Chicago Opera Theater Joins Verismo Roster
Led by millennial women, Chicago Opera Theater is emerging from the recent leadership transition as a company laser-focused on living its values.
July 26, 2019
Chicago Opera Theater brings a demonstrated commitment to equity, a multi-pronged approach to nurturing new works and creators, and a boldly millennial voice to the industry. Verismo Communications is proud to be representing COT for a full season of Chicago premieres, including a double bill of Everest / Aleko, the world premiere of Dan Shore’s Freedom Ride, and Nathan Gunn’s role debut in David T. Little’s Soldier Songs.
Company Overview
Led by millennial women, Chicago Opera Theater is emerging from the recent leadership transition as a company laser-focused on living its values:
• expanding the tradition of opera as a living art form
• producing high-quality works that are new to Chicago audiences
• identifying top-tier casts and creative talent at the beginning of grand operatic careers
• leading the industry in Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility initiatives
Since its founding in 1973, COT has staged over 125 operas, including 66 Chicago premieres and 36 operas by American composers. COT is led by Stefan Edlis and Gael Neeson General Director Ashley Magnus and Orli and Bill Staley Music Director Lidiya Yankovskaya, who is the only woman to hold the title of music director at a multimillion-dollar opera company in the United States.
In addition to its mainstage season, COT is devoted to the development and production of new opera in the United States through its three-pronged Vanguard Initiative, launched in 2018. The Vanguard Initiative mentors emerging opera composers, invests time and talent in new opera at various stages of the creative process, and presents the Living Opera Series to showcase new and developing work.
Committed to leading the charge to increase representation onstage and behind the scenes. In the coming season, 47% of artists (singers/conductors/directors) are ALAANA; 20% of staff are people of color; 27% of staff identify as LGBTQIA; 37% of board members are female-identified.
Jamie Barton to Headline Last Night of The Proms
The American mezzo will be the featured performer in classical music’s biggest party.
April 17, 2019
““Charismatic American mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton, whose lustrous voice has established her as one of the most exciting performers of her generation, joins Sakari Oramo and the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus to lead the musical celebrations that bring the world’s greatest classical music festival to a spectacular close.””
Georgia native Jamie Barton will close out the 2019 BBC Proms in a Last Night of The Proms spectacular on September 14 at London’s Royal Albert Hall.
One of classical music’s biggest nights of the year, the performance will be televised live across the globe. Details and tickets are available via BBC.
Photo by BreeAnne Clowdus
Corinne Winters Returns to Tucson for Latin-Themed Concerts
“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.
January 14, 2019
Photos by Fay Fox
American soprano Corinne Winters returns to the Old Pueblo this month for a series of appearances with the Tucson Desert Song Festival. In addition to leading a masterclass for students at the University of Arizona, Winters will perform with guitarist Adam del Monte and True Concord Voices & Orchestra in repertoire including Villa-Lobos’ Bachianas Brasileiras no. 5, before debuting her new Shades of Night recital, featuring opera arias and songs that explore literal and metaphorical interpretations of night.
Ahead of her arrival in Tucson, Corinne spoke with Tucson Lifestyle Magazine and the Arizona Daily Star.
“The recital will be a virtual album of moments to remember. Winters explains, ‘It’s called Shades of Night because it examines all the facets of night: celebration, romance, excitement, loss, and the metaphorical ‘dark night of the soul.’ Each piece, in one way or another, is about exploring what’s hidden. The pieces are beautiful and accessible, including a mix of standard works and lesser-known gems. I suggest that the audience really take in the variance in color and mood. This program is not esoteric; it’s meant to be experienced viscerally. I suspect the impact will be different for each person!’”
Read full feature in Tucson Lifestyle Magazine >
“Corinne Winters is making up for lost time this week. After a four-year absence from Tucson stages, the soprano, who has fast-become a rising star on international opera stages, is returning to the Tucson Desert Song Festival, where she is doing triple-duty.”
Corinne Winters Will Return to Santa Fe Opera to Sing Her First Leïla
Soprano Corinne Winters will join the summer 2019 production of Bizet’s The Pearl Fishers.
October 5, 2018
American soprano Corinne Winters will return to Santa Fe Opera in the summer of 2019, to sing her first performances as Leïla in a Lee Blakeley production of Bizet’s The Pearl Fishers.
Conducted by Timothy Myers, Winters will be joined by Ilker Arcayürek as Nadir and Anthony Clark Evans as Zurga.
Performances run June 29 to August 23, 2019; tickets are available via Santa Fe Opera.
Photo by Fay Fox
The Atlanta Opera Announces 17/18 Season
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.
February 8, 2017
Early look at The Flying Dutchman, designed by Jacob Climer with projections by S. Katy Tucker
““In 2017-18, we will collaborate with visionary theatrical and visual artists to ensure that everyone who comes through our doors can have a transformative experience. We will also perform 50 percent of our season in English, ensuring that newcomers to opera have a welcoming introduction. This season, we are focusing on the theme of ‘The Outsider,’ with programming that responds to our present moment, where so many communities feel on the fringe. This will include both contemporary stories and timeless works that resonate today.””
Centering on opera's fascinating outsider characters, The Atlanta Opera's 2017/18 mainstage season opens November 4 with Wagner’s The Flying Dutchman, in a new production by Zvulun, followed by Bizet’s Carmen, Donizetti’s The Daughter of the Regiment, and Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd. With these productions, TAO celebrates its 10th anniversary at the stunning, acoustically superior Cobb Energy Performing Arts Center.
The Discoveries Series returns in the fall for its fourth season. In response to quickly sold-out spring 2017 productions, this season will feature an expanded number of performances. The series includes Kurt Weill’s The Seven Deadly Sins, directed by Serenbe Playhouse Artistic Director Brian Clowdus, and the world premiere of Jake Heggie’s Out of Darkness: Two Remain, directed by Zvulun and starring Theatrical Outfit Artistic Director Tom Key.
Zvulun spoke with Schmopera about discovering Wagner and what he's most excited about in 2017/18.
The Atlanta Opera Opens Its Boldest Season Ever
The Atlanta Opera opens its largest, most innovative season yet, featuring new repertoire, a new Young Artist Program, smart collaborations, and must-see talents.
September 30, 2016
Image of "Winterreise" by Raftermen for The Atlanta Opera
The Atlanta Opera's expanded 2016-17 season features new repertoire, a new Young Artist Program, smart collaborations, and must-see talents.
Under the leadership of General & Artistic Director Tomer Zvulun, this season will be the largest and most wide-ranging in the company’s history. TAO will stage four mainstage works, including a U.S. premiere production of 2012 Pulitzer Prize winner Silent Night, and two site-specific Discoveries series productions, including a collaboration with New York’s On Site Opera. The season includes a total of 27 performances, including 16 on the mainstage, 8 in the Discoveries series, and the annual Opera with an Edge season preview, Holiday Concert, and new work creation event 24-Hour Opera.
This season marks the launch of The Atlanta Opera’s first young artist program, The Atlanta Opera Studio. Four singers, one pianist, and one stage director on the cusp of major careers will receive in-depth training in performance skills, foreign languages, and career development. In addition, they will participate in masterclasses with leading artists and perform alongside international talent in mainstage productions. They will also star in the Studio Tour, which reaches more than 10,000 students, and in a variety of community events throughout the metro-Atlanta area.
In his fourth season, Zvulun affirms his commitment to new and rediscovered works. On the mainstage, he will direct a U.S. premiere production of the Pulitzer Prize-winning opera Silent Night by composer Kevin Puts and librettist Mark Campbell. A co-production with the Wexford Festival Opera and the Glimmerglass Festival, it was awarded the Audience Choice Award and Best Opera Award at the Irish Times Theatre Awards in its 2014 Wexford premiere.
Successfully launched in 2014 under Zvulun, the Discoveries series – which emphasizes new works, new ideas, and fresh perspectives – returns for its third season with an expanded offering of nine performances. This year, the series brings opera to communities throughout the Atlanta area with site-specific productions of Maria de Buenos Aires by composer Astor Piazzolla, and Mozart’s The Secret Gardener.
The Spanish-language Maria de Buenos Aires follows the seductive title character, who falls in love with tango dancing in the heart of the Argentine capital. Composed and first presented in 1968, Maria de Buenos Aires makes for a vibrant evening of opera by combining sensual tango music with a surreal, adventurous story.
The Discoveries series partners with On Site Opera to bring Mozart’s The Secret Gardener to life in a new co-production tailored to its botanical setting. Now in its fifth season of producing immersive site-specific opera, On Site Opera has been praised by BBC News as "innovative" and The New York Times as a "vital" and "visionary company.”
The Discoveries series’ 2015 productions of contemporary operas Three Decembers by Jake Heggie and Soldier Songs by David T. Little were highlighted in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Best of 2015 list. This season, The Atlanta Opera’s celebrated production of Soldier Songs will be restaged at San Diego Opera. The company will collaborate again with the Wexford Festival Opera as a co-commissioner of the world premiere of William Bolcom’s Dinner at Eight, along with the Minnesota Opera, where the work will receive its premiere in March 2017.
Corinne Winters to Make San Diego Opera Debut
Corinne Winters will sing her signature role of Violetta in Verdi's La traviata in Marta Domingo's Roaring Twenties era production.
April 19, 2016
Corinne Winters will make her San Diego Opera debut in the 2016/17 season, singing her signature role of Violetta in Verdi's La traviata.
Next season, Winters will tackle the famously difficult role in three different productions, also appearing as Violetta at Seattle Opera and at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden.
In San Diego, she will be joined onstage by Joshua Guererro as Alfredo and Stephen Powell as Germont. Stephen Lord conducts Marta Domingo's Roaring Twenties era production.
Performances will run April 22-30, 2017.
Jamie Barton to Make Much-Anticipated Atlanta Symphony Debut
Jamie Barton will sing Elgar's Sea Pictures with her hometown orchestra in November 2016.
April 6, 2016
Jamie Barton will make a long-awaited debut with her hometown orchestra, the Atlanta Symphony, in the 2016/17 season.
Barton will perform Elgar's Sea Pictures on a program that also features soprano Tamara Wilson and baritone Brian Mulligan in the Vaughan Williams A Sea Symphony, a signature piece that won the orchestra three GRAMMY® awards in 2003.
Performances will be November 3 and 5, 2016; tickets will be available via the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra website. Barton will also perform the Elgar, along with other Songs of the Sea, with the Florida Orchestra, before decamping to the dry land of Nabucco at the Metropolitan Opera in December.
Corinne Winters to Bookend Her 2016/17 Season at Royal Opera House
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.
April 6, 2016
Corinne Winters will open her 2016/17 season with her Royal Opera House Covent Garden debut this fall as Fiordiligi in a new Jan Philipp Gloger production of Mozart's Così fan tutte.
She will return to close out her season as Violetta in the beloved Richard Eyre production of La traviata, marking her first London Violetta since her explosion onto the international opera scene in the 2013 English National Opera production.
Così fan tutte performances will run September 22 – October 19, 2016, and will also feature Angela Brower as Dorabella, Daniel Behle as Ferrando, and Alessio Arduini as Guglielmo. The October 17 performance will be screened live in cinemas in over 35 countries.
Winters will appear in La traviata June 27 – July 4, 2017, alongside Atalla Ayan as Alfredo and George Petean as Germont. The July 4 performance will be featured as a live, free relay to several outdoor screens as part of BP Big Screens.
Tickets for both productions will be available via the Royal Opera House website.
Jamie Barton to Sing First Eboli at Deutsche Oper Berlin
Jamie Barton will make dual role and house debuts in Verdi's Don Carlo as part of Deutsche Oper Berlin's 2016/17 season.
March 17, 2016
Photo by Stacey Bode
Jamie Barton will make dual role and house debuts as Princess Eboli in the Italian version of Verdi's Don Carlo at Deutsche Oper Berlin in the 2016/17 season.
Conducted by Roberto Rizzi Brignoli, the cast also stars Liudmyla Monastyrska as Elisabeth, Teodor Ilincai as Don Carlo, Etienne Dupuis as Rodrigo, and Giacomo Prestia as King Philip.
Performances will run June 24 – July 6, 2017, and can be purchased via the Deutsche Oper website.
Jamie Barton sings "O don fatale" from Verdi's Don Carlo with the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra in March 2016.
Amanda Majeski to Debut at Washington National Opera on 2016/17 Opening Night
"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.
March 8, 2016
Amanda Majeski will make her Washington National Opera debut as the Countess in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro on opening night of the 2016/17 season.
The Kennedy Center production will complete a trilogy of opening night Figaro performances for Majeski, a run that began at the Metropolitan Opera in 2014 and continued at the Lyric Opera of Chicago in 2015.
Majeski will be joined by Lisette Oropesa as Susanna, Joshua Hopkins as Count Almaviva, Ryan McKinny as Figaro, and Aleksandra Romano as Cherubino, under the baton of James Gaffigan in a Peter Kazaras production.
Performances will run September 22 – October 2, 2016, with the September 24 performance simulcast to Nationals Stadium for the popular M&M’S Opera in the Outfield event.
Photo by Todd Rosenberg
Jamie Barton to Star in Two Metropolitan Opera Productions in 2016/17
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.
February 17, 2016
Photo by Elise Bakketun
““Jamie Barton is dazzling as Fenena, with a showstopper Act IV aria that displayed the lyricism and agility of this remarkable voice.”
SEATTLE TIMES”
Jamie Barton will return to the Metropolitan Opera for two productions in the 2016/17 season; both will be transmitted live to cinemas worldwide via Met Live in HD.
Barton will make her role debut as Ježibaba in a new Mary Zimmerman production of Rusalka, alongside Kristine Opolais in the title role, Brandon Jovanovich as the Prince, and Eric Owens as the Water Sprite, under the baton of Mark Elder. Performances will run Feb 2 – Mar 2, 2017.
Barton will also bring her celebrated Fenena to the Met stage for Nabucco, opposite Plácido Domingo and Željko Lučić in the title role, with James Levine conducting. The cast also features Liudmyla Monastyrska as Abigaille, Russell Thomas as Ismaele, and Dimitry Belosselskiy as Zaccaria. Performances will run Dec 12, 2016 – Jan 7, 2017.
Tickets for both productions are available via the Met site.
Amanda Majeski to Return to Metropolitan Opera in 2016/17
Amanda Majeski will make her house role debut as Donna Elvira in Mozart's Don Giovanni.
February 17, 2016
Photo by Kelly and Massa Photography
Amanda Majeski will return to the Metropolitan Opera in the 2016/17 season in her house debut as Donna Elvira in Mozart's Don Giovanni.
Majeski's Elvira has been praised for her "wonderful vocal and psychological specificity" (Philadelphia Inquirer) and deemed "a revelation. A strange figure, Donna Elvira, but made human by Majeski's devastating rendition of her plight." (Broadway World)
Fabio Luisi will conduct performances on November 1, 4, and 10, 2016, also starring Ildar Abdrazakov in the title role, Matthew Rose as Leporello, Malin Byström as Donna Anna, Ramón Vargas as Don Ottavio, Nadine Sierra as Zerlina, and Adam Plachetka as Masetto.
Amanda will also perform as part of the 50th Anniversary Gala, celebrating the Met's golden anniversary in its home in Lincoln Center. Tickets are available through the Met website.
2016 Tucson Desert Song Festival Delivers World-Class Talent to Sonoran Desert
“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.
February 8, 2016
Photo by Mike Sultzbach
““Few music festivals can claim the leadership position or forward thinking of the Tucson Desert Song Festival (TDSF). In a modern world in which classical music is facing a tough battle for continued funding, it is the TDSF that is giving smaller regional organizations an opportunity to thrive.” LATIN POST”
By attracting vocal stars from around the world to the stunning Sonoran Desert each winter, the Tucson Desert Song Festival is earning a reputation as a destination arts festival.
The 2016 Festival featured 23 performances over 18 days, including those by Grammy winner Sasha Cooke and BBC Cardiff Singer of the World and Richard Tucker Award winner Jamie Barton, pictured here.
Barton and soprano Amber Wagner, as well as husband-and-wife team of mezzo Daniela Mack and tenor Alek Shrader, were presented in duo recitals by Arizona Opera, which also produced Carmen. Barton, Wagner, and Shrader were all winners of the 2007 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, which were captured in the 2009 documentary "The Audition".
Cooke joined tenor Richard Cox for "Mahler and Martial Arts" with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra, while guitarist Adam del Monte and baritone Bernardo Bermudez collaborated with Ballet Tucson and the Tucson Guitar Society on "Rhythms of the Americas".
Other guest artists for the fourth annual TDSF included the Grammy-winning a capella group Cantus, The Broken Consort, Marie-Josée Lord, and a quartet of young artists from the Ravinia Festival's Steans Institute.
See what the press are saying:
“Whether you’re an opera fan, a devotee of early music, or you enjoy everything symphonic, the Tucson Desert Song Festival will give you plenty of reasons to stand and applaud.”
Tucson Lifestyle Magazine
“Living in Southern Arizona, we don’t often experience some of the world’s best classical vocal talents live, and in person. This dilemma was addressed in 2010 with the founding of Tucson Desert Song Festival.”
Zocalo Magazine
“The Tucson Desert Song Festival is a bonanza of gorgeous music. Arts groups and the fest folk have teamed up to bring us internationally known talent, as well as rising stars in the art song field."
Arizona Daily Star
Jamie Barton to Debut at New York Philharmonic, Return to Houston Grand Opera
Recent announcements for the 2016/17 season also include a return to the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and a Wigmore Hall recital debut.
February 3, 2016
In the 2016/17 season, Jamie Barton will make her Wigmore Hall recital debut in London, and return to the Toronto Symphony Orchestra for Mahler's 3rd Symphony.
Barton will also debut with the New York Philharmonic as Fricka in a semi-staged production of Das Rheingold, a role she first sang at Houston Grand Opera.
An alumna of the HGO Studio, Barton will return to Houston in April and May of 2017 for Götterdämmerung, in which she will perform Waltraute and Second Norn alongside Simon O'Neill as Siegfried, Christine Goerke as Brünnhilde, and Andrea Silvestrelli as Hagen.
Photo by Lynn Lane
Corinne Winters to Debut at Seattle Opera in 2016/17
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.
January 4, 2016
Corinne Winters will make her Seattle Opera debut in the 2016/17 season 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.
Of that performance, The Spectator wrote, "Corinne Winters gives a performance of genius, with a wonderfully supple voice...Her ‘Amami Alfredo’ was the most heart-rending since Renata Scotto. This Violetta is perfectly poised between Lulu and Mimì." The London Times raved, "Winters is the best ENO Violetta in decades" and BBC Music Magazine wrote, "Corinne Winters delivered a performance of white-hot intensity and consummate control."
Winters will sing opposite Stefano Secco's Alfredo under the baton of Stefano Ranzani, a regular at La Scala, the Vienna Staatsoper, and the Metropolitan Opera.
Also next season at Seattle Opera, Winters will sing her first performances of the title role in Katya Kabanova. Oliver von Dahnányi will conduct a new production by Australian director Patrick Nolan.
