By Francisco Salazar
Celtic music kings The Irish Tenors will take the stage at Town Hall on St. Patrick’s Day on March 17, 2023.
The group will perform with a 27-piece orchestra in a concert of Irish repertoire, secular selections and holiday fare.
The group is a best-selling ensemble who burst on the American music scene with a 1998 PBS special. The tenors have performed all over the world, including the best venues in the United States, from Radio City Music Hall, Madison Square Gardens, and Carnegie Hall in New York to The Hollywood Bowl in California.
They have also performed for Presidents and Prime Ministers, delighting audiences with the full-bodied sound of symphonic backing and pure tenor harmony.
By Afton Wooten
“The Blue Hour” by collaborators Rachel Grimes, Angélica Negrón, Shara Nova, Caroline Shaw, and Sarah Kirkland Snider will be presented in concert with the Oregon Symphony.
The song cycle is set to excerpts from Carolyn Forché’s epic poem “On Earth” which explores one woman’s journey through the space between life and death. The multi-media production will share the “beauty, pain, and fragility of human life from a collective female perspective.”
Shara Nova serves as soloist with the Oregon Symphony with Deanna Tham conducting.
The performance is to take place on April 8, 2023 beginning at 7:30 p.m. at the Patricia Reser Center for The Arts.
By Francisco Salazar
The Chicago Opera Theater is set to present the World Premiere of composer Justine F. Chen and librettist David Simpatico’s “The Life and Death(s) of Alan Turing.”
The opera, which is set to be presented at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance” on March 23 and 25, is a semi-biographical and sci-fi-infused retelling of the life and contested death of acclaimed British computer scientist Alan Turing who was instrumental in cracking enemy codes in WWII but died after being convicted and chemically castrated for being a homosexual.
Initially commissioned by American Lyric Theater to celebrate the centennial of Alan Turing’s birth in 2012, “The Life and Death(s) of Alan Turing,” will be conducted by Music Director Lidiya Yankovskaya and directed by Peter Rothstein.
The cast will be led by baritone Jonathan Michie who sang the role of Alan Turing in COT’s workshop performance of the opera in 2019 as well as tenor Joseph Leppek, mezzo-soprano Taylor Raven, and soprano Teresa Castillo. Richard Ollarsaba, David Salsbery Fry, and Justin Berkowitz round out the cast.
In a statement, Yankovskaya said, “I’ve been a part of this opera’s development for nearly a decade. It’s been so gratifying to see Justine’s unique voice and David’s dynamic storytelling evolve to bring this powerful work to its full potential. I can’t wait for audiences to finally experience this long-awaited premiere.”
By Chris Ruel
The USC Thornton School of Music has unveiled its Spring 2023 Live Event lineup, featuring a wide array of musical genres, including jazz, pop, and opera.
For this article, we have highlighted vocal performances only.
The USC Thornton Edge will showcase new works for large ensemble in February, featuring Kaija Saariaho’s “Quatre Instants” for orchestra and solo soprano. Initially composed for soprano and piano, the piece expresses different dimensions of love through four movements.
Performance Date: Feb. 28, 2023
In April, USC University Chorus will present a concert of choral music featuring pieces from the standard repertoire, lesser-known works, and a composition by the Chorus faculty advisor, Nick Strimple.
Performance Date: April 14, 2023
USC Thorton Opera will perform two one-act operas: Charpentier’s “Actéon” and Tom Cipullo’s “Glory Denied” based on a book by Tom Philpott. Martina Ross will direct the production with Brent McMunn as the Music Director.
Performance Dates: April 14 & 16, 2023
The USC Thornton Chamber Singers, under the direction of Tram Sparks, Chair of Choral and Sacred Music, will perform an evening of choral music, including Gabriel Fauré’s Requiem in D minor, Op. 48.
Performance Date: April 23, 2023
By Francisco Salazar
The George and Nora London Foundation Competition for American and Canadian opera singers will hold its 51st event in 2023 with an in-person audience.
The organization said that for the first time since 2020, it will hold its final round at New York’s Morgan Library and Museum on Friday, Feb. 17. The finals will also be live streamed free of charge on the foundation’s website and YouTube channel.
The competition will hand out its George London Award of $12,000 (increased this year from $10,000) to five singers, and Encouragement Awards of $2,000 to the remaining finalists.
The competition will include three days of semi-final rounds, a dozen finalists, and a finals that will showcase the singers alongside pianist Michael Fennelly before a panel of judges and audience at The Morgan Library & Museum’s Gilder Lehrman Hall. E
This year’s panel of judges includes soprano Harolyn Blackwell, mezzo-soprano Susanne Mentzer, mezzo-soprano Susan Quittmeyer, bass James Morris, and former Metropolitan Opera administrator Lenore Rosenberg.
The 2022-23 season of the George and Nora London Foundation at The Morgan concludes with a recital by 2018 George London Award winner Benjamin Taylor, baritone, with pianist Katelan Terrell on Sunday, April 16, 2023, at 4:00 p.m.
By Francisco Salazar
Decca Classics has signed the Oscar winner composer and conductor Tan Dun.
In a statement, Tan Dun said, “Decca has always been a dream for me. As a young artist, I could never have imagined that one day we would embrace each other. I’ve worked with many recording labels over the years, but now, connecting with Decca, I understand. It is so pure and classical and, yet cool and fresh and open to all sorts of music and cultures, it is a very special place. I feel deeply honored to be part of it.”
In the 1960s, Tan Dun was a young boy running barefoot through the fields of remote Hunan in China, yet always aware of the sounds and traditions surrounding him. Based in New York, he came known to the mainstream when he won the Oscar, BAFTA and Grammy-award for his score for “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.” As an UNESCO Global Goodwill Ambassador, he has scored music for global events such as the reunification of Hong Kong with China, the world’s celebration of the new millennium, and the Beijing Olympics.
Dun has also written music for some of the biggest names in music, such as Lang Lang, and for many of the world’s leading orchestras.He recently created the work “Buddha’s Passion.”
By David Salazar
The Grand Teton Music Festival has announced its 2023 season, which runs between June 30 and August 19, 2023.
For the purposes of this article, our focus will be on vocal and operatic performances.
Soprano Julia Bullock will headline Berlioz’s “Les Nuits d’Été” with the Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestra, under conductor Christian Reif. The concert will also feature music by Coleridge-Taylor and Schumann.
Performance Date: July 21, 2023
Mezzo-soprano Kelly O’Connor will appear in the world premiere of Kareem Roustonm’s “The Clustered Vine.” Conducted by Sir Donald Runnicles, the program will also offer an overture by Weber and Brahms’ first piano concerto, with Yefim Bronfman as soloist.
Performance Date: August 11, 2023
Sir Donald Runnicles will conduct two semi-staged performances of “Madama Butterfly.” The opera will star Ana María Martínez, Megan Marino, Joshua Guerrero, Thomas Lehman, Rodell Rosel, William Guanbo Su, and Sara Duchovnay. David Lefkowich directs.
Performance Date: August 18 & 19, 2023
By David Salazar
Guild Hall has announced its new Director of Performing Arts.
Following a year-long search, the company has selected Nick Schwartz-Hall to the new position. He will kick off his tenure in April 2023.
“I am very grateful to join such an accomplished team and supportive board in a place with a remarkable legacy of creativity and deep and meaningful relationships with the surrounding community,” Schwartz-Hall said in an official press statement. “I have been struck repeatedly by how people speak about Guild Hall’s importance and impact on their lives… Now with the prospect of reopening our historic and newly renovated venue, with galleries, a state-of-the-art theater, and spaces for learning and gathering, we have the creative opportunity and challenge of opening our doors as widely as possible.”
Schwartz-Hall is the recipient of the 2019 and 2021 LA Regional Emmy Awards as well as numerous Telly Awards for LA County Annual Holiday Celebration at The Music Center. He has also worked at the Brooklyn Academy of Music as well as the Si Cuba! Festival, RadioLoveFest, and Music Voices: Arts and Ideas Festival, among others.
“Nick is a rare find with an astounding breadth of professional accomplishments and versatility in genres,” added Guild Hall Executive Director Andrea Grover. “But what Nick and the search committee most connected on was a deep love for artists and a belief that art helps us become better neighbors and global citizens. As Nick says, ‘The arts provide us with ways to speak with each other about our common humanity, share values and perspectives, and uphold creativity and innovation in our communities. And, to enjoy ourselves together.”
By Francisco Salazar
Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò at New York University is set to present the North American premiere of “Furiosus.”
The new opera in two acts was inspired by “Orlando Furioso” and will be presented on Feb. 16, 2023 at Merkin Hall at Kaufman Music Center in New York.
The work features music by Roberto Scarcella Perino and a libretto by Flora Gagliardi and takes audiences on a galactic journey from earth to moon, from mythical to human, highlighting the vicissitudes of life, love, sorcery, and seduction.
In a statement Perino said, “My earliest memory of Ludovico Ariosto’s Orlando Furioso is connected to Sicilian popular culture. As a child, my father took me to see the ‘teatro dei pupi,’ an all-Sicilian theater that tells stories taken from epic-chivalric literature. I was enchanted by the fights between Orlando and Rodomonte, Angelica’s love for Medoro, and Astolfo’s trip to the moon riding the hippogriff. For Flora Gagliardi’s Furiosus I turned into a “puparo” to give life to all the characters by pulling the strings and imitating their voices. I wanted to recreate the magic I experienced as a child by inventing music that tells us about Furiosus and its stories lost in time and space.”
By Francisco Salazar
Opera Southwest is set to present Puccini’s “Turandot” celebrating its 50th anniversary.
The company will present the work four times between March 12 and 19, 2023 with Chinese Director XinXin Tang helming the production. Tang’s production is a co-production with OperaDelaware and Fargo Moorhead Opera which will be presented at the later companies in 2024.
Soprano Michelle Johnson makes a role debut as Princess Turandot and will be joined by Zaikuan Song as Timur, Rodell Rosel as Calaf, and Bizhou Chang as Liù. The cast will be rounded out by Carlos Archuleta, James Flora, and Michael Rodriguez. Anthony Barrese conducts the ne production.
“Turandot” will be presented in Italian with projected English Translations.
