The Metropolitan Opera has announced plans to perform Anthony Davis and Thulani Davis’ “X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X” during the 2023-24 season. The opera will feature the directing debut of Robert O’Hara, making him the second Black director in Met history. Audiences will see Will Liverman in the title role alongside Leah Hawkins as Louise and Malcolm’s {…}
On Oct. 10 and 11, Will Liverman is set to perform at the Park Avenue Armory in New York City. The baritone will give solo recitals alongside pianist Myra Huang and will spotlight the works of Black composers and writers, in addition to works from the traditional classical music canon including three Strauss pieces, “Wie sollten wir geheim sie halten,” {…}
The Kennedy Center is set to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Leonard Bernstein’s famed “Mass” on Sept. 8, 2021. The piece, which inaugurated the brand-new John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts with its world premiere on Sept. 8, 1971, will be presented in a new fully staged production starring Will Liverman as the Celebrant. The work was commissioned by {…}
(Credit: Ticanda Thompson) 12-year-old, Caleb Thompson will understudy the role of “Char’es Baby” in Terence Blanchard’s “Fire Shut Up in my Bones” at the Metropolitan Opera during the 2021-22 season. Thompson is a voice student at Stax Academy in Memphis, Tennessee. Here, he has also been a part of an opera class that started after the cancelation of Opera Memphis’s {…}
Credit: (Jonathan Tichler / Met Opera) August 8, 2021, saw the return of the Metropolitan Opera’s SummerStage Recital for a single evening of operatic favorites from acclaimed artists. Opera lovers new and old gathered in Central Park amid the fog and rain with their spirits mostly undamped. The artistic lineup was comprised of tenor Paul Appleby, soprano Leah Hawkins, and {…}
Park Avenue Armory has announced its Fall 2021 recital series, which includes three concerts. “We are thrilled to welcome artists and audiences back to our Recital Series and Artists Studio performances this fall. These two longstanding, vital dimensions of the Armory’s program offer a more intimate complement to the large-scale productions presented in the Drill Hall, allowing artists and audiences {…}
This week audiences are in for two different opera recordings. One comes from the contemporary repertoire and the other comes from the classical period. Here is a look. Akhnaten The Metropolitan Opera releases its acclaimed production by Phelim McDermott on DVD, Blu-Ray, and CD on Philip Glass’ label Orange Mountain Music. The cast includes Anthony Roth Costanzo, J’Nai Bridges, Dísella {…}
The Metropolitan Opera has announced a summer recital set for August 8, 2021 at the SummerStage in Central Park. The showcase, which will start at 7 p.m., will feature soprano Leah Hawkins, tenor Paul Appleby, baritone Will Liverman, and pianist Bryan Wagorn. The soloists will perform a program featuring arias and duets. Doors open at 5 p.m. but audiences will {…}
The Aspen Music Festival and School has announced a series of concerts that will be livestreamed around the world. For the purposes of this article, our focus will be strictly on operatic and vocal performances. First up will be a presentation of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony conducted by Robert Spano and starring Jeanine De Bique, Lauren Decker, Lawrence Brownlee, and Will {…}
The Metropolitan Opera has announced its next two weeks of nightly streams. The first week will center on operas featured in the “Aria Code” podcast. The second week will focus on reimagined settings of classic operas. Week 64 – Aria Code: The Operas Behind the Podcast Monday, May 31 – Puccini’s Turandot Starring Christine Goerke, Eleonora Buratto, Yusif Eyvazov, and James Morris, {…}
The Lyric Opera of Chicago has announced its 2021-22 season. It all kicks off with a new production of Verdi’s “Macbeth” starring Luca Salsi, Sondra Radvanovsky, Joshua Guerrero and Christian Van Horn. Enrique Mazzola conducts the production by Sir David McVicar. Performance Dates: Sept. 17- Oct. 9, 2021 Enrique Mazzola will conduct “L’Elisir d’Amore” in a production by Daniel Slater. {…}