This week sees the release of world premieres, rarely performed gems, solo albums and two complete operas. Here is a look at what audiences can listen to during Memorial Day Weekend. Brabant 1653: Baroque Vocal Music from Brabant Holland Baroque releases an album that explores the monastic musical traditions of 17th-century North Brabant. The album’s central figure is Benedictus à {…}
On Sunday, June 14, the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust, National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene, Sing for Hope, and Lang Lang International Music Foundation will join forces to present “We Are Here: A Celebration of Resilience, Resistance, and Hope.” The special live-streamed concert event, which will be presented by a network of more than 125 {…}
(Credit: Brent Cline) On May 23, 2020, Sing for Hope will present a free, live-streamed Memorial Day Weekend recital on their Facebook page. The recital will feature Grammy-Winning baritone John Brancy and pianist Peter Dugan, host of NPR’s “From the Top.” The half-hour recital will feature selections from Brancy and Dugan’s upcoming album, titled “The Journey Home.” This album commemorates {…}
(Credit: Tatyana Vlasova) The Boston Symphony Orchestra announce its 2020-21 season noting that anything can change due to the coronavirus pandemic. As always we highlight the vocal performances in this season announcement. The Beethoven Cycle concludes with Andris Nelsons leading the composer’s Ninth Symphony with soloists Amanda Majeski, Tamara Mumford, Pavel Černoch, Kwangchul Youn, and Tanglewood Festival Chorus. The program {…}
(Credit: Jiyang Chen/ Robert Workman) Wigmore Hall has announced its 2020-21 Season with a number of recitals from some of the world’s greatest singers. The season will include a plethora of performances, including chamber music, song, piano, early music, contemporary music, and jazz. For this article, we will highlight singers. Some of the biggest highlights of the season will include {…}
The Grammy Awards announced the opera and classical awards at the Premiere ceremony. The award for Best Opera Recording went to Picker’s “Fantastic Mr. Fox.” The recording included conductor and producer Gil Rose, soloists John Brancy, Andrew Craig Brown, Gabriel Preisser, Krista River and Edwin Vega and the Boston Modern Orchestra Project and Boston Children’s Chorus. The album was released {…}
The Grammy Awards have unveiled their nominations for the 62nd annual ceremony. For the purposes of this article we will focus on categories related to the opera world. Best Opera Recording In the Best Opera Recording categories, the first nominees is George Benjamin’s “Lessons in Love & Violence,” under the musical direction of the composer himself. Benjamin leads the Orchestra {…}
Three major releases are set for this week. Two will be world premiere recordings while the other will be the soundtrack to a highly anticipated movie. As One Bright Shiny Things is set to release the world premiere of “As One” by composer Laura Kaminsky and librettists Mark Campbell and Kimberly Reed. The recording is set to star Sasha Cooke and {…}
Today at 7 p.m. John Brancy and Peter Dugan will present a recital in commemoration of World War I’s centennial from the Smithsonian Institute. OperaWire has been given the opportunity to live stream the performance right on this page below. The concert is part of a tour in which they are partners of the WWI Centennial Commission. In a press {…}
The New York Festival of Song has announced its 30th Anniversary Celebration, which will feature a star-studded cast. The performance is slated for April 24, 2018, at Merkin Concert Hall at the Kaufman Music Center. The concert is slated to include a wide range of songs from such composers as Vaughn Williams, Blitzstein, Bolcom, Dvorak, Grieg, Rachmaninoff, Schubert, Granados, Eubie {…}
The church of Saint Thomas will be opening its Spring 2018 season on Thursday, March 22, with a seldom-heard arrangement of Brahms’ “A German Requiem.” This performance will feature the Saint Thomas Choir of Men and Boys, along with soloists Hyesang Park (soprano) and John Brancy (baritone), as well as pianists Michal Biel and Katelan Terrell. The next performance will {…}