The Canadian Opera Company is set to present Mozart’s “Così fan tutte” in a production by Academy Award-nominated director Atom Egoyan. The opera will run for seven performances at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts from Oct. 3 to 18, 2026. The opera will star Lauren Fagan as Fiordiligi, Martina Myskohlid as Dorabella, Laurence Kilsby as Ferrando, Joel Allison {…}
(© Glyndebourne Productions Ltd. Photo: Tristram Kenton) Lash your picnic baskets to the deck: Benjamin Britten’s “Billy Budd” — the tangled morality tale of innocence and cruelty aboard a Napoleonic-era Man-of-War with words by E.M. Forster and Eric Crozier — has set sail once again at the Glyndebourne Festival. Michael Grandage’s production from 2010 was the company’s first staging of {…}
(Photo: Michele Monasta) John Adams’ “The Death of Klinghoffer” is never too far away from controversy. The opera is based upon the Palestinian 1985 terrorist hijacking of the cruise ship ‘Achille Lauro’ in the Egyptian port of Alexandria, which is now remembered primarily for the savage and brutal murder of a 69-year-old Jewish American gentleman in a wheelchair named Leon {…}
The Canadian Opera Company has announced its 2026-27 season. Verdi’s “La Traviata” opens the season with a cast that includes Kathryn Lewek, Lucia Cesaroni, Long Long, Luke Norvell, Russell Braun, and Reginald Smith, Jr. Paolo Carignani conducts Arin Arbus’ production. Performance Dates: Sept. 18-Oct. 17, 2026 Laurence Kilsby, Joel Alison, Daniel Okulitch, Lauren Fagan, Martina Myskohlid, and Tracy Dahl lead {…}
(Credit: Inés Bacher) A mysterious traveler climbed onto the stage, draped in a long garment. A burnished gold and bronze curtain rose slowly on her approach as she sought to enter it. Slowly, a second curtain began to rise. All was suspended, still. It seemed as if time began to peel away. We were elsewhere as well as right there. {…}
The Scottish Chamber Orchestra has announced its 2025-26 season. Here is a look at the vocal highlights. Maxim Emelyanychev conducts Poulenc’s “Gloria” as well as Vivaldi’s “Gloria” with Anna Dennis, Rachel Redmond, and Tim Mead. Performance Dates: Oct. 9 & 10, 2025 Maxim Emelyanychev conducts Berlioz’s “L’Enfance du Christ” featuring Paula Murrihy, Andrew Staples, Roderick Williams, and Callum Thorpe. Performance Dates: {…}
The Toronto Symphony Orchestra has announced its 2025-26 season. Here is a look at the vocal performances of the season. The season opens with Gustavo Gimeno conducting Orff’s Carmina Burana and Winston Marsalis” Concerto for Orchestra. The soloists include Julie Roset, Andrew Haji, and Sean Michael Plumb. Performance Dates: Sept. 18-21, 2025 Michael Francis conducts Händel’s “Messiah” with soloists Lauren {…}
The Vancouver Opera has announced its 2025-26 season featuring three productions. In a statement, Tom Wright, Vancouver Opera General Director said, “For our 66th season, we’re bringing operas by the art form’s greatest composers to the Queen Elizabeth Theatre stage. These timeless works run the gamut—in some cases the gauntlet—of emotions, while exploring social norms and the consequences of personal choice. {…}
(Photo credit: Jill Steinberg at National Sawdust) National Sawdust’s 10th Anniversary opening season kicked off with Artistic Director/Co-Founder & composer Paola Prestini and librettist Royce Vavrek‘s foley chamber opera world premiere “Silent Light,” featuring director & scenic designer Thaddeus Strassberger and conductor Christopher Rountree. The cast includes powerhouse soprano Brittany Renee as Esther, bass-baritone Daniel Okulitch as Johan, soprano Julia {…}
Omar is a man, forcibly taken from his home in West Africa in 1807, and brought through the Middle Passage to America. He is sold into slavery in South Carolina and treated with brutality. He maintains his Muslim faith and eventually while in captivity, writes his autobiography in Arabic. “Omar” is an opera created by MacArthur Fellowship recipient Rhiannon Giddens, {…}
Boston Lyric Opera is set to present the New England premiere of “Omar,” a new opera by Rhiannon Giddens and Michael Abels. The work is set to be performed on May 4-7, 2023 at the Emerson Cutler Majestic Theater with a cast led by tenor Jamez McCorkle in his BLO debut as Omar, mezzo-soprano Cierra Byrd in her BLO debut {…}