San Francisco Opera To Engage Middle & High School Students With Opera ARIA Music performance Residency For Next Three Years

The San Francisco Opera continued its innovative approach to engaging the community in the world of opera. The company recently launched the Opera ARIA Music Performance Residency, which is a “school-focused opera-immersion program” that will connect San Francisco Unified Middle and High School performing arts students to the professional musicians and artists of San Francisco Opera. The program will feature {…}

Oct 13, 2017

San Francisco Opera Announces Community Learning Events for Fall 2017

San Francisco Opera has announced the programs it will be instituting this season to bring more awareness about opera to adults in the area. In sum, there will be about six programs overall, the first of which takes place on Oct. 20, 2017. This program, entitled “Drinks & Drama: A Taste of the Season,” is a social-educational evening pairing operas {…}

Oct 13, 2017

Weekend Preview – USA (10/13-15): LA Opera Opens ‘Nabucco’ With Plácido Domingo

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 {…}

Oct 6, 2017

Weekend Preview – USA (10/6-8): LA Opera’s ‘Pearl Fishers’ & Chicago’s “Rigoletto’ Among Highlights

The busy weekend in the US continues throughout with a number of companies continuing previously unveiled productions. Before we look at continued runs, let’s look at some of the first-timers this weekend. Among those is LA Opera’s production of “The Pearl Fishers,” which opens on Saturday with a cast that includes Nino Machaidze, Javier Camarena, and Alfredo Daza. Over in {…}

Sep 29, 2017

Weekend Preview – USA (9/29-10/1): Metropolitan Opera’s First Weekend of 2017-18 Season

The fall opera season continues growing with more and more opera companies opening their doors. This will be the first weekend of the Metropolitan Opera’s 2017-18 season. While the company has no shows scheduled for Friday, it will have a double header of “Les Contes d’Hoffmann” on Saturday during the afternoon and “Die Zauberflöte” in the evening. The former stars {…}

Sep 25, 2017

The 4 Fascinating Women of Girls of the Golden West

Although written by two men, “Girls of the Golden West” is centered around the lives of the hardy women of Rich Bar (a mining camp in the Sierra mountains) and Downieville, California in the early 1850s. Throughout the Works and Process presentation at the Guggenheim on Sept. 21, John Adams (composer) and Peter Sellars (librettist/director) made it clear that this opera {…}

Sep 22, 2017

San Francisco Opera Lab Headed to Premiere Electronic Dance Club

San Francisco Opera Lab will make an appearance at the Mezzanine, one of San Francisco’s premiere electronic dance music clubs on Oct. 12, 2017. Operatronica, a dance party featuring opera and electronic music is set to spur the interest of widely disparate groups with the intent of unifying them. To do so, the program will feature popular arias and songs from {…}

Sep 22, 2017

Weekend Preview – USA (9/22-24): Lyric Opera of Chicago Opens Season With ‘Orpheus and Eurydice’

More opera companies open their doors this weekend starting with the Lyric Opera of Chicago. The LOC’s first performance of the year on Saturday, Sept. 23, 2017, will be Gluck’s “Orpheus and Eurydice.” The opera stars Andriana Chuchmann, Dmitry Korchak, Lauren Snouffer, and Harry Bicket conducting. Meanwhile, Opera Philadelphia continues its festival with performances of “The Magic Flute” on Friday {…}

Sep 15, 2017

Weekend Preview – USA (9/15-17): ‘Elizabeth Cree’ Makes Its World Premiere in Philadelphia

It is another busy weekend in the opera world with more and more companies opening their doors for the fall season. Opera Philadelphia is the first new addition to the weekend with its first performance of “The Magic Flute” on Friday and Sunday. On Saturday, the company showcases the world premiere of Kevin Puts and Mark Campbell’s “Elizabeth Cree,” which {…}

Sep 14, 2017

San Francisco Opera 2017-18 Review – Turandot: A Real Fairy Tale in the Bay Area Led by Martina Serafin & Brian Jagde

What are the stakes in “Turandot?” Calaf must answer a riddle or lose his head. Turandot must find out her suitor’s name or she will have to marry him. The people of Peking will have to help their icy princess to do just that or they will all be tortured and killed, in heartbeat, and in one fell swoop. No {…}

Sep 8, 2017

Weekend Preview – USA (9/8-10): NYC Opera, LA Opera, San Francisco, Washington & Others Open Seasons

After a relatively quiet weekend in the USA, the opera world starts coming back to life in this second week of September. The New York City Opera continues its season-opening run of “La Fanciulla del West” on Friday and Sunday. OPERA San Antonio’s production of “Macbeth” kicks off for two performances on Friday and Sunday and will star Greer Grimsley {…}