The Atlanta Opera has announced the finalists for its 96-Hour Opera Festival this June 16 – 22, 2025. This year’s teams include Rebecca Gray and Rachel Gray; Gillian Rae Perry and Mo Holmes; Daniel Reza Sabzghabaei and Ashlee Haze; Dina Pruzhansky and Hai-Ting Chinn; and Iván Enrique Rodríguez and Laura Barati. Contestants will get 96 hours to create and present a new 10-minute opera. They will compete for a $10,000 {…}
(Photo: Raftermen Photography) The Atlanta Opera (TAO) thrives and even expands while many classical music organizations contract. Their spring mainstage offerings began this month with Verdi’s “Macbeth. ” But not before the announcement of their 2025-26 season, including what few companies can afford to do—“Götterdämmerung,” completing an entire “Ring” cycle. Their season also includes Philip Glass’ “La Belle et la {…}
The National Opera Association (NOA) has announced that at its 70th National Conference it will join forces with the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS), Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), and other Savannah Arts Organizations. NOA+NATS 2025 Conference offerings include artistic discussions with NOA’s president Isaí Jess Muñoz and NATS’ president Alexis Davis Hall along with industry {…}
The Atlanta Opera announced that its has received a $27.5 million leadership gift from The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation. The gift goes directly to The Atlanta Opera’s three-year $110 million comprehensive campaign. The Blank Foundation grant ensures that the Opera’s vision extends beyond constructing its new home at the Molly Blank Center for Opera. This transformative gift designates $25 {…}
The Atlanta Opera is set to stream Mozart’s “The Magic Flute” on Nov. 8, 2024. The company will begin the presentation on its streaming platform with a pre-show at 7 p.m. and audiences will get exclusive behind-the-scenes insights and sneak peeks with the cast. At 8 p.m., the presentation will begin. The cast will include Santiago Ballerini, Mei Gui Zhang, {…}
The Atlanta Opera is set to open its 45th Anniversary season with a production of W.A. Mozart’s “The Magic Flute.” The production, which is a pop-up storybook production, will be performed on the stage at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre on Nov. 2, 5, 8, and 10, 2024. The cast will include Santiago Ballerini as Prince Tamino, Mei Gui {…}
The Atlanta Opera has announced the artists selected for the 2024-25 Season Studio Artist program. The young artists will apprentice and perform throughout the season. The selected artists are soprano Amanda Sheriff, mezzo-soprano Aubrey Odle, and bass-baritone, Jason Zacher for a second season, and tenor Wade Odle and stage director Elio Bucky for their first season. Each Studio Artist is {…}
(Photo credit: Raftermen Photography) Of late, The Atlanta Opera (TAO) makes possible the nearly-impossible. In March, your reviewer summarized the robust health this company enjoys despite the current fiscal climate that shrinks arts organizations. With each gut punch to classical music lovers in the United States—the Metropolitan Opera Guild evaporating and Opera News taking the form of a brief supplement {…}
Photo credit: Raftermen “Toi toi toi, y’all,” intones the attractive, Southern-inflected t-shirt at The Atlanta Opera’s pop-up gift shop. An apt tagline for a company having outgrown regional status, still honoring its roots in this de facto capital of the American South. Like Atlanta—now the sixth most populous metropolitan area in the United States, having recently edged past Philadelphia and {…}
The Atlanta Opera has announced its 2024 96-Hour Opera Festival. The event will feature the world premiere of “Forsyth County is Flooding (with the Joy of Lake Lanier),” which won the 2022 competition. The opera will be staged by Tinashe Kajese-Bolden and conducted by Chaowen Ting. It stars Kevin Thompson (Church Jenkins), Minka Wiltz (Odella), Andrew Gilstrap (Mayor John Johns), Tiffany Uzoije (Butter), and Marnie Breckenridge. The opera’s {…}
The Atlanta Opera has unveiled the lineup of Glynn Studio Artists for its upcoming 2023-2024 season. The selected artists include mezzo-soprano Aubrey Odle, soprano Amanda Sheriff, director Nora Winsler, and bass-baritone Jason Zacher, meanwhile tenor Kameron Lopreore has been chosen for a second season. The Studio Artists will be given training and stage experience, including some lead performances and major {…}