Chicago Fringe Opera is set to present “Chicago Currents: A Celebration of Chicago” starting on March 19, 2023. The production is a full-length, staged art song concert for five singers, piano, and violin. Audiences will hear soprano Kirsten C. Kunkle, who is also a composer and dramaturg for the work, soprano Dana Campbell, mezzo-soprano Bridget Skaggs, tenor Aaron Short, and {…}
Chicago Fringe Opera has unveiled its fall 2022 season. The season kicks off with “Corsair,” the company’s contribution to the Decameron Opera Coalition’s 2022 film series “Tales from a Safe Distance.” The opera film will be screened as part of Opera Philadelphia’s Festival O22. Screening Date: Sept. 28, 2022 Next up is “La Jetée,” a collaboration with Access Contemporary Music {…}
Chicago Fringe Opera has announced its summer season. Kicking things off, the company will present “The Rosina Project,” a contemporary adaptation of Rossini’s comedy “The Barber of Seville” mixed by hip-hop and opera artists. Performance Date: June 17 & 18, 2022 Next up is “Sounds of Pride,” a short musical program composed and performed by members of the LGBTQ community, including {…}
Chicago Fringe Opera has announced that it will present “Two Remain (Out of Darkness)” starting on March 26, 2022. The opera by Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer is based on the journals of Krystyna Zywulska and Gad Beck, two Holocaust survivors. It will be directed by Derek Van Barham with Catherine O’Shaughnessy conducting. Taking on the role of Krystyna is {…}
Chicago Fringe Opera (CFO) has announced its 2021-22 season, featuring a mix of in-person and virtual productions. Here’s what audiences have to look forward to this coming season. First up is a hip-hop twist on Rossini’s comedic masterpiece, “The Barber of Seville.” For the third straight year, “The Rosina Project” will feature hip-hop and opera artists performing an original, female-driven {…}
Chicago Fringe Opera (CFO) has announced the first half of its spring season, entitled “City of Works.” Crafted with pandemic safety protocols top-of-mind, “City of Works” takes audiences on a journey through Chicago as they travel from one landmark to another. Upon arrival at their destination, audiences unlock digital content using a QR code. The approach allows individuals to share {…}
Chicago Fringe Opera (CFO), known as Chicago’s “Alternative Opera Company,” has announced the Spring portion of its 2021 Season. The company will to present “A City of Works: Pilot Season,” which includes several works for one or two singers inspired by one of Chicago’s 50 unique venue. Audiences will have a chance to head to each location and with a {…}
The Decameron Opera Coalition will present “DOC Happy Hour: Librettists in Conversation” on Nov. 20, 2020 at 6 p.m. EST. The project featured collaborations between Resonance Works (Pittsburgh); Lyric Opera of the North (Duluth); UrbanArias (Washington DC); Bare Opera (New York City); Opera in the Heights (Houston); Chicago Fringe Opera; Milwaukee Opera Theatre; Fargo-Moorhead Opera; An Opera Theatre (Minneapolis); and {…}
(Credit: Frances Marshall) In 1353, a few years after the Black Death raged in Florence, Giovanni Boccaccio finished “The Decameron,” 100 stories told by seven women and three men holed up in a countryside villa as they awaited the passing of the plague. It’s a classic of literature, many times bawdy, sometimes tragic, and extremely apropos considering our present-day pandemic. {…}
Chicago Fringe Opera has won the American Prize in Opera Performance, professional division, 2018-19 for its world premiere performance of Rosśa Crean’s “The Great God Pan.” The supernatural chamber opera, based on Arthur Machen’s novella which “explores themes of scientific hubris, transcendental medicine, and unexplainable supernatural behavior,” premiered on Mar. 10, 2018. The production starred Christina Pecce as Helen, Aaron Wardell as {…}
