Opera Memphis has announced new staff members. The company revealed that Kathryn Elliott will be its new Director of Education and Shelbi Sellers will be the new Director of Partnerships. Elliott, a graduate of Western Kentucky University and Virginia Commonwealth University, has directed choirs in the secondary choral music classroom for over 10 years. Meanwhile, Sellers is a singer, actor, {…}
Opera Memphis has unveiled its 2023 season which will consist of four showcases. First up is the previously announced “Tosca” starring Leah Hawkins, Rafael Davila, and Todd Thomas. Ari Pelto conducts a production directed by Ned Canty. Performance Dates: Jan. 27 & 28, 2023 “Opera Goes to Mardi Gras” will feature Erika Vasallo and Matthew Soibelman alongside pianist Jacob Kerzner {…}
Opera Memphis is set to present Puccini’s “Tosca” starting on Jan. 27, 2023. The famed Italian work will star Leah Hawkins in the title role alongside Rafael Davila as Cavaradossi and Todd Thomas as Scarpia. Ned Canty will direct while Ari Pelto will conduct. There will also be a behind-the-scenes feature broadcast via WKNO 91.1 FM featuring the creative team {…}
Opera Memphis has announced a major change for its 2022-23 season. Starting during the next season, the company will be moving closer to the city of Memphis’ urban core with performances taking place at the Scheidt Family Music Center at the University of Memphis. The company is also selling offices next to the Memphis / Germantown border, namely the Clark {…}
Opera Memphis has announced a major change for its May 21 performance of “Così fan tutte.” The company revealed that the performance will no longer feature the participation of the Memphis Symphony Orchestra or conductor Moody. Instead, the performance will showcase Jennifer Q. McGuire at the piano accompanying the singers. In an official press statement, the company noted that the {…}
Opera Memphis is once again celebrating opera in Memphis with “30 Days of Opera.” The company will present various concerts throughout the month at locations such as the Stax Museum of American Soul, The Memphis Farmers Market, Overton Square, and Crosstown Concourse. There will also be semi-staged performances of Jake Heggie’s 30-minute monodrama, “At the Statue of Venus” and Sarah {…}
On March 12, 2022, Opera Memphis will return to return to Playhouse on the Square for a double-bill production of Donizetti’s “Pygmalion” alongside Robert Paterson and David Cote’s “The Companion.” This pairing of works explores themes of desire, control, and perfection. While “Pygmalion” takes the audience to ancient Greece, “The Companion” visualizes a future where companion robots can be built {…}
The Opera Memphis Handorf Company Artist program has announced three new participants for this upcoming season. The artists include Soprano Keely Futterer, tenor Sergio F. Mandujano, and pianist / coach Arthur Bosarge. The three artists will join Opera Memphis for the remainder of the winter and spring season. Both Futterer and Mandujano will appear in “Pygmalion 2.0” and “Così fan {…}
Opera Memphis is set to close down the Clark Opera Memphis Center with a series of performances of Leoncavallo’s “Pagliacci” at the end of October. The famed verismo opera will be presented for four shows with a cast featuring Dane Suarez as Canio, Chanáe Curtis as Nedda (in her company debut), Alex DeSocio as Silvio, and Joshua Conyers as Tonio. {…}
Opera Memphis has announced the appointment of Marissa Manthongkham as Development Operations Manager and Bethania Baray as Director of Education and Civic Programs. A Memphis native, Manthongkham holds a doctorate in Musical Arts from Michigan State University. In addition to being a performing clarinetist and educator, she serves as Director of Operations and Educational Programming for PRIZM Ensemble. Baray joined {…}
(Credit: Ticanda Thompson) 12-year-old, Caleb Thompson will understudy the role of “Char’es Baby” in Terence Blanchard’s “Fire Shut Up in my Bones” at the Metropolitan Opera during the 2021-22 season. Thompson is a voice student at Stax Academy in Memphis, Tennessee. Here, he has also been a part of an opera class that started after the cancelation of Opera Memphis’s {…}