(Photo by Curtis Brown) Mezzo-soprano Kayla Nanto has won the first prize at The Dallas Opera’s Lone Star Vocal Competition. She also took home the Jonathan Pell People’s Choice. The mezzo will now automatically advance to the final round of the 2026 National Vocal Competition. She has performed with Santa Fe Opera, Opera Montana, Pensacola Opera, Painted Sky Opera, Fort {…}
The Dallas Opera has announced the 10 finalists for its 2025 Lone Star Vocal Competition. The finalists include soprano Amelia Burshe, bass-baritone Sam Dhobhany, mezzo-soprano Stephanie Doche, mezzo-soprano Joanne Evans, mezzo-soprano Ani Kushyan, mezzo-soprano Kayla Nanto, baritone Michael Pandolfo, soprano Ardeen Pierre, and soprano Laura Corina Sanders. The 10 will perform on March 7, 2025, at the Winspear Opera House {…}
The Dallas Opera has announced a series of cast changes for tis upcoming “Pelléas et Mélisande” production. The company revealed that Edward Nelson would take on the role of Pelléas instead of Benjamin Appl, who withdrew due to family reasons. This is Nelson debut with the company. Additionally, Benjamin Bjorklund will take on the role of Ynold, taking over for {…}
The Dallas Opera has announced the selection of the 2024-25 participants in the Linda and Mitch Hart Institute for Women Conductors. This season the conductors selected are Jiannan Cheng (China), Virginie Déjos (France), Anna Castro Grinstein (Spain/Argentina), and CJ Wu (Taiwan). The musicians were chosen from a worldwide applicant pool of 94 conductors, the second largest group since the program’s {…}
The Dallas Opera has announced that tenor Long Long is the recipient of the 2023-24 Maria Callas Debut Artist Award. The tenor debuted in “Roméo et Juliette” this season. “Words can’t express how excited and touched I am to receive this precious award,” said Long Long in an official press release. “It’s a great honor for me and a significant {…}
The Dallas Opera and WRR 101.1FM have announced that they will partner again this year to broadcast the four mainstage productions from TDO’s 2023/2024 Season on the Concert Hall program. The series will begin on July 22 with “Tosca” starring Ewa Płonka as Tosca, Jonathan Burton as Cavaradossi, and Gihoon Kim as Scarpia. Then on On August 12, “The Diving {…}
The Dallas Opera has announced the appointment of Paolo Bressan as its next Chorus Director and Head of Music beginning with the 2024-25 Season. Bressan has been an associate conductor with TDO since 2015, and this season conducted Family performances of Pépito and the National Vocal Competition. He also served as assistant conductor for this season’s productions of “Tosca,” “The {…}
The Dallas Opera has announced that it will be releasing free digital streams of its recent productions over the course of the next six months. First up is “Rigoletto” from 2022, directed by Tomer Zvulun and starring George Gagnidze, Madison Leonard, and René Barbera. Emmanuel Villaume conducts. Streaming Dates: April 1 – May 31, 2024 Then comes “Hansel and Gretel,” also {…}
The Dallas Opera has announced the winners of its National Vocal Competition. Taking home first place was baritone Navasard Hakobyan. The Armenian singer is a second-year artists of Houston Grand Opera’s Butler Studio and won first prize at the 2022 Eleanor McCollum Competition Concert of Arias. He has performed at the Houston Grand Opera in “Madama Butterfly,” “La Traviata,” and {…}
The Dallas Opera has announced its 2024-25 season. Mainstage Opera The season opens with Verdi’s “La Traviata” featuring Chilean soprano Yaritza Véliz, Spanish tenor Xabier Anduaga, and baritone Alfredo Daza. Louisa Muller directs and Iván López Reynoso conducts. Performance Dates: Oct. 18-27, 2024 Claude Debussy’s “Pelléas and Mélisande” will be conducted by Ludovic Morlot and will star Benjamin Appl, Lauren {…}
The Dallas Opera has announced the nine finalists of the Dallas Opera National Vocal Competition. The finals, which will be held on March 8, will showcase soprano Katerina Burton, soprano Adia Evans, soprano Elisa Sunshine, mezzo-soprano Lisa Marie Rogali, countertenor Cody Bowers, tenor Matthew Cairns, baritone Navasard Hakobyan, baritone Yeongtaek Yang, and bass-baritone Jongwon Han. Finalists will be accompanied by {…}