Grant Park Music Festival to Premiere Jake Runestad’s ‘Earth Symphony’

(Photo credit: Norman Timonera) The Grant Park Music Festival has announced its 2025 season. For the purposes of this article only classical vocal concerts are included. The Grant Park Music Festival Orchestra and Chorus give the Illinois premiere of Jake Runestad’s “Earth Symphony.” Also programmed on this concert is Gustav Holst’s “The Planets, and Lili Boulanger’s “Psalm 24.” Christopher Bell {…}

Philharmonie de Paris Honors Pierre Boulez With its ‘2025 Boulez Year’ Celebration

(Photo credit: Martin Schalk) The Philharmonie de Paris in collaboration with the French Ministry of Culture presents “2025 Boulez Year.” This selection of events will celebrate the centenary of the birth of composer and conductor Pierre Boulez. Soprano Sarah Aristidou performs in Boulez’s “Pli selon pli, portrait de Mallarmé” with Les Siècles led by conductor Franck Ollu. Performance Dates:  January {…}

Sara Gartland, Briana Hunter, Patrick Carfizzi & Syndey Mancasola Lead Opera Theatre of Saint Louis’s 2025 Season

The Opera Theatre of Saint Louis has announced its 2025 season which will run from May 24 – June 29, 2025 at Webster University’s Loretto-Hilton Center. The season opens with Strauss II’s “Die Fledermaus” with George Manahan conducting Shawna Lucey’s production. The operetta stars Sara Gartland, Deanna Breiwick, Kelsey Lauritano, Joshua Blue, Edward Nelson, and Johnathan McCullough. Performance Dates: May 24-June 28, {…}

Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen Takes Home Top Prize at Gerda Lissner Foundation’s International Vocal Competition 2024

The Gerda Lissner Foundation has announced the 2024 winners of its International Vocal Competition. In the Opera Division, countertenor Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen took home the top prize, the Liederkranz Foundation Award. The other winners in the division include baritone Yeongtaek Yang (First Prize), mezzo-soprano Maire Therese Carmack (second prize), and soprano Karoline Podolak (third prize). Taking home the Judge’s Special {…}

Jana McIntryre & David Portillo Lead Bard SummerScape’s ‘The Silent Woman’

Bard SummerScape is set to present Richard Strauss’s “The Silent Woman (Die Schweigsame Frau),” one of the composer’s rarely performed works. The production is set to be directed by German director Christian Räth. The work which is based on the on Epicoene, a comedy by Shakespeare’s contemporary Ben Jonson, represents the first and only fruit of Strauss’s collaboration with the celebrated {…}