Laura Bohn, Alex Boyer, Kyle Tingzon, Shawnette Sulker, Markel Reed, John Bellemer Headline West Edge Opera’s 2026 Summer Festival

West Edge Opera announced its 2026 summer festival. “Our 2026 festival celebrates the daring, diversity, and emotional depth that define West Edge Opera,” said Mark Streshinsky, General Director, per an official press release, “these works reflect our belief in the power of opera to speak through ages.” There will be a special preview of the company’s newest commission “Claude & {…}

Oct 21, 2025

West Edge Opera Announces 2026 Snapshot Operas

West Edge Opera has announced the four new operas selected for the 2026 edition of Snapshot. The program will be presented at First Congregational Church in Berkeley on Feb. 28, 2026, and at the Taube Atrium Theater in San Francisco on March 1, 2026. This year’s Snapshot features “Cry, Wolf,” “Threshold of Brightness,” “The Joining,” and “Case Closed.” Composer JL {…}

Aug 13, 2025

Kelly Guerra to Headline Opera Southwest’s ‘Dolores’

Opera Southwest will present “Dolores” this October. The opera, which explores the story of civil rights activist Dolores Huerta, will take the stage of the National Hispanic Cultural Center-Journal Theatre on Oct. 26, 31, and Nov. 2, 2025. The work is set in 1968 during the Delano grape strike’s third year as farmworkers in California built a unified movement to {…}

Jan 16, 2025

Kelly Guerra, Derek Chester, Aaron Sheehan, Hadleigh Adams Headline West Edge Opera’s 2025 Summer Festival

West Edge Opera has announced its 2025 summer festival. First on the slate is Nicolás Lell Benavides and Marella Koch’s “Dolores,” which was developed through the company’s Aperture Program. It explores the journey of activist Dolores Huerta and her work with the United Farm Workers during the Delano Grape Strike, among other major events. The opera stars Kelly Guerra, Phillip {…}

Jan 9, 2025

West Edge Opera Adds Vocal Artists to Major Leadership Positions

West Edge Opera has announced that vocal artists Efraín Solís and Kenneth Kellogg will be taking on leadership roles in the company. Solís is joining as a voting member of the board of directors while Kellogg will take on the position of Director of Marketing and Engagement. The company’s goal of including the baritone and bass in leadership is to {…}

Jul 13, 2024

Composer Alyssa Weinberg Joins West Edge Opera’s ‘Claude & Marcel’

West Edge Opera has announced that composer Alyssa Weinberg is teaming up with librettist Stephanie Fleischmann to create “Claude & Marcel,” a new opera about surrealist photographers and activists Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore. The opera is written for eight singers and 13 instruments and will premiere in August 2027 following three years of workshops and preview performances. West Edge {…}

Jan 17, 2024

West Edge Opera to Present ‘Jacqueline’ As Part of 2024 Festival

West Edge Opera is set to present “Jacqueline” as part of its festival this August. The opera, which explores the story of famed cellist Jacqueline Du Pré, will feature cellist Matt Haimovitz and soprano Marnie Breckenridge. Both artists headlined the opera’s premiere at Tapestry Opera in Toronto in 2020 with Breckenridge winning the DORA award for “Outstanding Performances by an {…}

Oct 16, 2023

West Edge Opera Announces SNAPSHOT 2024 Slate

California’s West Edge Opera and Earplay Chamber Ensemble have announced the lineup for the SNAPSHOT 2024. First up is an excerpt from “Madame Thermin,” an opera by Kennedy Verrett and George Kopp based on the true story of a Black ballet dancer Lavinia Williams and her relationship with electronic music pioneer Leon Theremin. Also on the slate is Tony Asaro {…}

Jan 7, 2023

West Edge Opera Commission New Opera by Matthew Recio & Stephanie Fleischmann

West Edge Opera has announced that it will commission “L’Autre Moi.” The work for eight singers and 13 instruments tells the story of surrealist photographers Marcel Moore and Claude Cahun, female lovers, and Jewish activists who used their art as a means of empowering resistance in Nazi Germany. The work is written by Matthew Recio and Stephanie Fleischmann and is {…}

Nov 12, 2022

West Edge Opera Announces SNAPSHOT 2023 Lineup

West Edge Opera has announced its SNAPSHOT 2023 lineup scheduled for March 18 and 19 at The Hillside Club in Berkeley and the Taube Atrium Theater in San Francisco, respectively. Among the works programmed are Luna Pearl Woolf’s and Andrea Michelle Stolowitz’s “The Limit of the Sun,” a work that portrays “the complex relationship among a kidnapped journalist, the journalist’s {…}

Jan 12, 2022

Efraín Solis, Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen, Shawnette Sulker Headline West Edge Opera’s 2022 Festival

West Edge Opera has announced its 2022 summer opera festival. The season kicks off with Händel’s “Julius Caesar” with Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen in the title role. He will be joined by Shawnette Sulker as Cleopatra. Other cast members include Cenk Karaferya, Katharine Pracht, Sarah Coit, Ashraf Sewailam, Glenn Healy, and Jasmine Johnson. Mark Streshinsky directs a production conducted by Christine {…}

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