Verismo News
World-renowned conductor Lidiya Yankovskaya returns to the Capital Region to guest conduct the Albany Symphony – the orchestra whose concerts she regularly attended while growing up. She spoke with many outlets prior to her homecoming, including Albany Times-Union, CBS6, Classical WMHT, and Northeast Public Radio.
This March, Jake Heggie’s Moby-Dick received its long-awaited Metropolitan Opera premiere in a star-studded production by Leonard Foglia. Jake spoke with outlets such as The New Yorker, Associated Press, The New York Times, and Spectrum News NY1 about his latest opera to be mounted at the Met.
Verismo is delighted to welcome exuberant young Finnish-American tenor Miles Mykanen to the roster ahead of his title role debut on opening night of the Metropolitan Opera’s 25/26 season.
Music of Remembrance presents its annual free community concert Art From Ashes on International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Jake Heggie and Margaret Atwood address gender-based violence in performances by The Philadelphia Orchestra and baritone Joshua Hopkins, under the baton of Yannick Nézet-Séguin, at Marian Anderson Hall and Carnegie Hall.
Fort Worth Symphony presents the world premiere of Jake Heggie’s Earth 2.0, a monodrama about the Earth’s relationship with humanity. With lyrics by Anita Amirrezvani, the piece was written for countertenor, orchestra, and dancers.
Jamie Barton makes a dual role and house debut as Baba the Turk in The Rake’s Progress at Opéra National de Paris. She joins Ben Bliss, Golda Schultz, Clive Bayley, and Iain Patterson under the baton of Susanna Mälkki.
Eun Sun Kim makes her highly-anticipated Royal Opera House debut leading Jonathan Kent’s stunning production of Tosca. In anticipation of her debut, she was profiled in the Financial Times.
Musical America announces the 64th annual Artist of the Year awards, naming Jake Heggie Composer of the Year. The organization recognizes artists who have advanced the art form beyond expectation and have brought new perspectives to the performing arts.
Music Director Eun Sun Kim continues her Verdi-Wagner initiative at San Francisco Opera with her first Tristan und Isolde. The nearly five-hour epic starred Simon O'Neill, Anja Kampe, Wolfgang Koch, Annika Schlicht, and Kwangchul Youn.
San Francisco Opera releases Eun Sun Kim: A Journey into Lohengrin, a documentary on the company’s music director and what it takes to produce an opera, featuring behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with the cast, crew, and orchestra.
OPERA America announces the induction of composer and mentor Jake Heggie into the Opera Hall of Fame, which recognizes the achievements of outstanding living American artists, administrators, and advocates who have strengthened the art form and the field.
San Francisco Opera announces that music director Eun Sun Kim will extend her contract through the 2030-31 season, including plans to lead new productions of Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen and Verdi’s Parsifal.
Seattle Opera presents the world premiere of Jubilee, a new opera by visionary writer and director Tazewell Thompson about the Fisk Jubilee Singers.
Wolf Trap Opera presents a cinematic new production of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Silent Night, the first opera by composer Kevin Puts, directed by Ryan and Tonya McKinny.
Des Moines Metro Opera presents the world premiere of American Apollo, a new opera by Damien Geter and Lila Palmer that explores the relationship of society painter John Singer Sargent and Black model Thomas Eugene McKeller.
Lidiya Yankovskaya leads Puccini’s Il Trittico in her debut at Opera Australia. Under her baton, three Australian directors come together to present the premiere of this bold new production.
Conductor Eun Sun Kim is featured on the cover of Arte Magazine following her recent performances with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra.
Music of Remembrance celebrates its 25th Anniversary with a three-city world premiere tour of Before It All Goes Dark, a new opera by Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer based on reporting by legendary Chicago journalist Howard Reich in the Chicago Tribune.
Librettist Lila Palmer, newly appointed General and Artistic Director of New Orleans Opera, has been named one of New Orleans Magazine’s Top Female Achievers making change for good. She speaks with the magazine about her broad creative background, her family’s move to NOLA, and her plans for the company.
Eun Sun Kim makes her highly anticipated Berlin Philharmonic debut following an epic string of orchestral engagements including debuts with the New York Philharmonic, Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, and London’s Philharmonia Orchestra.
Conductor Lidiya Yankovskaya is featured on the cover of Opera Now magazine following her highly acclaimed leadership of English National Opera’s Duke Bluebeard’s Castle and ahead of her departure as Music Director of Chicago Opera Theater.
Music of Remembrance premieres Phoenix, a new musical work about the women’s rights crisis in Iran, written by the Iranian American creative team of composer Sahba Aminikia and librettist Zara Houshmand. BBC Persian flew out to cover the performance.
Lidiya Yankovskaya spoke with The Sunday Times about prejudice, parenting, and the potential future of English National Opera, ahead of her acclaimed return to ENO for Bluebeard’s Castle.
Out of more than 250 applicants, 21 exceptionally promising pre-collegiate musicians with demonstrated need were chosen by From the Top to receive up to $10,000 each. Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist Award funds are made available for instrument purchases, summer camp tuition, college audition expenses, private lessons, and other music-related needs.
Tenor Russell Thomas is featured on the cover of Opera Now magazine ahead of his role debut as Parsifal with Houston Grand Opera and the world premiere of Fire and Blue Sky, written for Russell by Emmy Award-winning composer Joel Thompson, at LA Opera.
Conductor Lidiya Yankovskaya’s seven-year run at Chicago Opera Theater is featured in The Reklama and Chicago Tribune.
Eun Sun Kim is profiled in Le Figaro Magazine ahead of her Parisian performances conducting at the Palais Garnier and Opéra de la Bastille.
Conductor Eun Sun Kim is featured on the cover of Opera Now magazine ahead of her Opéra national de Paris debut and the Callas Centenary Gala.
As The New York Times writes, SFCM has “emphasized risk-taking and an expansive view of the field.” Deeply committed to cultivating a sense of entrepreneurial spirit among its student body, SFCM will now expand its culture of exploration with rapid-fire programs designed to empower arts professionals.
The organization will commemorate a half-century of opera’s progress with a variety of initiatives, including an Opera Hall of Fame, Oral History Project, and a series of national events. It will also rally members of the opera industry to participate in a national promotional campaign, #meetopera, to inspire curiosity in the art form.
Chicago Opera Theater “rides on a new wave, bringing a repertoire that ranges from grand spectacle to electric intimacy.” Now COT’s Vanguard Emerging Opera Composer Residency, which invites accomplished composers into the company for a two-year education in opera-specific skills, has been named the recipient of a $500,000 grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
“Kim cultivated a rich, relaxed sound in the strings. Each phrase breathed, yet she also led with momentum, knowing just the right moment to push ahead.” The Korean maestra has just made important debuts in L.A. and Munich, as well as a hotly anticipated return to Cincinnati.
This season, Beth Stewart will share her vision for the industry in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Birmingham, Alabama, New York, New York, and Dallas, Texas.
“Naysayers accuse opera of resuscitating a permanent past. Here is where you can see the present.” Chicago Opera Theater’s Music Director is the classical highlight in Chicago Magazine’s Culture Issue.
“It began an obsession with classical music that turned her teenage alienation into a powerful sense of belonging to music and connection with its listeners, whoever they are and wherever they come from.” The American mezzo shares her most pivotal classical music memory with WQXR’s smash hit podcast, alongside Alec Baldwin, Wynton Marsalis, Eddie Izzard, Sam Mendes, and Jon Batiste.
"We are witnessing something rather remarkable. That moment an audience falls in love with a singer." Jamie Barton’s media blitz ahead of Last Night of the Proms included appearances on television, radio, national print media, podcasts, and digital and glossy magazines.
“In Barton’s hands, bi visibility got the diva treatment.” The activist mezzo talked to Slate about being an outspoken advocate for LGBTQ rights and body positivity, and what it means to queer the Proms.
“After thinking about what she really wanted to project to an audience of millions, she came to the conclusion that exhorting Britain’s naval hegemony wasn’t the only interesting message she could broadcast. “When I sat down with the BBC in October I told them, ‘You know, I can think of a flag that I can get behind. I’d really like to carry the Pride flag.’” The American mezzo tackles hot-button issues in this in-depth profile.
“Explorations shared in a spirit of generosity and intimacy.” From The New York Times and The New Yorker to Gothamist and Man Repeller, New York’s Resonant Bodies Festival was on everyone’s radar.
“Lidiya Yankovskaya has a passion for the new and for the neglected. She’s here for a Refugee Orchestra concert, she’s the Music Director of Chicago Opera Theater, and a whole host of other things that make me feel deeply inadequate.” Ahead of ROP’s London debut, Artistic Director Lidiya Yankovskaya got the word out.
“I would never dream of telling a singer, ‘Hey, you should do this specific piece. I want to hear you do that piece.’ Because you’re only going to get the second-best thing from a singer that way, I think. But if you ask a singer, ‘What do you love to sing? What lights you up? Right now?’ Then things feel urgent. I want to hear your urgent music.'” The founder of the Resonant Bodies Festival discusses the art and science behind the voice.
“I’m interested in building relationships with those houses, like San Francisco, who are doing really good work, but also trying to be inclusive in terms of who they hire as well as who they market to. That is a direction opera needs to go in to stay relevant and viable.” From witches and Wagner to women championing body positivity, this star mezzo-soprano talks all things opera with Classical Music Magazine.
“Those who embark on this path can foster creativity and collaboration, open doors that may otherwise remain closed, increase the number of voices represented, and ultimately move classical music toward a more viable future.” Lidiya Yankovskaya has penned a wide-ranging series on the evolving responsibilities of musical leaders.
"Virtuosic and sensual, capable of both power and nuance.” Verismo is proud to represent coloratura sensation Brenda Rae, who makes high-profile debuts at Teatro Real Madrid, Salzburg Festival, and the Metropolitan Opera this season.
“The Refugee Orchestra Project brings together musicians from all over the world and provides a space for refugees and immigrants to share their experiences through music.” Lidiya Yankovskaya’s work with her Refugee Orchestra project is the subject of a new CNN feature.
“Jamie Barton has an obvious affinity for strong, confident and outspoken women — both on and off the operatic stage. Perhaps that’s because, well, she’s one herself.” The American mezzo talks with Joshua Kosman about Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Carmen, and other fierce feminist role models.
Led by millennial women, Chicago Opera Theater is emerging from the recent leadership transition as a company laser-focused on living its values.
“In these divisive times, vocal support of refugees has become critical – and musicians are uniquely well-positioned to address this issue,” explains founder Lidiya Yankovskaya. “Our art form crosses linguistic and cultural boundaries, and so much of what we do is rooted in collaboration.”
"After only a single season in her new role, her musical presence has revitalized a company that had become a shadow of itself.” Lidiya Yankovskaya’s work at Chicago Opera Theater has earned her a coveted spot on Newcity’s Music45 list.
Designed to motivate the next generation of activists, the book features Lidiya’s work with Refugee Orchestra Project and highlights her as the only woman music director of a multimillion-dollar opera company in the United States.
“Everything from the highly characterized singing to the lush yet keenly honed reading of the score, under Kim’s baton, registers in a vividly visceral, emotionally penetrating way. Nothing feels or sounds gratuitous; just about everything, across three-and-a-half musically and dramatically absorbing hours, seems essential.” Eun Sun Kim’s house debut in San Francisco earns widespread critical acclaim.
“Aubrey Bergauer is the dynamic and innovative administrator whose five-year tenure as executive director of the California Symphony in Walnut Creek helped revitalize the orchestra’s audience base and bottom line…” The data-driven leader will launch a consultancy intended to replicate her game-changing strategies across a broad range of arts organizations.
Verismo Founder Beth Stewart joins Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity’s Opera in the 21st Century program as guest faculty this week.
Beth Stewart joined San Francisco Chronicle critic Joshua Kosman, Opera Philadelphia VP of Marketing & Communications Frank Luzi, and composer Niloufar Nourbakhsh in a panel discussion on the state of media and promotion in 2019.
“A festival suffused with purpose and ambition.” ResBods returns to Brooklyn’s Roulette Intermedium for its 7th annual festival this September 3-5, 2019. Featured artists include Kate Soper, Arooj Aftab, Anthony Roth Costanzo, and Charmaine Lee with guest artists Conrad Tao, Vijay Iyer, Wet Ink Ensemble, Ashley Bathgate.
The Burleigh Society and Urban Playground Chamber Orchestra co-production “landed with earth-shattering force.”
“Otello requires a dramatic tenor with a wide vocal range, the power to cut through heavy orchestration, and the skill to make the long, declamatory passages sing – ideally, a voice that marries Wagnerian stamina and Italianate beauty. Russell Thomas is one of them.” The American tenor’s staged role debut as Otello is met with critical acclaim across North America.
“Organizers have sought to recognize creators who unflinchingly detailed Black experiences despite the risk of offending a powerful white establishment.” An All Arts preview examines the influence of Harry T. Burleigh on generations of African American classical musicians.
“Musical mastery that turns both this massed ensemble and superb orchestra, conducted by Lidiya Yankovskaya, into forces of nature in their own right.” The Chicago premiere of Heggie’s Moby-Dick is led by Music Director Lidiya Yankovskaya.
The American mezzo will be the featured performer in classical music’s biggest party.
“Instagram allows access for everyone, which is really important in a field that has traditionally been elitist. I believe very much that the future of opera is inclusivity, and Instagram provides a platform for that.” Star mezzo Jamie Barton, conductor Lidiya Yankovskaya, and Verismo founder Beth Stewart are all featured in the Spring 2019 issue of Opera America Magazine.
“Nothing could have prepared me for the focused intensity of Winters’ performance as Rachel…” Opera Vlaanderen’s recent run of Halévy’s La Juive is now available to view online via OperaVision.
“Thomas is an engaging, easy conversationalist; he admits with a grin that he has ‘a lot of opinions,’ but they are impressively well argued and delivered without a trace of arrogance.” The American tenor has landed his first Opera News cover.
“A stinging rebuke to still-active demeaning stereotypes that cast black people as sassy, loud, and unrefined.” The Harry T. Burleigh Society concert, featuring the Fisk Jubilee Singers, earned critical acclaim from the Log Journal.
“A complete singer with a once-in-a-generation voice, a born communicator, a deeply compassionate human being with so much to give to audiences – Jamie Barton is an artist whose time truly has come.” The American mezzo earns a six-page feature in the March 2019 issue of Opera.
“Khalil's performances offer an energy and understanding that make hers a new definitive interpretation of the work.” Ayre: Live, the debut release from Against the Grain Theatre’s new in-house recording label, has been nominated for a 2019 Juno Award for Classical Album of the Year, Vocal or Choral.
“Yankovskaya does a terrific job as a conductor of this score bringing out the many colors and styles of music with her thirteen musicians who prove game to the challenge.” Lidiya Yankovskaya makes her Washington National Opera debut leading the world premiere of Kamala Sankaram’s Taking Up Serpents.
“Holtan is ecstatic about having this world-class soprano back in our midst. ‘She was such a huge hit when she was here last time, and when we reached out to her, she didn’t hesitate,’ he says.” Corinne Winters joins the Tucson Desert Song Festival for concerts, a recital, and a masterclass.
“What makes an American opera? Many of the support programs designed to promote new work create the somewhat amusing spectacle of American artists such as Kamala Sankaram, whose father is from South India, or the opera’s conductor, Lidiya Yankovskaya, whose family emigrated from Russia when she was 9, compressing themselves into someone else’s ‘American’ template.” Ahead of her house debut at Washington National Opera, the conductor spoke with Anne Midgette about the world premiere of Taking Up Serpents.
“Miriam Khalil’s performance on this album shows her to be more than a singer: she is an elemental force.” Against the Grain Records releases a stunning new recording of Osvaldo Golijov’s Ayre by a soprano native to many of the cultural threads.
Musical America describes Yankovskaya as “friendly and fearsomely articulate" while the New York Festival of Song interviews Winters on self-care, favorite rep, and mentoring with Turn The Spotlight.
“Lyric provided the finest, best matched group of lead singers that I can imagine singing today." Il trovatore at Lyric Opera of Chicago stars critically acclaimed mezzo Jamie Barton as Azucena and tenor Russell Thomas as Manrico.
“Yankovskaya’s supple command of musical shape and dramatic continuity was never in doubt.” Chicago Opera Theater Music Director Lidiya Yankovskaya leads the Chicago premiere of Tchaikovsky’s final opera.
“I believe the way you diversify an audience is by diversifying the stage. But if there are not people backstage that are thinking diversity, you don’t have it.” Tenor Russell Thomas talks to the Chicago Sun-Times ahead of his appearance in Il trovatore.
“Winters, a slight but striking figure, excelled. She is an exquisitely expressive singer.” The Monteverdi Choir and Orchestras’ European tour of the Verdi Requiem wraps tonight at Amsterdam’s famed Concertgebouw.
“One of the hottest young conductors forging a path in the world of opera today… Lidiya Yankovskaya is the future of opera.” As Music Director of Chicago Opera Theater, Lidiya is the only woman to hold that title in a multimillion-dollar opera company in the United States.
Conductor Lidiya Yankovskaya led a concert that mixed Western and Indian classical music traditions at the United Nations in New York.
Soprano Corinne Winters will join the summer 2019 production of Bizet’s The Pearl Fishers.
“Pianist Christopher Allen proved a thrilling collaborator, finding orchestral colors in his virtuosic playing.” Conductor Christopher Allen returned to his first love, the piano, to partner Patricia Racette in his Opera Philadelphia debut.
Mejia’s “Prelude in F Major for Piano and Orchestra,” from his album An Open Book, was nominated for Best Classical Contemporary Composition.
“Barton set the tone with liquid phrasing and her signature burnished sound. With a pure, focused tenor sound, remarkably even from top to bottom, Thomas managed to convey both the nobility and anguish of the title character.” Mezzo Jamie Barton and tenor Russell Thomas make acclaimed role debuts as Sara and Roberto in San Francisco Opera’s production of Donizetti’s Roberto Devereux.
This season will take Verismo artists to stages and orchestra pits around the world, including those of the Metropolitan Opera, Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Opera, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Los Angeles Opera, Canadian Opera Company, Opera Philadelphia, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Bayerische Staatsoper, and Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw.
Turn The Spotlight’s mission is to identify, nurture, and empower leaders, and in turn, illuminate the path to a more equitable future in the arts. The foundation was created to pair top-tier mentors with exceptional women, people of color, and other equity-seeking groups in the arts.
“It’s hard to find adjectives superlative enough to describe her voice: huge and sumptuous, but with such broad possibilities of color that the singer can chill the blood with just a glint of steel in the tone. Lurching, heaving and writhing nonstop, she looked as if she might any moment explode out of sheer malevolence.” New York City audiences have another chance to experience Jamie Barton’s Jezibaba at the Met’s Summer HD Festival, and audiences around the world can see her Fricka in cinemas in 2018/19.
“Out of the tumult tenor Russell Thomas, with all the strength of a commanding general, strode on stage and proclaimed, ‘Esultate!’ For the next three hours there was a great deal to rejoice about…” Russell Thomas joined the Los Angeles Philharmonic as the title character in Verdi’s iconic Otello.
“A heroically shining tone of exceptional clarity and precision…” American tenor Russell Thomas will bring his signature elegance and intensity to the title characters in Verdi’s Otello, Donizetti’s Roberto Devereux, and Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito.
"Success for Mejía…has come easy, in part, because he can relate. Mejía is a musician himself, a pianist-composer who is known for connecting on a visceral and musical level with his songwriters.” Billboard Magazine talks with Jorge Mejia about bridging worlds, genres, and cultures.
"Monumental and well-crafted…Craig Bohmler's Riders of the Purple Sage can now lay claim to a rightful place in the canon of works about the American West." WFMT's American Opera Series broadcast of Riders has been named a finalist in the New York Festivals Radio Awards.
Over the past decade, Musical America has had an incredible knack for featuring "New Artists of the Month" who go on to big things. This month's follow-up on 25 of these still-rising stars includes conductor Christopher Allen and soprano Corinne Winters.
“Wheedling, cajoling, commanding, she can play the kitten, gently twitting her husband’s nose, but in this relationship it is she who is determined to wear the palazzo pants. The voice is still creamy, but when the top notes fly, the audience are pinned to their seats.” Jamie Barton sings her first complete Ring cycle at San Francisco Opera.
"An instant classic...a rigorous and eclectic work." El Nuevo Herald reviews the sold-out launch concert of Jorge Mejia’s musical memoir.
"L'italiano è la lingua più bella del mondo!" Soprano Corinne Winters joined SBS Italian Radio to discuss her love for the Italian language and the juicy roles of the Italian operatic repertoire.
“He delves with ivory keys into intimacies that words can not reach.” Pianist and composer Jorge Mejia talks with the magazine about stories, music, and straddling worlds of genre.
Luis Hernandez interviews Jorge Mejia in a segment that also includes a reading and orchestral excerpts from this musical memoir.
“Mezzo Jamie Barton, former HGO Studio Artist and conquering international singer, supplies heft, smoky velvet tone, and incomparable artistry…” Jamie Barton brings her Adalgisa to Houston Grand Opera’s Norma in Resilience Theater.
Mezzo Jamie Barton and costume designer Jessica Jahn appear on Houston Life, taking audiences behind the scenes of Houston Grand Opera's production of Norma in Resilience Theater.
"Being in Miami allowed me to continue growing as a multicultural citizen, and I never felt that my identity had to be wrapped up in just one facet of who I am." Ahead of the release of An Open Book: A Memoir in Music on Sony Latin, composer and pianist Jorge Mejia is profiled in UM Connect.
“A musician who exemplifies the confluence that makes Miami unique.” Ahead of the release of An Open Book: A Memoir in Music on Sony Latin, composer and pianist Jorge Mejia speaks with El Nuevo Herald.
“Winters glides, she soars with a magnificence of coloratura that is merely the theatrical expression of a wholly consistent characterisation, sometimes coolly self-possessed in the face of tightly controlled desire, sometimes enraptured, sometimes very convincingly at the edge of despair. This is a very contemporary Violetta – musically flawless but with a convincing and enshrouding self-possession…” Corinne Winters brings her signature role to Opera Australia in the beloved Elijah Moshinsky production of La traviata in Melbourne.
"It’s easy to jump on the bandwagon, but daring to be oneself, especially when it means standing alone, is real bravery..." Ahead of her Opera Australia debut as Violetta in the beloved Moshinsky La traviata, Winters speaks with Australian Arts Review.
"Opera changes people on a molecular level. The unamplified voice is a frequency that changes them. Maybe my particular frequency, my particular aesthetic, won't move everybody – but it could move someone." Corinne Winters speaks with Spectrum in Australia’s The Age newspaper.
“No one who has heard Jamie Barton in action is in any doubt about the American mezzo-soprano’s gifts. She boasts an expansive, robust vocal sound, tinged with richly varied colors, and she deploys it with a distinctive combination of heroic power and tender intimacy. So the splendors of her debut release don’t exactly come as a surprise. But that hardly diminishes the joy of listening to Barton’s expressive, full-throated performances.” Jamie Barton's debut solo album has won the Vocal Category of the 2018 BBC Music Magazine Awards.
“Beautiful tone draws people in, but primal emotion breaks hearts – an easy thing to forget after years of higher education and trying to ‘get it right.’” Ahead of her Opera Australia debut, Winters appears in Australia’s Limelight Magazine.
"There are times in life where there just isn't a question that it's the right next step to take. With opera and my husband it has felt like that – like I didn't have a choice. It's that strong of a pull." Corinne Winters speaks with the Herald Sun, ahead of her debut with Opera Australia as their La traviata in Melbourne.
A heavyweight in the Latin music world, classical composer and pianist Jorge Mejia releases AN OPEN BOOK: A Memoir in Music on Sony Latin on May 4, 2018. This ambitious genre-blending project, born of Mejia’s devotion to storytelling in all its forms, is an e-book alternating narrative vignettes with orchestral preludes recorded by the composer with the Henry Mancini Institute Orchestra.
"Even in a cast as extraordinarily strong as this one, Barton rises above. Her "O don fatale" elicited one of those magical operatic moments where time stops..." Jamie Barton makes her American role debut as Princess Eboli in a new Tim Albery production in Washington, D.C.
Heidi Melton turned Wagnerian wit into Valhallantines for the New York Phil's Instagram account.
"Some of the most beautiful recordings I have ever heard. Anyone who loves the human voice should own this." All Who Wander is up for a BBC Music Magazine Award in the Vocal category.
"The Wagnerian voice we have been waiting for since Flagstad and Nilsson." This season, American dramatic soprano Heidi Melton sings Brünnhilde and Sieglinde in performances of Wagner's Ring Cycle at the New York Philharmonic, Dallas Symphony, and Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe.
“The kind of singer that changes the way we think about mezzos in this century…the kind of singer who brings us back to other centuries. The voice itself is, of course, a marvel. Rich and sonorous, but also vulnerable, it seems to emerge from the depths of the lower abdomen, as though lungs could start where legs ended, with tone shooting up from the floor.” Jamie Barton and pianist Kathleen Kelly kick off their recital tour to rapturous acclaim in Boston and New York.
"It’s the sort of instrument you could listen to all day, in any sort of repertoire." Jamie Barton's debut album receives recognition from the International Classical Music Awards and Gramophone Classical Music Awards.
"An opera as monumental and well-crafted as Craig Bohmler's Riders of the Purple Sage can now lay claim to a rightful place in the canon of works about the American West. Riders is literally and figuratively blazing new trails, demonstrating the relevance and value of the age old genre in a dynamic and memorable production." Arizona Opera's first commissioned world premiere airs on WFMT's American Opera Series in over 400 cities.
"Mejia's investment in 'Despacito' has paid dividends beyond anything he could have imagined. Penned by Sony/ATV's own Luis Fonsi, Daddy Yankee, and Erika Ender, the global hit, which spent 16 consecutive weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100, is the most streamed song of all time, with 4.6 billion streams and counting. 'We always thought the day would come when there would be light at the end of the digital tunnel," says Mejia. "It's starting to happen.'"
"An interpretation with personality, quality, variety of expression, authority in the extremes of the registers, and daring assurance..." Jamie Barton makes her role debut as La favorite in Teatro Real Madrid's bicentennial gala.
"No one could ask for more from the role: a Traviata who delivers glittering coloratura runs as well as intimate lyrical passages, extroverted self-expression, and bitterest pain with magnificent touching intensity.” Winters makes her Theater Basel debut as Violetta in a new co-production with English National Opera.
A Steinway Artist featured in Billboard Magazine’s “40 under 40” and “Latin Power Players” lists, classical pianist and composer Jorge Mejia defies easy categorization.
“These artists address the listener with the urgency of a prophet or an obsessive. World War I ended almost a century ago, but they make it seem present and pressing, like many of the songs it inspired. Artsong recitals rarely feel so grounded in reality.” The debut album from baritone John Brancy and pianist Peter Dugan is reviewed in Opera News and aired on radio stations across the U.S.
"At thirty-one, conductor Christopher Allen is one of the fastest-rising podium stars in North America. Allen’s leadership is a model of clarity, vigor and intelligence, keenly detailed and richly colored; his work with soloists, chorus and orchestra is first-class..." The October issue of Opera News includes a 2-page spotlight on the young conductor – and his tattoos.
"Atlanta is home not only to some of the most progressive and competent fine arts institutions in the U.S. but also to uniquely engaged creative communities. The fearless and empathetic role of the artist in Atlanta makes the place a paragon of a new American art mecca..." Mezzo Jamie Barton and The Atlanta Opera are featured in Audi Magazine's "Art x ATL" piece.
"A full-scale and colorful mosaic. Mejia’s world is imagery, cinema, storytelling, and he doesn’t hold back..." Dinnerstein and the Havana Lyceum Orchestra feature Mejia's preludes in their first U.S. tour.
“An unfailingly inviting and seductive soundworld…provided a comfortable entry point for what might otherwise have proved an elusive evening for many. Zvulun and his team can be proud of what could well become a new classic for Atlanta.” The Atlanta Opera continues its adventurous Discoveries series programming with Astor Piazzolla's Maria de Buenos Aires.
The impact of Craig Bohmler's Riders of the Purple Sage continues to be felt across the Southwest. Inspired by the success of Riders, major donors have now pledged a $1 million gift to Arizona Opera.
"An international phenom with that dazzlingly creamy voice and commanding stage presence. With power to spare, she soars over the lush orchestration...to penetrate the wrenching heart of her tale." Mezzo Jamie Barton returns to Houston for the final installment of Wagner's epic Ring cycle.
"As moving and vocally compelling as I have ever experienced...” Winters makes her San Diego Opera debut as Verdi's tragic heroine in a Marta Domingo production.
“The general reaction we have gotten from audiences is that it not only educates them, but it delivers them to a place and time that is really hard to feel without the music. People can actually feel these moments deeply within their souls and spirits.” Baritone John Brancy and pianist Peter Dugan release A Silent Night: A WWI Memorial in Song this month.
"This is what great art can do. It can energize a community." The world premiere run of Craig Bohmler's Riders of the Purple Sage is a runaway success.
In the coming season, The Atlanta Opera will showcase its vision as a regional leader in the arts through innovative, theatrical productions of diverse works. The 17/18 season will also feature the first fully staged performances of Jake Heggie's Out of Darkness, in TAO's fourth consecutive season offering a contemporary work by an American composer.
"Opera is alive, and exists only from the downbeat until the curtain falls." The soprano sings Verdi's tragic heroine in productions at Seattle Opera, San Diego Opera, and the Royal Opera House Covent Garden this season.
"It’s hard to find adjectives superlative enough to describe her voice: huge and sumptuous, but with such broad possibilities of color that the singer can chill the blood with just a glint of steel in the tone. Lurching, heaving and writhing nonstop, she looked as if she might any moment explode out of sheer malevolence." Jamie Barton returns to the Metropolitan Opera in a new production of Rusalka.
The $50,000 prize is awarded annually by the Metropolitan Opera to one of its most promising young singers.
"Corinne Winters is an especially compelling Violetta, alternating power with subtlety...as heartbreaking as any I have ever seen." Corinne Winters appears as Violetta at Seattle Opera.
"It’s the sort of instrument you could listen to all day, in any sort of repertoire." Jamie Barton's debut album is receiving critical acclaim from San Francisco to London.
"At this point, environmentally oriented performances are nothing new, but this music is deep enough to engage on its own." Read more from the Boston Globe on the Fry Street Quartet's latest project.
"Jamie Barton channels her mezzo superpowers" and lands on the cover of the January 2017 issue!
The Atlanta Opera’s Silent Night “revealed a company unafraid to move in bold new directions, and with more than enough talent on hand to take a captivated audience along with it into the 21st century."
"She brought enormous power, rich colours and perfect intonation to the vocal line. This was highly emotional and yet beautifully restrained singing that really got beneath the skin of the music.” Jamie Barton's recent recital tour with pianist James Baillieu was 'ecstatically acclaimed' by audiences and critics alike.
All Who Wander features songs of Mahler, Dvořák and Sibelius, accompanied by pianist Brian Zeger.
Craig Bohmler's world premiere at Arizona Opera is featured in the Fall 2016 issue.
The Atlanta Opera opens its largest, most innovative season yet, featuring new repertoire, a new Young Artist Program, smart collaborations, and must-see talents.
"'Come scoglio' (Like a rock) applied rather more correctly to Winters’ singing technique than to Fiordiligi’s constancy.” Winters makes her Covent Garden debut as Fiordiligi in a new production of Mozart's Così fan tutte.
Alongside an album of environmentally conscious new works by Grammy winner Libby Larsen and Pulitzer Prize nominee Laura Kaminsky, the visionary Fry Street Quartet has launched the #makeityours campaign to encourage personal responsibility for global sustainability.
Her 2016/17 season is highlighted in September's "Noteworthy & Now."
The Fry Street Quartet are working on the vanguard of collaborative classical music.
"As her voice leaps across the extremes of range and emotions, Barton remains solid as a rock." Jamie Barton sings Elizabeth Proctor in Robert Ward's haunting The Crucible, directed by Francesca Zambello.
"Majeski sings this touchstone Straussian role with gleaming, resonant tone and insightful musicianship..." Amanda Majeski returns to Santa Fe Opera as the Countess in Capriccio, opposite Susan Graham's Clairon.
"Deliciously phrased, Winters' Alice is the real deal, soaring in ensemble, sighing in mock adoration..." After role and house debuts in Rome and Birmingham, Winters joins Bryn Terfel and the Welsh National Opera Orchestra in concert at the Henley Festival.
Sanz to appear in Mozart's Idomeneo, under the baton of Maestro James Levine. The production will be simulcast in cinemas worldwide via Met Live in HD.
"Jamie Barton is a first-rate Fenena." Barton joined operatic legend Plácido Domingo on BP Big Screens around the U.K. and smaller screens around the globe via a Royal Opera House YouTube live stream.
“Amanda Majeski made the best Eva I have heard in years, true of pitch and pure of tone, comfortable in all reaches of the part and emotionally persuasive from beginning to end." Majeski returns to the rolling hills of Glyndebourne as Eva in Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg.
Barton featured in "How Bugs Bunny and ‘Kill the Wabbit’ Inspired a Generation of Opera Stars."
"Winters exudes the fascination of a very exceptional woman in every moment." Corinne Winters sings Mélisande in a new, psychoanalytically inspired Dmitri Tcherniakov production of Pelléas et Mélisande.
The 30-year-old maestro receives a 2016 Solti Foundation U.S. Career Assistance Award.
Riders of the Purple Sage, based on Zane Grey's iconic Western novel, will receive its world premiere at Arizona Opera in 2017.
Ahead of her Opernhaus Zürich debut as Mélisande in Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande, Corinne Winters talks with Schmopera about playing those coveted roles, her offstage creative outlets, and how she stays happy and healthy on the road.
Executive Producer Rolando Sanz brought Lippa's latest work, a concept opera starring Kristin Chenoweth, to Washington, D.C. this weekend.
Corinne Winters will sing her signature role of Violetta in Verdi's La traviata in Marta Domingo's Roaring Twenties era production.
Ahead of her Washington National Opera debut as Waltraute/2nd Norn in Götterdämmerung, Jamie Barton talks with Schmopera about her goal to bridge the gap between the art form she does on a daily basis with the art form she grew up loving.
Jamie Barton will sing Elgar's Sea Pictures with her hometown orchestra in November 2016.
Corinne Winters will make her ROH Covent Garden debut as Fiordiligi in a new production of Così fan tutte in the fall and return in the summer in her signature role of Violetta in La traviata.
Jamie Barton will make dual role and house debuts in Verdi's Don Carlo as part of Deutsche Oper Berlin's 2016/17 season.
"Dignified and moving...a great showcase for her rich, resonant soprano." Amanda Majeski will bring her acclaimed Countess to The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.
"She sounds so richly experienced, so old-school, with a coloratura that is pure Technicolor..." Jamie Barton graces the glossy pages of the March issue, talking music from bluegrass to Bizet, and staying true to her Georgia roots on the road.
Amanda Majeski appeared in a televised interview, talking about Lyric Opera of Chicago's Der Rosenkavalier and performing a Strauss excerpt and Bolcom's "Amor."
Jamie Barton will debut as Jezibaba in an imaginative new Mary Zimmerman production of Dvorak's Rusalka and bring her celebrated Fenena to the Met stage alongside Plácido Domingo as the title character in Nabucco. Both productions will be Met Live in HD broadcasts in cinemas worldwide.
Amanda Majeski will make her house role debut as Donna Elvira in Mozart's Don Giovanni.
"One does not need to "appreciate" singing to know what good singing is...we all know it when we hear it, and the goosebumps are proof positive of that." Rolando Sanz talks with Schmopera about listening to the greats, trusting oneself, and giving Aretha Franklin the R-E-S-P-E-C-T she deserves.
"Stunning, intense, and heartbreaking." Corinne Winters is earning raves for her first Desdemona in Opera Vlaanderen's new Michael Thalheimer production.
Nearly a decade after singing a winning "Priva son d'ogni conforto" during the finals of the 2007 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, Jamie Barton is making her much-anticipated debut as Cornelia in Handel's Giulio Cesare.
"Sheer perfection...She simply could not be better in this role." Amanda Majeski delivers her first U.S. performances as the Marschallin after rapturous reviews of her role debut in Frankfurt.
“In a modern world in which classical music is facing a tough battle for continued funding, TDSF is giving smaller regional organizations an opportunity to thrive.” The Tucson Desert Song Festival brings the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World and Grammy winners to the Old Pueblo.
Named "Best Breakout Star" by Chicago Magazine, Amanda Majeski is living up to the title. Ahead of her Marschallin in Lyric Opera of Chicago's production of Der Rosenkavalier, she spoke with Schmopera about singing, the importance of being multi-lingual, and her enormous dedication to her work.
"One of the fastest-rising stars in the opera world today." Jamie Barton shares her insider competition tips with Musical America readers.
Recent announcements for the 2016/17 season also include a return to the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and a Wigmore Hall recital debut.
The legendary mezzo-soprano opens up about storytelling, breaking through standard fach boundaries, and the magic of Julie Andrews.
"Classical music should not just be for the people who can pay the most." Ahead of their telecast of the 2015 Richard Tucker Opera Gala, Live from Lincoln Center has released "Bringing Music to the People," a video showcasing Jamie Barton's work with Sing for Hope.
Caliente explores how TDSF lures top singers, the collaboration with the Ravinia Festival's Steans Institute to honor Robert Shaw, and guitarist Adam del Monte's musical upbringing in the caves of Spain.
"For 18 days this winter, the world’s most exciting vocal stars will descend on Southern Arizona, enriching the seasons of eight local performing arts organizations." Jamie Barton and TDSF Director George Hanson made a joint television appearance, featuring an interview and two performance segments.
"From Bocelli to Barton: The Richard Tucker Opera Gala” will air on PBS Stations this February, hosted by Audra McDonald.
Zocalo writes about the power of the human voice, the popularity of song, and how TDSF is bringing the world's best to Tucson.
Corinne Winters will appear as Violetta in the Peter Konwitschny La traviata – the same production that launched her international career and landed her on the cover of Opera magazine in the UK – as well as the title role in Katya Kabanova.
The magazine previews TDSF16 and talks to mezzo Daniela Mack about Carmen with Arizona Opera, one of the highlights of this year's festival.
Jamie Barton, Corinne Winters, and Amanda Majeski have made round-ups in New York, St. Louis, and Chicago.
"Is there anything this artist can't sing?" Jamie Barton debuts with San Francisco Performances and presents the West Coast premiere of Jake Heggie's The Work at Hand.
"Few music festivals can claim the leadership position or forward thinking of the Tucson Desert Song Festival." The Latin Post features the TDSF's work, including upcoming appearances by Spanish guitarist Adam del Monte and Argentine-American mezzo Daniela Mack.
"An indelible demonstration of why the young mezzo-soprano has become the latest darling of the American opera scene." Jamie Barton sings Adalgisa alongside Angela Meade's Norma.
"A worthy winner of this prize...rich and luscious." Jamie Barton appears in the annual star-studded gala at Lincoln Center.
"Fresh snow covered in dark honey." Jamie Barton joins Essential Voices USA for their Holiday Harmonies release.
"Winters just belongs on a stage." Corinne Winters returns to the London Coliseum in a controversial new Benedict Andrews production of La bohème.
"She has everything: the voice, the charisma, the looks, the intensity, the acting...touching, vulnerable and vocally flexible, melting or brilliantly edgy as necessary." Corinne Winters speaks with The Independent about marketing opera to young people and her new life as a Londoner.
"Faultless — stylistically on the money, dramatically committed, and displaying a vocalism that was perfectly even from the top to the bottom of his range." Weston Hurt's signature roles are the complex, menacing, cajoling heroes and villains immortalized by Verdi, Puccini, and Donizetti.
"At 33, she seems poised for greatness." Jamie Barton brings her celebrated Jane Seymour to the Met stage alongside Sondra Radvanovsky as Anne Boleyn and Ildar Abdrazakov as King Henry VIII.
"Her tender and delicate singing approaches the transcendent." Amanda Majeski stars as the Countess in a new Barbara Gaines production of Le nozze di Figaro.
"A leader of a new generation of opera stars." Classical Music Editor Zachary Woolfe joined Jamie Barton as she recorded her first solo album, rehearsed a new role at the Metropolitan Opera, and performed at the Greene Space.
"At once supportive, unassuming, and richly musical." Christopher Allen is currently The John L. Magro Resident Conductor for Cincinnati Opera, Associate Conductor at Los Angeles Opera, and was recently nominated as a finalist for the 2015 International Opera Awards in London in the “Newcomer” category.
"It’s not often that the words 'down-to-earth' and 'opera star' are spoken in the same breath, but both terms fit mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton perfectly." Jamie Barton talks to the AJC about staying grounded and juggling stage time between the Metropolitan Opera and the DeSoto Theatre in Rome, Georgia.
In April 2016, Rolando Sanz and Strathmore will present the world premiere of I Am Anne Hutchinson/I Am Harvey Milk, a concept opera by Grammy and Tony Award-nominated composer Andrew Lippa.
"Barton is dazzling as Fenena, with a showstopper Act IV aria that displayed the lyricism and agility of this remarkable voice." Jamie Barton sings her first Fenena in Nabucco, a role that will also serve as her Royal Opera House Covent Garden debut this season.
"That joyfully dark, voluptuous and steady voice sucked us in from the first worried note to the last breath of emollient calm." Jamie Barton sings the Brahms Alto Rhapsody with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, under the baton of Marin Alsop.
"Although fate may have jump-started Majeski's career, pure talent propels it." Amanda Majeski talks with CS Modern Luxury magazine about stepping up to the plate and which opera character she'd like to chat with over coffee.
“My first instinct is to go for a very sympathetic Fenena. I’m a big believer in bringing beauty into the story when I can." Ahead of her Seattle Opera debut, Jamie Barton talks to the Seattle Times about Fenena, Wagner, and her roll-out-of-bed-and-sing music.
“She leads with great vision on the podium but also welcomes each and every person into the creative process, inviting them to do their very best work. The resulting art is spectacular.” Eun Sun Kim becomes the first woman to serve as Music Director of a Level 1 American opera company.