Verismo Founder & Clients Featured in 'Instagram Moments' Story
“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.
April 15, 2019
Verismo founder Beth Stewart and mezzo Jamie Barton are quoted in Opera America Magazine’s Spring 2019 issue. The “Instagram Moments” story examines the social platform’s dynamic possibilities for classical music, and also features images from the feed of conductor Lidiya Yankovskaya.
Russell Tenor Is Opera News Magazine's May Cover Story
“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.
April 2, 2019
Photo by James Foster
American tenor Russell Thomas is featured on the cover of the May issue of Opera News, America’s most widely read classical music magazine.
Life on the road is sometimes challenging for Thomas, a single father who lives in Atlanta with his four-year-old son. 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. He speaks frankly and thoughtfully about the challenges of being a gay black man in an industry that has not traditionally nurtured black men as performers—or celebrated them as stars. “When I was in college [at New World School of the Arts in Miami], I began to hear those things that a lot of gay men in opera and the arts hear—‘Keep your personal life to yourself, don’t talk about that whole gay thing.’ But I have always felt that if I were going to be a singer—and I have wanted this career since I was eighteen—that I needed to be open about myself. I believe that people who aren’t open about who they are don’t share as much, emotionally, onstage as the people who own who they are. Singing has always been therapeutic for me. It helps me to be free. If I were closed off about who I was, I don’t know if I would be able to do that.”
Read the full interview in the May issue of Opera News!
Jamie Barton Subject of Opera Magazine's 'People' Feature
“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.
February 15, 2019
““Jamie Barton may hail from Rome, Georgia, not Rome, Italy, but she possesses an exceptional affinity for Italian style. The lustrous-voiced mezzo-soprano shapes her legato in Bellini and Donizetti with superb elegance. Turning to Verdi, She effortlessly masters the toughest vocal demands, and her detailed textual communication yields an interpretative subtlety that Verdi’s mezzo roles seldom receive.””
Photo by Wilfried Hösl
American mezzo Jamie Barton is the subject of a six-page ‘People’ feature in the March issue of Opera Magazine (UK). Read the wide-ranging interview with this “complete singer with a once-in-a-generation voice” via Opera.
'Gutsy, Political, and Hypnotising' Ayre Launches Against the Grain Records
“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.
December 7, 2018
Against The Grain Theatre, Toronto's visionary chamber opera company, is known for electric performances that act as "a bracing wake-up call to the spirit" (The Globe and Mail). That daring candor is now being channeled via its new in-house recording label, which launches today with a live recording of Osvaldo Golijov's "ecstatically beautiful...radical and disorienting" song cycle Ayre (The New Yorker).
Ayre blends traditional and electronic instruments with elements of Byzantine chant, Sephardic lullabies, Sardinian protest songs, and Arabic, Hebrew, and Christian texts. Praised by Gramophone as "an intoxicating, endlessly haunting mixture of styles and musical cultures," the technically exacting song cycle has become a signature piece for AtG Founding Member Miriam Khalil.
According to Against the Grain Founder and Artistic Director Joel Ivany, the preservation of such transformative works was a major motivator in the establishment of the theatre's in-house label. "At AtG, we have made it our mandate to create fresh and daring experiences for our audiences – and with this new facet of our work, we're now able to capture and share moments of our acclaimed limited production runs."
"Against the Grain is thrilled to be able to share the immediacy and emotion of this live performance, recorded at the breathtaking Ismaili Center in Toronto, with a broader audience," he said. "Ayre is an extraordinary and unforgettable adventure."
Hear the album >
Praise for Miriam Khalil’s performance:
“The fluidity on display in Khalil’s smallest ornaments is also apparent on the largest scale in her approach to the entire work. Ayre’s eclectic sources can feel blocky in their juxtapositions, like buildings from different eras of a city thrown up with no compromise or eye to overall aesthetic cohesion. In Khalil’s rendition, the impression is more of a lived-in landscape, one where tree and grass and hill and oasis have melded together into an intricate network, no one part fully extricable from any of the others. In this way, she makes Ayre feel like a piece for our time…”
–National Sawdust Log
“Khalil's 2016 performances in Toronto - which make up Ayre Live - offer an energy and understanding that make hers a new definitive interpretation of the work.”
–Schmopera
“Titled after the Old Spanish word for “song,” Ayre is so relentless in its storytelling that it’s almost exhausting – another emotional wave we can surely ride alongside Khalil, who sings the challenging work with her whole body. Few singers have the stamina or the stylistic palette that Khalil employs throughout Ayre, and it’s even more impressive when one remembers this is a live recording.”
–The Globe and Mail
“Miriam Khalil’s performance on this album shows her to be more than a singer: she is an elemental force. There are no missteps here as each song is performed with dramatic depth, a nuanced understanding of the range of emotions and tones required by poetry and music.”
–Opera Wire
“Khalil, who speaks fluent Arabic and even grew up singing some of the songs Golijov chose, performs this cycle with a personal understanding that makes this recording a mature iteration of the work. As an opera singer, Khalil spends her voice generously in Golijov’s stretchy, hovering soprano lines. And unlike an opera singer, she sets few limits on how she uses her instrument. She begins the cycle with a sound that’s close to a Western classical voice, one that could translate into a recital of songs by Debussy or Schubert; but over Golijov’s expansive arc, she moves her voice into the technically risky sound worlds of chest voice and nasal production. As the styles intertwine, it’s astonishingly organic to hear her womanly, spinning vibrato hover over an electronic beat that is totally danceable.”
–The Globe and Mail
Praise for Against the Grain Records:
“The album is a bold way for Against the Grain to inaugurate its status as a record label. Ayre is not opera, and it's perhaps not even representative of what AtG has become most widely known for - namely, its 21st-century-spun "transladaptations" of traditional operas by Mozart and Puccini. Yet for the launching of Against the Grain Records, to lead with Ayre is to lead with a strong message of putting art and diversity first – without compromising on quality.”
–Schmopera
“With Ayre Live, Against the Grain Theatre has christened its new record label with a piece that evades definition, a game in which artistic director Joel Ivany excels. The recording is a nod to the opera collective’s roots, with its spotlight on founding member Khalil, but more importantly, it’s something that will make it into my daily playlist. It’s too bold for background music, too tough to forget after even just one listen.”
–The Globe and Mail
“Toronto-based chamber opera company Against the Grain Theater has launched a new record label. I can’t think of better start to such a venture than this recording of Osvaldo Golijov’s song cycle, “Ayre.” The work captures some of the company’s central ideals: beauty, relevance, and innovation.”
–Opera Wire
Yankovskaya and Winters Are December Artists of The Month
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.
December 3, 2018
Photos by Kate Lemmon and Fay Fox
Conductor Lidiya Yankovskaya and soprano Corinne Winters are each “Artist of the Month” honorees for December.
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.
A Mighty Voice in Opera Champions The Need for More Diversity
“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.
November 15, 2018
Photo by James Foster
Tenor Russell Thomas believes in the power of music. After all, music — specifically opera — changed the course of his life.
Two Verismo Artists Profiled in Musical America
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.
June 26, 2018
Photos by Gabriel Gastelum and Fay Fox
““Every month for nearly ten years, Musical America has featured a New Artist on our home page: someone with a special talent that, for the most part, hasn’t yet been ‘discovered’... We were right, as we were with all of the 25 we check on in this issue.””
Musical America followed up with conductor Christopher Allen, who was originally profiled as "New Artist of the Month" in July 2015 and "seems to be everywhere these days," and soprano Corinne Winters, profiled in January 2012, for whom "Violetta has become such an integral part of [her] operatic trajectory."
Christopher Allen Featured in Opera News Magazine
"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.
October 1, 2017
Photo by Gabriel Gastelum
““Opera is not dead. I’m just going to keep saying that.””
During a late afternoon lunch in St. Louis’s plush Tenderloin Room last June, Allen answered questions carefully and succinctly; his voice is soft, but his passion for opera is loud and clear. “The stories of our time need to be told. And the medium where I can help that is opera. That’s what we do—tell stories. Look at Ricky’s Grapes of Wrath, which we are doing now. Steinbeck’s novel was written in the ’30s, but there are so many things in it that are relevant today. How scary is that?
“Did you see Fellow Travelers at Cincinnati Opera? Greg Spears is a brilliant composer, and that piece is a perfect example of a story that is relevant to our time and needed to be told. I sat there and thought, ‘Wow, this is absolutely entertaining—people need to see this.’ And the reaction of that audience was astonishing. Opera is not dead. I’m just going to keep saying that. I suppose ‘Opera is dead’ is a good media headline, but I don’t know how true it is.
Read the full feature in Opera News.
Corinne Winters's 2017 Traviata Trifecta
"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.
February 7, 2017
This season, soprano Corinne Winters sings Verdi's doomed La traviata in debuts at Seattle Opera and San Diego Opera, and in her return to the Royal Opera House Covent Garden.
Winters, who considers Violetta her life's work, spoke with Bachtrack, Opera Sense, and Opera Wire about her signature roles, major house debuts, and why she identifies with the titular courtesan.
For performance dates, visit www.corinnewinters.com.
Photo by Fay Fox
Jamie Barton Lands on Front Page of Wall Street Journal
Barton featured in "How Bugs Bunny and ‘Kill the Wabbit’ Inspired a Generation of Opera Stars."
May 20, 2016
““He picks up the wabbit and he thinks, ‘Oh, no, I’ve actually killed it.’ This is the wonderful thing about opera. It’s the musical embodiment of the whirlwind of emotions of human beings, right?” JAMIE BARTON”
Jamie Barton, along with three Washington National Opera Ring colleagues, appeared on the front page of this weekend's Wall Street Journal, discussing the influence of Bugs Bunny's 'What's Opera, Doc.' Barton was also featured in an accompanying video on the WSJ website.
Jamie Barton Talks Wagner & Bluegrass with Schmopera
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.
April 12, 2016
Ahead of her Washington National Opera debut as Waltraute/2nd Norn in Götterdämmerung, Jamie Barton talks with Schmopera about Wagner, bluegrass, and her goal to bridge the gap between the art form she grew up loving and the art form she now does on a daily basis.
Barton grew up on a farm, surrounded not by classical music, but by Bluegrass. "That's kind of where I think I got an ear for virtuosic music. I absolutely still love it," she says, enthusiastically. "If I'm ever listening to Bluegrass then I'm probably missing home a little bit." She's a big fan of Chris Thile's music, and his collaborations with the Punch Brothers. "It is everything from Brandenburg Concertos to their own music which sounds at times very traditionalist for Bluegrass, and then at other times," she chuckles, "like Schoenberg had a baby with Earl Scruggs."
Rolando Sanz Featured on Schmopera
"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.
February 17, 2016
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.
"Tenor Rolando Sanz has an enviable schedule, singing roles like Alfredo in La traviata, Nemorino in L'elisir d'amore, and Rodolfo in La bohème. He reprises Alfredo with Ash Lawn Opera in May, and he's currently juggling understudy responsibilities at The Metropolitan Opera for their ongoing production of Otello. Despite his busy schedule, Sanz found time to talk about his bucket list roles, and all the things "good singing" can mean. "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."
Amanda Majeski Featured on Schmopera
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.
February 4, 2016
Amanda Majeski is featured in a Schmopera Spotlight interview.
American lyric soprano Amanda Majeski was named "Best Breakout Star" by Chicago magazine, and she's living up to the title. Roles like Vitellia in La clemenza di Tito, Eva in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg and Countess Madeleine in Capriccio have kept her busy in recent years; last season she sang Countess Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro, a signature role of hers, at the Metropolitan Opera under the baton of James Levine, which was broadcast worldwide in HD.
Majeski is set to sing the Marschallin in Lyric Opera of Chicago's production of Der Rosenkavalier, opening February 8th. She managed to find some time to give Schmopera a beautiful interview about singing, the importance of being multi-lingual, and her enormous dedication to her work.
Jamie Barton Featured in Special Report
"One of the fastest-rising stars in the opera world today." Jamie Barton shares her insider competition tips with Musical America readers.
February 4, 2016
Jamie Barton is featured in Musical America's special report on competitions.
Jamie Barton is one of the fastest-rising stars in the opera world today, earning rave reviews for her keen musicality and voluptuous, richly colored instrument. The Atlanta-based mezzo-soprano has also become something of an expert on the current competition scene, having ridden a wave of wins. Musical America spoke with Barton on the West Coast in December, where she was singing Adalgisa in Los Angeles Opera’s Norma and making her San Francisco recital debut at San Francisco Performances.
Tucson Desert Song Festival and Jamie Barton on KGUN-9's Morning Blend
"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.
January 20, 2016
Jamie Barton and TDSF Director George Hanson joined the Morning Blend for an interview and performance television appearance.
Jamie Barton to Appear on Television's "Live from Lincoln Center" across U.S.
"From Bocelli to Barton: The Richard Tucker Opera Gala” will air on PBS Stations this February, hosted by Audra McDonald.
January 14, 2016
Photo by Dario Acosta
Jamie Barton, winner of the 2015 Richard Tucker Award, will star in "From Bocelli to Barton: The Richard Tucker Opera Gala” on PBS Stations this February. Audio excerpts, hosted by Deborah Voigt, will air on WQXR on February 1 before the "Live from Lincoln Center" telecast, which will be hosted by Audra McDonald on February 5. Check your local listings to confirm air date and time.
The star-studded gala features past Tucker Award-winners Renée Fleming, Christine Goerke, Isabel Leonard, Lawrence Brownlee, and Stephen Costello; soprano Nadine Sierra, and tenors Piotr Beczala and Andrea Bocelli, in works by Berlioz, Donizetti, Gounod, Puccini, Rossini, Verdi, and others.
Corinne Winters Featured in The Independent
"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.
October 13, 2015
Photo by Becca Fay
Corinne Winters speaks with The Independent about marketing opera to young people and her new life as a Londoner.
Corinne Winters, the young American soprano, meets me at the London Coliseum. It has effectively been her artistic home since her breakthrough appearance as Violetta in Verdi’s La traviata in 2013. Her megawatt personality and quick, strong thinking remain undimmed after a full-on morning rehearsal for English National Opera’s new production of La bohème, in which she sings Mimi, perhaps Puccini’s best-loved heroine. At 32, she has everything: the voice, the charisma, the looks, the intensity, the acting. Her Violetta – touching, vulnerable and vocally flexible, melting or brilliantly edgy as necessary – apparently won her several years’ worth of further engagements.
Jamie Barton Subject of New York Times Feature
"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.
September 25, 2015
Photo by Stephanie Diani
The New York Times 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. Woolfe calls Jamie "a leader of a new generation of opera stars" and Metropolitan Opera General Manager Peter Gelb says, "Hopefully, there won't be a season she won't sing at the Met."
Jamie Barton Featured in Atlanta Journal-Constitution
"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.
September 16, 2015
Photo by Brian Tarr
Jamie Barton talked with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution about staying grounded and juggling stage time between the Metropolitan Opera and the DeSoto Theatre in Rome, Georgia, this month.
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. The Rome native and Atlanta resident has kept her winningly level-headed and humble outlook, even as the past few years have brought her dazzling success.
“I feel like the same person, but I feel like the same person operating in a new set of circumstances,” said Barton in a phone call from Houston, where she was preparing for a recital with the renowned Ars Lyrica ensemble.
“I have my family and friends in Georgia as well as around the world who really help me stay grounded in terms of keeping calm and making good decisions. This career can be overwhelming in so many ways, and in the past year or two, it’s certainly had its overwhelming moments.”
That’s putting it mildly.
Amanda Majeski Featured in CS Modern Luxury Magazine
"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.
September 1, 2015
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.
It seems lyric soprano Amanda Majeski was just meant to sing Countess Almaviva in Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro. In 2010, the Gurnee native took to the Lyric Opera of Chicago stage on short notice, when bronchitis sidelined the scheduled star. And last season, she did the same at the Metropolitan Opera when the slated Russian diva dropped out of Richard Eyre's new production. But she did more than step up to the plate; she made the role her own. Although fate may have jump-started Majeski's career, pure talent propels it.
