Pittsburgh Opera is set to conclude its production with Verdi’s “Falstaff.” The production will be presented between April 28 and May 3 at the Benedum Center. In a statement Christopher Hahn, who is retiring as Pittsburgh Opera General Director said, “Falstaff was in many ways the culmination of Verdi’s remarkable career. Everything he’d learned in his life went into its {…}
Opera North has announced its 2026-27 season. The season opens with Tchaikovsky’s “Eugene Onegin” featuring John Brancy, Verity Wingate, Caspar Singh, Jingwen Cai, Hannah Mason, Claire Pascoe, and Joshua Bloom. Garry Walker conducts the production by Patrick Nolan. Performance Dates: Oct. 9–Nov. 21, 2026 Leonardo Sánchez, Blake Denson and Jasmine Habersham lead Verdi’s “Rigoletto.” The cast also includes Callum Thorpe and Sir Willard {…}
LA Opera is set to present Verdi’s “Rigoletto” from May 31 through June 21, 2025. The opera will be presented in a production by Tomer Zvulun and conducted by James Conlon. In a statement, Christopher Koelsch said, “One of the groundbreaking trio of masterpieces from Verdi’s ‘middle period’ (along with ‘La Traviata’ and ‘Il Trovatore’), Rigoletto is an exceptionally powerful tragedy. {…}
Pittsburgh Opera has announced its 2025-26 season. Puccini’s “La Bohème” will open the season and will star Zachary Nelson, Daniel O’Hearn, Matthew Soibelman, Erik Nordstrom, Kevin Glavin, and Vuvu Mpofu. Antony Walker conducts the production by Kristine McIntyre. Performance Dates: Oct. 18-26, 2025 Gregory Spears and Greg Pierce’s “Fellow Travelers” will star Erik Nordstrom, Logan Wagner, Shannon Crowley, Matthew Soibelman, {…}
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 {…}