(Photo credit: Chuck Gilmore) Southern Appalachia is typically acknowledged as the heart of traditional American folk music, from old-time string bands to bluegrass, and haunting ballads, but there are more connections to opera and classical singing than one might realize. Pioneers like Cecil Sharp, Maud Karpeles, and John Jacob Niles collected folk songs throughout southern Appalachia, such as “The Lover’s {…}
Steve Jobs forever changed the world of communications. The opera, “The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs,” composed by Mason Bates with libretto by Mark Campbell, opened at the San Francisco War Memorial Opera House and brought the story of how Jobs gave birth to the computer with panache. Although the opera’s premiere occurred in Santa Fe in 2017, and was the {…}
Composer Mason Bates and his non-profit Mercury Soul have released the second episode of his music video series entitled “Mason Bates x Barbara Strozzi Remix.” The video showcases Strozzi’s “Che Si Puo Fare” in a 21st century light and stars soprano Marnie Breckenridge, violinists Matthew Vince and Annamarie Arai, violist Ivo Bokulic, and cellist Bryon Hogan. “To bring this surreal, {…}
The state of the 2020-21 season is becoming clearer with each passing week, indicating that opera stream could very well remain at the forefront for the foreseeable future. So here are our top 10 operas to stream this week. And just a reminder to not forget to check out important discussions taking place regarding issues of race and equality in {…}
San Francisco Opera is set to showcase a virtual event entitled “Celebrating the Summer Season” on Friday, July 10, 2020. The 90-minute program will be headlined by the artists and operas that were programmed during the originally scheduled summer season, which was canceled due to the outbreak of COVID-19. Such artists as Michelle Bradley, Louise Alder, Sasha Cooke, Jakub Jósef {…}
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 {…}
Mark Campbell and Mason Bates’ Grammy-award winning opera “The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs” will be making a three-city tour next January with stops in Austin, Atlanta, and Kansas City. From Jan. 28-31, audiences in Austin, Texas will witness the famed work at The Long Center for the Performing Arts. Austin Opera will present the production. A few weeks later, the {…}
A week after announcing a future overhaul to its season, the Metropolitan Opera has made more announcements revealing the company’s continued change in direction. The latest news? The company is set to commission new operas that it will look to feature in spaces outside of Lincoln Center. Per the New York Times, for the first time in its history, the {…}
The Seattle Opera has announced its 2018-19 season featuring five fully staged works. The season opens on August 11, 2018, with George Gershwin’s “Porgy and Bess.” Angel Blue stars as Bess alternating with Elizabeth Llewellyn while Alfred Walker and Kevin Short will alternate the role of Porgy. Lester Lynch and May Elizabeth Williams round out the cast. Francesca Zambello directs the {…}
When “The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs” makes it world premiere on July 22, 2017, at the Santa Fe Opera, there will be two musicians in the pit of varying operatic experience. On one hand will be composer Mason Bates, known for a wide-range of symphonic works. He will be showcasing his electronic orchestral colors in his very first opera. On {…}
At the end of this week, audiences in the US will get the operatic event of the summer. That, of course, is the world premiere of “The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs,” an opera written by Mark Campbell with music by Mason Bates. The work kicks off its run on July 22 at the Santa Fe Opera and runs through August {…}