-soprano Lindsay Kate-Brown {…}
Grammy® Award-winning baritone Lucas Meachem and his wife, pianist, Irina, saw injustice up close this past summer. While many of us watched the aftermath of George Floyd’s death on television, the Meachem’s are Minneapolis residents. As calls for racial justice grew, and opera companies began taking stock of their own diversity, equity, and inclusivity, the Meachem’s knew they had a {…}
It turns out that despite some progress, we are in for a sustained lockdown period to start 2021. But what we are also seeing from opera companies is greater flexibility and creativity on the streaming front. That is on full display in this week’s edition of our top 10 operas to stream with a bevy of new short opera films, {…}
The Houston Grand Opera has announced that it will present a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of “The Snowy Day.” “The Making of The Snowy Day: An Opera for All on HGO” is set for online release on Dec. 10, 2020 and will feature a collaboration between the opera’s creative team with documentarian Annalise Ophenlian. The film explores the creative {…}