Music of Remembrance will stream Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer’s “For a Look or a Touch” between May 18-25. The opera was inspired by a true love story of Manfred Lewin and Gad Beck, two men persecuted during the Holocaust for being Jewish and gay. Lewin was murdered in Auschwitz, but his memoirs were preserved. Gad meanwhile overcame poverty and {…}
With opera companies remain closed, there is still plenty of opera that will be streamed this week. Here are our recommendations for the week. Don Pasquale – New National Theatre Tokyo (NOW) For those interested in some comedy, there is no doubt that “Don Pasquale,” Donizetti’s greatest comedy, is the best offering this week. The cast is top-notch, led by {…}
Jonathan Palant, the director and founder of the Dallas Street Choir and the Credo Community Choir, has launched “Artistry Today,” an online education platform for artists. Every week, Palant, who is also Associate Professor and Director of Choral Activities at the University of Texas at Dallas, is launching a 30-minute Facebook Live event modeled on James Lipton’s iconic “Inside the {…}
(Credit: Frances Marshall) “Opera in the Time of COVID” is an interview series in collaboration with photographer Frances Marshall of Marshall Light Studio. We talk to notable figures from around the opera world to get their perspective on how they feel these challenging times may change opera’s present and future. Jake Heggie is one of the renowned opera composers of {…}
Music of Remembrance has launched a series of weekly online programs in light of having canceled its upcoming major concerts this coming May. The series kicked off on Monday April 20 and runs through May 24, 2020, though a press release has indicated that the company plans to update the streaming slate through July. All performances can be streamed directly {…}
Music of Remembrance will end its 22nd season with music by Jake Heggie. The concert, set for May 17, 2020 at Seattle’s Illsley Ball Nordstrom Recital Hall at Benaroya Hall, will feature a double bill of rare works by the composer and librettist Gene Scheer. Up first on the program will be “Intonations: Songs from the Violins of Hope,” which {…}
The New York Festival of Song has announced its next two concerts set for March and April. On March 25, 2020, the company will showcase a celebration of the centennial of women’s suffrage in the U.S. This concert, entitled “And Still We Dream” will be curated by composers Nora Kroll-Rosenbaum and Laura Karpman. Both will showcase new pieces for the {…}
(Credit: Brian Paulette) Experimentation and adventurous programming are at the heart of The Lyric Opera of Kansas City’s Explorations series. A recent departure for the company, brainchild of General Director and CEO Deborah Sandler, and held in its fine new production facility in the Crossroads district downtown, the series also provides excellent opportunities to showcase the company’s Resident Artists, and {…}
Opera America has announced that it has awarded $220,000 to develop new American operas with seven different companies. The recipients of the grants include The American Opera Project and Seagle Music Colony, Beth Morrison Projects, Houston Grand Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Diego Opera, and The Dallas Opera. The American Opera Project and Seagle Music Colony are working together {…}
It’s Pride Month, so to celebrate we return to the series we began two years. This time we celebrate some of the great composers and librettists of today who have made a great impact in the opera world and whose works have given a voice to the voiceless. Jake Heggie Heggie is one of the most prolific composers of the {…}
Jake Heggie is one of the significant opera composers of the 21st century. Born on March 31, 1961, Heggie grew up in Columbus, Ohio and started studying the piano at age seven. After his father’s suicide in 1972, Heggie began writing music and his family relocated to the San Francisco Bay area. He studied at the UCLA for both his {…}