Lawrence Brownlee, Jennifer Johnson Cano & Kyle Albertson Lead Opera Roanoke’s 2021-22 Season

Opera Roanoke in Virginia has announced its 2021-22 season, which will feature three unique productions. The season opens with a production of Bartok’s “Bluebeard’s Castle” starring Kyle Albertson and Jennifer Johnson Cano as Bluebeard and Judith, respectively. Steven White conducts the masterwork, which will be the American premiere of the chamber orchestra version by Eberhard Kloke. Performance Dates: Nov. 5 {…}

Latonia Moore, Andrea Carroll, Tamara Wilson, Fatma Saïd Headline Cleveland Orchestra’s 2021-22 Season

The Cleveland Orchestra has announced its 2021-22 season. For the purposes of this performance, our focus will be mainly on operatic and vocal performances. It all starts with Andrea Carroll’s Severance Hall debut alongside bass-baritone Dashon Burton as the two perform a two-piano arrangement of Brahms’ “Ein Deutsches Requiem.” Lisa Wong conducts the Cleveland Orchestra Chorus. Performance Date: Oct. 28, {…}

Karen Slack, Christine Goerke, Adriana Gonzalez Headline Houston Grand Opera’s 2021-22 Season

The Houston Grand Opera has announced its 2021-22 season, which will feature six productions. It all starts with Bizet’s “Carmen” starring Carolyn Sproule, Richard Trey Smagur, Christian Pursell, and Heidi Stober. Lidiya Yankovskaya conducts a production directed by Rob Ashford. Performance Dates: Oct. 22 – Nov. 7, 2021 Next up is the world premiere of “The Snowy Day.” The new {…}

Anna Netrebko, Jonas Kaufmann, Joyce DiDonato, Lisette Oropesa, Hildegard Behrens Headline Metropolitan Opera’s Nightly Streams to End January 2021

The Metropolitan Opera has announced the next two weeks of nightly streams which will include a number of operas focused on the greatest roles for sopranos as well as its greatest anti-heroes. Here’s a run-down of the two-week slate. Week 45– Leading Ladies: Opera’s Greatest Heroines Monday, January 18 – Bizet’s Carmen Starring Anita Hartig, Anita Rachvelishvili, Aleksandrs Antonenko, and Ildar {…}

Boston Lyric Opera Continues Podcast with Jennifer Johnson Cano & Anne Bogart

Boston Lyric Opera’s podcast AT ITS (s)CORE opens Season Two with legendary theater and opera director Anne Bogart and mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnson Cano. The first episode will showcase Cano and Bogart discussing their work together on BLO’s 2019 production of Poul Ruders’s opera, “The Handmaid’s Tale.” The pair will discuss the opera’s majestic and challenging music, including how Ruders “created a sonic {…}

Shenyang, Brian Jagde, Jennifer Johnston Headline Shanghai Symphony Orchestra’s 2020-21 Season

The Shanghai Symphony Orchestra and Music Director Long Yu have announced the 2020-21 season. For the purposes of this article, we will focus primarily on vocal and operatic performances. Long Yu will conduct Fauré’s “Requiem” in a performance starring Soprano Ying Huang and Baritone Liao Changyong. The concert will also feature Huang Ruo’s “A Dust in Time” and Chopin’s “Andante {…}

Ailyn Pérez, Matthew Polenzani Among 100 Singers Join Forces for Campbell & Moravec’s ‘Light Shall Lift Us’

Over 100 singers came together for a video performance of “Light Shall Lift Us,” a work by librettist Mark Campbell and composer Paul Moravec. The duo, which has worked together on “The Shining” proposed the idea to Marc Scorca of Opera America, who embraced the idea and helped put together the 107 artists who would eventually record their individual parts {…}

Fabio Sartori, Tamara Wilson & Franz Welser-Möst Highlight Cleveland Orchestra’s 2020-21 Season

The Cleveland Orchestra has announced its 2020-21 season. For the purposes of this article we will only highlight vocal performances. Franz Welser-Möst conducts Eldman’s Rothko Chapel and Mozart’s Requiem and Ave verum corpus. The concert features soloists Lauren Snouffer, Daryl Freedman, Julian Prégardien, Matthew Plenk, Peter Kellner, and violist Wesley Collins. Performance Dates: Sept. 24-30, 2020 Alan Gilbert conducts Beethoven’s {…}