Opera Memphis has announced its fall season. The company will open its fall season on Sept. 26 at The Grove at GPAC with “Opera Goes to Broadway,” a celebration of operas that have inspired musicals, as well as operas and musicals that share the same inspiration. The season will continue on Oct. 10, the company will present “Arias in the {…}
(Opera Memphis/ Ziggy Mack) Committed to bringing opera to modern audiences in a meaningful and accessible manner, Opera Memphis is underway with a number of artistic initiatives which bring together matters of race, equity, and music. Currently halfway through its 30 Days of Opera program, the company has taken its passion to local venues and markets throughout the city of {…}
Madame Florence Cole Talbert McCleave will be inducted into the Memphis Music Hall of Fame on Nov. 8, 2019. McCleave was known as the “First Lady of Grand Opera” and the “Queen of the Concert Stage” during her life. Born in 1890, she was the first African-American woman and opera singer to perform internationally to critical acclaim. She eventually settled {…}
Opera Memphis has announced its 2019-20 season featuring two main productions and a variety of programs and festivals. Opera Memphis opens with “30 Days of Opera” which features dozens of free opera performances across Memphis and the MidSouth, turning the opera house inside out and taking the music to you. Performances will be held at the Cooper-Young Festival, Germantown Festival, {…}
Opera Memphis has announced its 2019 Midtown Opera Festival. The event kicks off in April with “The Falling and the Rising,” an opera that follows the imagined journey of a soldier suspended inside a coma after a roadside attack. The work was composed by Zach Redler with a libretto by Jerre Dyne. Performance Dates: April 6, 12, 13, 2019 The {…}
As expected, the opera companies are coming back in full force as the spring season sets in. This week we go around the continent with a mix of different operas, including classic works and modern operas. The Nightingale – Canadian Opera Company The Igor Stravinsky opera gets its first set of performances on Friday and Saturday. The production will be {…}
Opera America has announced the recipients of the second cycle of Innovation Grants. The grants, which are “generously funded by the Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation,” were launched in 2016 in support companies that have shown tremendous innovation in diverse areas of the art form. The grants total $1.5 million. This year, 20 companies were awarded the prestigious grants. They {…}
The opera world continues to showcase more and more around the continent and this week’s recommendations stretch around the US and Canada, with the focus solely on staples of the operatic canon. If last week’s emphasis on the modern was too much for the more conservative opera goer, then this week will offer a “palette cleanser” of sorts. I Puritani {…}
As we get deeper and deeper into the fall season, opera lovers are finding themselves with more and more options around the United States. Here is a look at the offerings for this second weekend of the month. First off, let’s kick off with the major openings. On Saturday, Los Angeles Opera opens its production of “Nabucco (the company also {…}
It is going to be a busy opera weekend around the US with a plethora of companies, both large and small, giving new productions and old. Opera Memphis will showcase three works throughout the weekend including Peter Hilliard’s “Blue Viola” on Friday and Saturday, Jake Heggie’s “Three Decembers” on Saturday,” and John Musto’s “Later the Same Evening” on Saturday. Palm {…}