Chicago Opera Theater has received a $500,000 grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The grant will support the Vanguard Emerging Opera Composer Residency Program, the heart of COT’s Vanguard Initiative. The Residency Program invites composers to join the company for a two-year study of opera-specific skills, with the goal of “bridging the gap between general compositional skills taught in {…}
MassOpera will showcase a special concert performance of composer Dan Shore’s “Freedom Ride” on Nov. 3, 2019. The concert, which will take place in Boston, is presented in collaboration with Chicago Opera Theater. The opera, a COT commission, is set to star soprano Alicia Russell, mezzo Imani Francis, tenor Fred C. VanNess, baritone Ron Williams, Melinda Davis, and tenor Steven {…}
It seems like this is the weekend of the year. While the entire planet is engaged with the cinematic event of the decade (Marvel’s “Avengers: Endgame”), opera companies from around the continent are lining up some of their most exciting productions. As a result, this was one of the most challenging lists to create in quite some time. But we {…}
The Chicago Opera Theater has announced its 2019-20 season with the company presenting three productions and a world premiere. Take a look at what the company is set to offer. The season will begin with a double-bill of Chicago premieres. The double bill will include “Everest,” by Joby Talbot with a libretto by Gene Scheer, and “Aleko” by Sergei Rachmaninov. {…}
The Chicago Opera Theater has been given a $30,000 grant from the National Endowment for Arts and a $15,000 civic practice grant from Opera America’s Opera Fund. The grant from the National Endowment is for the company’s upcoming production of “Moby Dick,” which opens on April 25, 2019. The grant was one of 972 that were award from 1,605 applicants. {…}
The Chicago Opera Theater has announced that Ashley Magnus will be the new Stefan Edlis and Gael Neeson General Director, effective immediately. Prior to this appointment, Magnus was the company’s General Manager of Strategy and Development and her appointment makes her the second major female leader of the company following Lidiya Yankovskaya’s appointment as the Bill Staley Music Director. Magnus {…}
November means a lot of opera. And a lot of opera means almost endless choices. So in picking this week’s major selections, we recommended a mix of new and old works across the States and Canada. Otello – Austin Opera Verdi’s great masterpiece gets a concert production at the Austin Opera with Marina Costa-Jackson headlining the cast as Desdemona. She {…}
Tchaikovsky’s final opera, “Iolanta,” sung in Russian with English supertitles, received a heartfelt and naturalistic production by the Chicago Opera Theater on November 11, 2018, at the Studebaker Theater in the Fine Arts Building, Chicago. With a libretto by the composer’s brother, Modest, “Iolanta” is a 85-minute opera with four scenes presented seamlessly in one act. It explores themes of {…}
The Chicago Opera Theater has announced its 2018-19 season featuring exciting and rarely performed operatic gems. Here is a look at what the season will offer. Tchaikovsky’s “Iolanta” makes its Chicago premiere with direction by internationally acclaimed and award-winning director Paul Curran and under the baton of COT’s own Staley Music Director, Maestro Lidiya Yankovskaya. Katherine Weber sings the title {…}
Seasoned operagoers are very familiar with Gaetano Donizetti, although most have only seen a paltry number of his works including the likes of “Lucia di Lammermoor,” “Anna Bolena” and “La Fille du Régiment.” Donizetti is known as opera’s most prolific popular composer with over 70 operas to his name with many providing fertile unexplored territory. The innovative Chicago Opera Theater has forged {…}
Editor’s Note: You may notice that we previously published a review on this double bill recently. This is another perspective on the same production for your enjoyment and Insight. The Chicago Opera Theater’s April 14, 20, and 22 double-bill presentation at the Studebaker Theater of “Il Pigmalione” and “Rita,” Donizetti’s first and last operas gave the listener a masterclass in {…}