Opera Omaha has announced that it will receive $200,000 in Grant Funding for its Holland Community Opera Fellowship program from the National Endowment for the Arts’ Our Town Grant and The Hearst Foundations. The Holland Community Opera Fellowship is a program that brings entrepreneurial artists to live and work in Omaha for two seasons while they collaborate with community leaders {…}
Opera Omaha has launched a number of online activities and events for its opera community. Among them are Prelude Talks, a series of chats revolving around the Metropolitan Opera’s nightly streams. The Virtual Prelude talks will feature a number of opera companies providing free 20-minute talks presented on Facebook Live just before every Sunday night’s Met opera stream. Talks are {…}
Opera Omaha and the Nebraska Writers Collective have announced that nine original poems written by local children will be set to music by composers Matt Browne and Frances Pollock. The selected poems include “Earth She Is” by MaKayla Bemly, Grade 7, of Logan Fontenelle Middle School; “Untitled” by Shaye-Maleah Howe, Grade 12, of Beatrice High School; “A Broken Me” by {…}
Opera Omaha has formally announced its ONE Festival, which is set to kick off on March 20, 2020. The festival will kick off with Stradella and Ansaldi’s “St. John the Baptist,” in its company premiere. The new production will be directed by Christopher Alden with Stephen Stubbs conducting. The cast will feature Liv Redpath as Salome, Andrew Harris as Herod, {…}
Opera Omaha has announced its 2020-21 season featuring three productions with a number of rising stars. Here is a look: The season opens with Mozart’s “Le Nozze di Figaro” with conductor Steven White and Director Dean Anthony leading the production. The cast is set to include Vanessa Becerra as Susanna and Brian Vu as Figaro in his company debut, Annie {…}
As November gets started, we look at a weekend packed with repertory that you don’t get a chance to see every day. So without further ado, here are top five operas to see this weekend. La Serva Padrona – The Lighthouse Opera Company, Bronx, NY The Bronx-based opera company will showcase the rare Pergolesi opera at Opera America with a {…}
Omaha’s mayor Jean Stothert has declared that Nov. 1, 2019 is Opera Omaha Day. The appointment comes as Opera Omaha kicks off Opera America’s 50th Anniversary Tour with its own community celebration in co-presentation with OPERA America. The event will feature OPERA America’s own president Marc Scorca who will honor Opera Omaha’s notable accomplishments as a leader in the field. {…}
Opera Omaha’s 2019-20 season will feature four operas from the standard repertory. The first of these is Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly” in a production directed by Leslie Swackhamer and conducted by Joseph Rescigno. Karah Son will take on the title role with Alok Kumar as Pinkerton, Luis Ledesma as Sharpless, and Kristen Choi as Suzuki. Performance Dates: Nov. 1 and 3, {…}
Those expecting repertory classics in this weekend’s recommendations might wind up a bit disappointed. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t any exciting operas on offer. There are a ton of new works and some unlikely classics on display. Scalia / Ginsburg & Trial By Jury – Baltimore Concert Opera This unique double bill will be showcased on Friday and Sunday, {…}
The Opera Omaha and Nebraska Writers Collective have announced that eight poems written by local students will be set to music by the Luna Composition Lab alumni composers. Per a press release, nearly 60 students from grades three-12 submitted 71 works of poetry after working with the Collective last fall. Now the composer alumni have picked their favorites pieces of {…}
Opera Omaha has announced that Rebecca Brown will be its new Director of Marketing and Public Relations. Brown previously served as the Executive Director of Sioux City Community Theater in Iowa as well as the Marketing and PR Manager for The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens. Per a press release, “Brown was recognized as one of Palm Springs Life’s 40 {…}