Seattle Opera has a new COO and CFO. Marissa Betz-Zall will assume the role of Chief Financial Officer, and Ángela Gist, that of Chief Operations Officer. Both were appointed by the General Director Christina Scheppelmann. The two new executives will begin their functions in March 2023 and replace Jane Repensek served as COO/CFO since 2017. Betz-Zall started at the Seattle {…}
Photo: Seattle Opera What a treat to see a world premiere deliver a gripping operatic experience. Everyone involved in this endeavor earned kudos individually and cumulatively—the vision of what was possible was manifested collaboratively, each creative element building upon the others. “A Thousand Splendid Suns” is a new opera based on Khaled Hosseini’s best-selling 2007 novel about the resilience of {…}
Photo: Antone Patterson An opera company’s highest calling is to commission new work—to contribute to the history of opera, to leave a legacy. Seattle Opera has done so, memorably, with “A Thousand Splendid Suns.” The piece, which opened February 25 in Seattle’s McCaw Hall and ends March 11, is Seattle Opera’s first mainstage world premiere since Daron Hagen’s “Amelia” from {…}
The Seattle Opera has announced the 2023-24 season featuring four productions. Productions Wagner’s “Das Rheingold“ is set to open the season with Greer Grimsley as Wotan, Frederick Ballentine, Michael Mayes, and the Seattle Opera debut of internationally celebrated mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves. The cast is rounded by Martin Bakari, Melody Wilson, Kenneth Kellogg, Peixin Chen, and Sarah Larsen. Performance Dates: August {…}
Seattle Opera has appointed Shannon Rolbiecki to the position of Director of Development, effective Dec. 12, 2022. “I’m thrilled to join the team at Seattle Opera,” said Rolbiecki in an official press statement. “To work in support of an art form I love for an organization of such quality and integrity is beyond exciting. The arts are still in recovery, {…}
Seattle Opera will present the world premiere of “A Thousand Splendid Suns” by composer/librettist team Sheila Silver and Stephen Kitsakos and directed by Roya Sadat, one of the first female filmmakers in Afghanistan. The show will run from Feb. 25-March 11, 2023. Based on the novel by Khaled Hosseini, the opera relates the story of Mariam and Laila, two Afghan {…}
(Credit: Sunny Martini) From the second bar of Richard Wagner’s “Tristan und Isolde,” in the hands of conductor Jordan De Souza, it was clear Seattle Opera’s production (which opened Saturday night and runs through Oct. 29) would be sonically something special. It turned out to be special in several ways, in fact. In that second bar, the famous “Tristan chord”—which {…}
The Seattle Opera has announced a new program to make opera more accessible. The company noted that “in an effort to make opera accessible for all, the Sunday’s performance of ‘The Elixir of Love’ will be Pay What You Wish.” Audiences will pay a minimum of just $5 and will pay what they wish, which will allow operagoers to purchase {…}
Seattle Opera has announced that Michaella Calzare will be the company’s new Chorus Master and Head of Music. Calzare will prepare the Seattle Opera Chorus for the upcoming season, where it will appear in productions of “L’Elisir d’Amore,” “Tristan und Isolde,” “Samson et Dalila,” and “La Traviata.” Calzare will succeed John Keene, who is headed to San Francisco Opera this {…}
Seattle Opera has announced that Dennis Robinson Jr. has been appointed as its next Director of Programs and Partnerships, effective June 20, 2022. An alumnus of Carnegie Melon University, where he studied Opera Directing, Robinson has served has served such administrative roles as Manager of Artistic Administration at Palm Beach Opera, Director of Education and Accessibility at City Theatre Company, {…}
Seattle Opera is teaming up with the Pacific Northwest Ballet Orchestra to present “UNITY: A Concert for Ukraine.” The showcase, which will take place on May 16, 2022 at Seattle Center’s Marion Oliver McCaw Hall, will be conducted by Emil de Cou and Alevtina Ioffe. All proceeds will be donated to the Pegaz Cultural Association to provide housing, food, rehearsal {…}