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 {…}
Opera Memphis has announced that it will present “Scalia/Ginsburg” for one night only on June 12, 2021. The showcase will take place at the Germantown Performing Arts Center and starts at 7 p.m. with a preshow talk kicking off at 6:15. The opera will star Dane Suarez in the role of Justice Anton Scalia with Stephanie Doche as Justice Ruth {…}
Opera Memphis has announced that it will present “In Real Life” on May 21 and 22. The showcase, which will take place at the Clark Opera Memphis Center, features 12 characters all struggling to find love in the digital age. They will be personified by four singers, including Jake Stamatis, Marcus King, Tracy Thomas, and soprano Tess Altiveros in her {…}
Opera Memphis has announced several upcoming live and free events. First up will be “Drive Thru Arias,” a concert set to take place on April 24 from 2-4 p.m. and will feature a number of artists performing music by Puccini, Bizet, and Mozart among many others. The artists include Dane Suarez and Stephanie Doche will be joined by Philip Himebook, {…}