Q & A: Chicago Opera Theater Music Director Lidiya Yankovskaya on Future Goals, Conducting and the Future of Opera

Lidiya Yankovskaya, the new Music Director of Chicago Opera Theater (COT) is a musical unifier and explorer. Her goals for the future at COT include presenting a variety of underrepresented repertoire, supporting and promoting the best of new operatic works being created in our current “golden age of American opera,” and bolstering COT’s current education and community engagement initiatives. Yankovskaya {…}

Jun 20, 2017

Chicago Opera Theater Announces New Music Director

The Chicago Opera Theater has appointed Russian-born conductor Lidiya Yankovskaya to be its new Music Director, which will kick off during this coming season and see her appear more regularly with the company in 2018-19. The conductor has had an extensive career in the United States, where she is Artistic Director of Juventas New Music Ensemble, the Music Director with {…}

Apr 28, 2017

Weekend Preview – USA (4/28-30): Opera Season In Full Swing Across North America With Joyce DiDonato, Sondra Radvonovsky & Adrianne Pieczonka Headline Major Shows

Opera season is in full swing in the United States and Canada with a ton of offerings across the continent. Here is a look at the big highlights. East Coast The Metropolitan Opera will showcase “Der Rosenkavalier” on Friday before giving “Der Fliegende Holländer” Saturday afternoon and “Don Giovanni” on Saturday evening. OperaWire will attend the Friday performance with a {…}

Apr 21, 2017

Weekend Preview (4/21-23) – North America: Sondra Radvonovsky’s ‘Tosca’ At LA Among Dozens Of Opera Selections Across USA

Let’s just throw it out there. You could be anywhere in the U.S. this weekend and find an opera somewhere nearby. The Metropolitan Opera will have a few performances over the weekend, namely “Der Rosenkavalier” on Friday, an HD broadcast of the Saturday matinee of “Eugene Onegin” and “Rigoletto” in the evening. Also in New York, Tri-Cities Opera will perform {…}

Feb 17, 2017

Weekend Preview (USA) – 2/17-19: Patricia Racette’s ‘Salome’ & Stewart Copeland’s ‘Invention of Morel’ Open

Prepare yourself for two high profile premieres this weekend on opposite sides of the country. On Saturday, the Los Angeles Opera lifts the curtain on “Salome” starring Patricia Racette in the role that she dominated at the Metropolitan Opera. Regarding her performance OperaWire wrote, “she dominated the stage in one of her greatest achievements on the Met stage.” Another major {…}

Feb 16, 2017

Artistic Bromance – How Stewart Copeland & Jonathan Moore Adapted ‘The Invention of Morel’ Into An Opera

Opera history has shown that some librettist-composer teams are matches made in heaven. Such was the case with Da Ponte and Mozart or Verdi and Boito (and Piave) or even Puccini and Giacosa and Illica. The same can be said for Jonathan Moore and Stewart Copeland. The duo has worked together throughout the years and they are back at it {…}

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