By Afton Wooten
iSing Silicon Valley girlchoir opens its 10th season celebrations by presenting two concerts entitled “Holiday Memories.”
The award-winning choir made up of over 300 girls will offer a program featuring traditional and contemporary carols, nearly 30 new works, and the world premiere performance of “chorea lucis” by Kenyon Duncan. iSing will be joined by the Friction Quartet, plus other Bay Area guest artists.
Artistic Director Jennah Delp Somers expressed in a press release, “We delight in creating a concert for everyone: families, friends, choral enthusiasts, and first-time concert goers. There is no better way to kick off the season and get into the holiday spirit.”
Concerts take place on Dec. 17 at 2 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. at Mission Santa Clara de Asís in Santa Clara, California.
Following the holiday season, iSing will perform alongside renowned mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato on Jan. 20, 2023 at 7:30 p.m. at Bing Concert Hall in Stanford, CA. They will also give a short performance opening for St. Olaf Choir’s tour concert on Feb. 4, 2023, at 3 p.m. at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, CA.
By David Salazar
Things are not looking great in Salzburg after several artists seemingly announced their intention to bring legal action against the Salzburg Festival.
According to Platea Magazine and Der Standard, lawyer George Strait made the announcement during a press conference in Vienna stating that he would file a legal complaint on behalf of several artists for the lack of payment to hundreds of workers by the festival.
Per the press conference, the festival’s administration has not paid several workers despite cancelations due to the pandemic.
Per tenor Wolfgang Ablinger-Sperrhacke, speaking to Merkur.de, the Festival owes freelance artists around 10 million euros for canceled productions in 2020; there are approximately 120 freelancers and 67 opera soloists affected by this situation.
For example, several chorus members had already rehearsed for the production of “Boris Godunov” but were never remunerated for those hours of work. Strait threatened that if no agreement is found between the parties, he would proceed with legal action.
He also noted that the artists wanted Festival Director Markus Hinterhaüser to step down from his position. He was appointed Artistic Director back in 2016; his current contract was extended in 2019 through 2026.
OperaWire has reached out to the Salzburg Festival for comment.
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By David Salazar
The Asia Society is set to present the Hong Kong premiere of “Il Segretto di Susanna.”
The performance, which is set for Nov. 27, 2022 at the Hong Kong Jockey Club Hall, will kick off with a cocktail hour at 6 p.m. The opera will then commence at 7 p.m. with a 45-minute Q & A set to follow the showcase.
Soprano Etta Fung, baritone Isaac Droscha, and pianist Wei-En Hsu will headline the performance.
The opera will be presented in a joint production with the Dante Alighieri Society and ASHK as part of the Italia Mia Festival. Per the official website, it is believed that this is the first time the opera is performed in the city.
By David Salazar
Musica Viva in Hong Kong is set to present Donizetti’s “Maria Stuarda” this December.
The opera, which opens on Dec. 9, 2022 and runs through the 11th, will take place at the Concert Hall at Hong Kong City Hall.
The opera will feature two casts. Taking on the role of Maria Stuarda are Lee Sang-eun and Meryl Dominguez. As Elisabetta, audiences will see Hilary Ginther and Anna Laurenzo while Todd Wilander and Matteo Mezzaro will alternate as Leicester. As Cecil, Michael Lam and Issac Droscha will rotate. Sammy Chien and Frankie Fung will each get two performances as Talbot. Finally, Kenix Tsang and Collette Lam will interpret the role of Anna.
Wilson Ng will conduct the production with lo Kingman directing. Leung Siu Kwan is the Executive Producer and Isaac Wong is the set designer.
By Logan Martell
(Credit: Karen Pearson)
Peermusic Classical has announced a publishing deal Burning Sled Media for roughly 150 works from composer Daron Hagen. The move follows and greatly expands on their representation of six of Hagen’s operas.
Among the works are symphonies, concertos, eight piano trios, three string quartets, choral and vocal works, as well as recent song cycles such as “The Art of Song,” and his new opera films “Orson Rehearsed” and “9/10: Before the Fall.” As a composer, Hagen has published dozens of operas and over 400 art songs and cycles.
He has been commissioned by companies such as the Seattle Opera, the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, the National Symphony, the Buffalo Philharmonic, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and the Curtis Institute of Music, among others.
“I am honored to entrust a lifetime’s worth of creative work to Peermusic Classical and to join a roster of composers for whom I have such profound admiration,” Hagen said in an official press statement. “It is exhilarating to know that the Peermusic team has my back, and that I can count on not only their long-term support of my catalogue but also their enthusiastic collaboration in future creative projects.”
By Logan Martell
On December 11, 2022, renowned mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato will return to Carnegie Hall’s Resnick Education Wing for a three-day series of master classes with some of opera’s rising young stars.
Collaborative pianists Justina Lee and Ken Noda will accompany soprano Anchal Indu Dhir and Marissa Moultrie, mezzo Rael Rent, tenor Lawrence Barasa, and baritone Łukasz Zientarski. The program includes additional coaching, private sessions, and a career panel with experts from the opera industry.
The classes will be open to the public, as well as streamed live on Carnegie Hall’s website and medici.tv, where they will be available to watch for one year.
These classes will be the first held by DiDonato at Carnegie Hall since 2019, shortly before the beginning of the pandemic. Early next year, young opera students will be featured again in Renee Fleming’s upcoming SongStudio, designed to further the craft of the vocal recital.
Classes will be held on December 11, 12, and 13, 2022, with tickets available to purchase beginning at $25.
By David Salazar
Opera Naples will present a “Toast to Opera” on Nov. 17, followed by performances of “Roméo et Juliette” on December 4 and 5, 2022.
This “toast to the opera,” which will be held at the home of long-time supporters Bronwen Adams and Gerald Goldberg, will allow audiences an opportunity to meet newly appointed executive director, Laura Burns.
As for the production of the Gounod classic, that will be conducted by the Artistic and Musical Director of Opera of Naples, Ramon Tebar. Leading the cast will be Argentine tenor Santiago Ballerini and soprano Jeanette Vecchione-Donatti. The soprano has sung on various major stages including the Vienna State Opera, the Champs Elysées Theatres, the Teatro Verdi di Trieste, and the Teatro Massimo di Catania, among others.
The performances will be presented in partnership with Artis-Naples.
“We are thrilled to have this opportunity to present this beloved classic to the community,” said Burns in an exclusive press statement. “We feel strongly that, now more than ever, the arts play an important role in our community and are excited to partner with Artis—Naples to present this popular retelling of ‘Romeo and Juliet.’ We are also grateful for the Opera Naples Guild and their continued support of our organization and look forward to raising a glass to welcome back members and celebrate this fantastic production.”
By Afton Wooten
Opera Baltimore is set to present a semi-staged concert version of Benjamin Britten’s “The Turn of the Screw.”
Soprano Colleen Daly leads the cast as the Governess. Tenor Norman Shankle takes on the roles of Quint and the Prologue. Singing the role of Mrs. Grose is mezzo-soprano Annie Chester in her Opera Baltimore mainstage debut. Soprano Robin Steitz performs the role of Flora and soprano Amanda Sheriff sings Mrs. Jessel. Miles will be sung by seventh-grader Brynn Blair making her operatic debut.
The cast is conducted by Michael Sakir and joined by pianist Joy Schreier and director Catrin Davies.
The two performances will be held on Nov. 18 at 7:30 pm and Nov. 20 at 3 pm. Both take place in the Grand Ballroom at the Engineers Club.
Preceding the shows will be a free four-part online lecture series by Scholar-in-Residence Dr. Aaron Ziegel.
By Francisco Salazar
Opera San José is set to present a production of Verdi’s “Falstaff” between Feb. 11 and 26, 2022 at the California Theatre.
The work, which is adapted from Shakespeare’s “The Merry Wives of Windsor” will be staged José Maria Condemi.
Meanwhile, Joseph Marcheso will conduct a cast that includes Darren Drone as Falstaff, Natalia Santaliz as Nanetta, Megan Esther Grey as Dame Quickly, Eugene Brancoveanu as Ford, Chanáe Curtis as Alice Ford, Marc Molomot as Bardolfo, and Zhengyi Bai as Dr. Caius.
The production comes after the company’s revival of “Cinderella” and Mozart’s “Le Nozze di Figaro.” Opera San José is also set to present Puccini’s “Tosca,” which closes the season.
By Francisco Salazar
The Berkeley Symphony Board President Paul Bennett announced the appointment of Board Members Shikiri Hightower-Gaskin and Rigel Robinson.
In a statement, Bennett said, “We are thrilled to welcome two influential members of the Berkeley community to the Board of Directors. They both exude a passion for Berkeley Symphony’s longstanding legacy of innovation and inclusion, and bring diverse backgrounds and a deep understanding of the community that we serve.”
Hightower-Gaskin is a Berkeley resident who is a communications specialist at Blue Shield of California Foundation. She focused on developing and implementing grants and strategic communications to break the cycle of domestic abuse. She is a trained journalist with master’s degrees in journalism and business.
Robinson currently serves on the Berkeley City Council and was Elected at 22 in 2018, Councilmember Robinson is the youngest person to ever serve on the Berkeley City Council. Additionally, he represents the City of Berkeley on the Alameda County Transportation Commission. A UC Berkeley alumnus, he is now completing his master’s degree at UC Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy.
