By Nicolas Quiroga
(Credit: Kristin Speed)
The Wexford Festival Opera has announced the final celebration of its 70th anniversary for a special one-night event at the National Concert Hall in Ireland.

The showcase, which is slated for August 26, 2022 will feature tenor Konu Kim, Irish soprano Celine Byrne, Irish mezzo-soprano Tara Erraught, and Irish bassist Juana Molloy. Music director Michele Mariotti will conduct the RTÉ Concert Orchestra and the New Dublin Voices Chorus.

The artists will perform a program featuring Ludwig van Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony and Gioachino Rossini’s Stabat Mater.

“This is the last firework of a very intense year of celebrations. Wexford Festival has toured in the main capital cities all over the world, presenting the four WFO Ambassadors: Ermonela Jaho, Angela
Meade, Mariangela Sicilia and Eleonora Buratto, who have conquered theatres globally with
their talent,” said Rosetta Cucchi, Artistic Director of Wexford Festival Opera, in an official press statement. “After this long tour WFO wants to end the celebration at home with a great mix of national and international artists, to reaffirm that art and music are born from union and cooperation.”

By Nicolas Quiroga
Long Beach Opera has announced the inaugural LBO Film Festival, which will take place on July 16-17, 2022 at the Art Theatre in Long Beach CA 90814.

The festival is co-curated by Bradford Nordeen of Dirty Looks and LBO Artistic Director James Darrah.

Programming will include a variety of artists with live performances presenting the projects of filmmakers, dancers, composers and opera singers. It will include the premiere of the LBO-commissioned short “Entry,” and the premiere of Les Indes Galantes” based on the opera-ballet by Jean-Philippe Rameau, directed by Clément Cogitore for the Opéra National de Paris.

Among the works that will be showcased throughout the festival are “Dorian Gray in the Mirror of the Yellow Press,” “Eika Katappa,” “Oh My Homeland,” “Salome,” “Pasiphaë,” “Son of Sam and Delilah,” “The Pow’r of Life is Love,” “Space is the Place,” “Vespers,” “LBO Songbook,” and “Erwartung.”

By Francisco Salazar
The Teatro dell’Opera di Roma is set to present a production of “Carmen” at the Terme di Caracalla.

The production, which opens on July 15 in its original edition, was directed by Valentina Carrasco when it opened in 2017. For the revival, Lorenzo Nencini will direct while Jordi Bernàcer will conduct.

Veronica Simeoni will headline the production in the title role alongside Saimir Pirgu who sings Don José. The cast will be rounded out by Luca Micheletti as Escamillo, Mariangela Sicilia as Micaëla, Anna Pennisi as Mercedes, Giulia Mazzola as Frasquita, Michele Patti as Dancairo, Marcello Nardis as Remendado, and from the “Fabbrica” Young Artist Program dell’Opera di Roma, Alessandro Della Morte as Zuniga and Arturo Espinosa as Morales.

The production will also feature the Corpo di Ballo dell’Opera di Roma with choregraohy by Erika Rombaldoni and Massimiliano Volpini.

“Carmen” is set to be performed through August 4.

By Francisco Salazar
Arcola Theatre and Hackney Empire have announced the full cast and creatives for the conclusion of Wagner’s Ring Cycle, in Graham Vick’s and Jonathan Dove’s innovative reduction.

The double bill of “Siegfried” and “Götterdämmerung” will take place this summer at Hackney Empire with performances on August 6 and 7, 2022.

“Siegfried” will see Julia Burbach direct Neal Cooper (Siegfried), Freddie Tong (Alberich), Mae Heydorn (Erda), Simon Wilding (Fafner), Paul Carey Jones (Wanderer), Lee Bisset (Brünnhilde), Colin Judson (Mime), Elizabeth Karani (Woodbird), Robin Whitehouse (Fafner’s Entourage), Henry Wright (Fafner’s Entourage) and Jamie Woollard (Fafner’s Entourage).

Meanwhile, “Götterdämmerung” will showcase Freddie Tong (Alberich), Mae Heydorn (Flosshilde), Mark Le Brocq (Siegfried), Simon Wilding (Hagen), Angharad Lyddon (Waltraute), Lizzie Holmes (Woglinde), Bethan Mary Langford (Wellgunde), Simon Thorpe (Gunther), Lee Bisset (Brünnhilde), Lucy Anderson (Gutrune), Robin Whitehouse (Chorus Man), Henry Wright (Chorus Man) and Jamie Woollard (Men’s Chorus).

The creative team will feature Julia Burbach (Director) and Peter Selwyn (Conductor).

The production is part of the Grimeborn Opera Festival, which staged the first two operas of the Ring Cycle in 2019.

By Francisco Salazar
Opera Magazine is reporting that COVID cases are on the rise at the Bayreuth Festival.

The publication is reporting that “among the high number of COVID cases hitting artists and staff at Bayreuth’s ⁦Festival include Ring Cycle conductor Pietari Inkinen, who is isolating.”

As a result, Cornelius Meister, who is already conducting the new “Tristan und Isolde,” is currently rehearsing the new production. The new Ring Cycle is set to open on July 31 with a new production by Valentin Schwarz.

The production, which has been described as a Netflix series, will star such renowned artists as Egils Silins, Klaus Florian Vogt, Georg Zeppenfeld, Tomasz Konieczny, Lise Davidsen, Iréne Theorin, and Andreas Schager.

By Afton Wooten
At the age of 91 the long-time head of the Celebrity Series of Boston, Walter Pierce passed away on July 7, 2022.

Pierce served as an arts administrator and impresario in Boston for over 30 years. During his tenure at the Celebrity Series of Boston, he helped bring the organization to be one of the most enduring nonprofit arts organizations in the city. Here he worked with renowned artists such as soprano Renee Fleming, tenor Luciano Pavarotti, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, pianist Vladimir Horowitz, and many more.

After serving in the U.S. Army, Pierce moved to New York City, working for a theatrical advertising firm. Pierce began his career promoted Broadway and off-Broadway shows, including Yiddish Theatre productions. Later in the 1950s, working as a freelance publicist he promoted the Boston premiere of Frederico Fellini’s film, “La Strada.” During this time Pierce became one of the lead promoters for the Metropolitan Opera’s annual tour to Boston.

A private service will be held for family. The Series is planning a celebration concert for Walter in the fall of 2022. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Celebrity Series of Boston Walter Pierce Annual Performance Fund.

By Chris Ruel
Marquee TV has announced its Third Annual Summer Shorts Festival selections. The short film series begins on August 1, 2022, and runs the entire month, providing 31 days of videos featuring dance, theater, and music. Festival films are free to watch.

The selections bring together videos from leading arts organizations and festivals, with this edition’s theme centering on how the arts help people express their identities.

The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment’s 2021 short films were a hit and showcased “Dido’s Lament.” The Orchestra’s 2022 shorts mix Handel with popular music. The first film combines “Thou shalt break them” with The Verve’s “Bittersweet Symphony,” and the second, “Where’er you walk,” with music by American singer-songwriter Finneas—pop sensation Billie Eilish’s brother and collaborator.

Visit the Marquee TV Summer Shorts page for more information.

By Chris Ruel
Puerto Rican soprano Larisa Martínez will perform with violinist Joshua Bell and the Philadelphia Orchestra in a program of duets.

“Voice and Violin” is scheduled for July 29, 2022, at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center and will feature a broad range of music from Berlioz to Bernstein. Conductor Michael Stern will be on the podium.

The complete program comprises the Overture to “Béatrice et Bénédict” (Berlioz); “Ah, ritorna, età dell’oro” from “Infelice” (Mendelssohn, arr. Stephenson); “Songs My Mother Taught Me” from “Slavonic Fantasy” (Dvořák, arr. Kreisler); “Les filles de Cadix” (Delibes); “Intermezzo” from “Cavalleria Rusticana” (Mascagni); “Habanera” from “Carmen Fantasy,” op. 25 (Sarasate); Overture to “Nabucco” (Verdi); “Jours de mon enfance” from “Le pré aux clercs” (Hérold); Nocturne in E-flat Major, Op. 9, No. 2 (Chopin (arr. Bell/Wallace); Three Dances from “The Bartered Bride” (Smetana); and “Medley from West Side Story” (Bernstein, arr. Brohn/Czarnecki).

Martínez has toured with Andrea Bocelli for three years and appeared at such venues as Madison Square Garden and the Hollywood Bowl. The soprano is currently working on compositions inspired by her boricua heritage.

By Francisco Salazar
(Credit: Clive Barda)
Texas’ Amarillo Symphony has announced its Music Director.

Following a competitive field and months of concerts trying out conductors, the orchestra selected George Henry Jackson as its new music director.

The conductor will begin his post in September leading the company’s Centenary year in 2023-24.

Jackson is currently conducting “Hansel and Gretel” at Grange Park Opera and led the world premiere of Tscho Theissing’s “Genia” at Theater an der Wien in 2020. He has also conducted at the Opera Holland Park, Orchestre de Paris, RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie, Opéra Orchestre national Montpellier Occitanie and the Opéra de Rouen.

The new season of the Amarillo Symphony is set to open in September.

By David Salazar
Opera San José has announced its 2022-23 resident company.

The artists include Zhengyi Bai (Tenor), Darren Drone (Baritone), Megan Esther Grey (Contralto), Rene Orth (Composer-in-Residence), Maria Natale (Soprano), and Natalia Santaliz (Soprano); Tara Branham (Director), Eugene Brancoveau (Baritone), and Nikola Printz (Mezzo-soprano), return for another season.

These artists will star in the company’s four mainstage productions which will include “The Marriage of Figaro,” “Cinderella,” “Tosca,” and “Falstaff.” The artists will also star in concerts and recitals, among other events. There will also be a virtual world premiere of a work commissioned by the company’s first ever Composer-in-Residence.

“In continuing Irene Dalis’ brilliant vision, we are proud to welcome Rene Orth as our first-ever Resident Artist Composer, from whom we have commissioned a new opera specifically for the digital realm,” General Director Shawna Lucey noted in an official press statement. “The creation of this residency expands and continues our unique mission at OSJ. We prepare artists for the stage, both live and digital and by supporting the genesis of a new American work but an emerging female composer, we are shepherding Irene’s unique vision into the future – all through the support of our cherished audience.”

The artists will be introduced in concert on August 7, 2022; that performance will be broadcast live via Opera San José’s Heiman Digital Media Studio.