Wei Wu News

Des Moines Metro Opera's General and Artistic Director Michael Egel announced today the repertory for the company's 50th Anniversary Season alongside the launch of the public phase of a $15 million fundraising campaign, 50 Next: Giving Voice to the Future.

Opening Sunday, July 25, Ernest Chausson’s only opera, King Arthur (“Le roi Arthus”), will receive its long overdue first fully staged American production at Bard SummerScape.

The event will be one of two expert-led conversations happening during the week-long competition, the other taking place on July 20 that will revolve around dancer health and wellbeing that will be facilitated by The Healthy Young Dancer Project (THYDP). 

The season includes two mainstage productions at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs and Tosca and two add on experiences- a night of glamour at the Kauffman Center with Lyric Opera Goes to Hollywood and live performances of Amahl and the Night Visitors.

Committed since its inception to reviving important but neglected operas, Bard SummerScape has long proven itself “an indispensable part of the summer operatic landscape” (Musical America). This year's immersion in “Nadia Boulanger and Her World” presents the long overdue first fully staged American production of King Arthur (“Le roi Arthus”), the only opera by Boulanger's compatriot and close contemporary Ernest Chausson.

The 8th South African Ballet International Ballet Competition (SAIBC) will be taking place at the Artscape Theatre Centre in Cape Town from 19-24 July 2021, exactly one year after the first SAIBC virtual event took place.

On Saturday, May 30, David Hyde Pierce will emcee an Artist Relief Tree (ART) benefit, joined by seven world-class opera singers for Opera Jukebox, an innovative and interactive concert streaming on Facebook, YouTube, and the ART website.

OPERA America is inviting artists, administrators, trustees, and audiences to 'A Toast to 50 Years,' a celebration of opera's progress and of OPERA America's 50th Anniversary, taking place today, Friday, May 15, from 4:30 to 5:00 p.m. EDT.

Minnesota Opera has announced its lineup for the 2020 Digital Opera series!

Here's a look at how 'Light Shall Lift Us; Singers Unite in Song' (for OPERA America), a video project featuring 107 opera singers in “a song of hope and solidarity” by Paul Moravec and Mark Campbell, came together to help raise up the spirits of their communities as we deal with COVID-19. It went 'live' on May 14 at 1:30 pm EST.

Portland Opera has announced programming for the 2020/21 season, which will open on September 11, 2020. The season will launch in the fall with Robert Xavier Rodríguez's Frida, starring soprano Catalina Cuervo in the title role. This will be followed by the company's fall classic opera, Puccini's enduring drama Tosca, in October and November. The season will continue with a double bill of two pieces honoring the lives of Jewish victims of the Holocaust-Grigori Frid's The Diary of Anne Frank and Jake Heggie's For a Look or a Touch-in early 2021. On March 13, the company will present its annual Big Night concert at the Keller Auditorium. The season will close with Giuseppe Verdi's tour de force opera, Il Trovatore, starring Italian soprano Selene Zanetti in her U.S. debut.

Lyric Opera of Kansas City General Director and CEO Deborah Sandler today announced the company's 2020-2021 season. It features four mainstage productions, including The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess and The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs, both of which are being performed on a Lyric Opera of Kansas City stage for the first time. Two all-time favorites known for incomparable melodies - Verdi's beloved La traviata and Bizet's passionate Carmen - round out the extraordinarily diverse season. The Kansas City Symphony Orchestra will accompany all performances at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. Find biographies of the casts and creative teams at Lyric Opera of Kansas City and find high-resolution photos here.

San Francisco Opera's 2020 Summer SeasonSan Francisco Opera presents a trio of masterworks spanning the 18th century to the present for its 2020 Summer Season at the War Memorial Opera House June 7a?"July 3. In an update announced today, Caroline H. Hume Music Director Designate Eun Sun Kim will conduct Giuseppe Verdi's Ernani replacing James Gaffigan who has withdrawn from the production due to family reasons. The summer season will also include George Frideric Handel's Partenope in Christopher Alden's popular production and the Bay Area premiere of composer Mason Bates' kaleidoscopic exploration of life, love and creativity, The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs.

This year's edition of PROTOTYPE, which refers to itself as 'Opera-Theatre-Now,' has come and gone. You never know what to expect, for better or for worse: Try guessing what's going to be 'the next big thing' at your own peril, even if it has played somewhere else first, for they things might not be what you expected at all.

The magic of the WNO's THE MAGIC FLUTE is that it is captivating for all ages and a tempting proposition for first-timers and opera-buffs alike.

Giuseppe Verdi's penultimate masterpiece is brought to its intense glory in a production filled with magnificent performances and crackling with dramatic fervor.

The whimsical tale of The Magic Flute comes to life at Washington National Opera (WNO) at the Kennedy Center Opera House from November 2a?"23, 2019. Performed in English with projected surtitles, this production of The Magic Flute features design by famed children's author/illustrator Maurice Sendak. This light-hearted and comical opera is a delight for newcomers and opera fans alike.

Washington National Opera (WNO) presents Otello, Verdi's penultimate opera, in its return to the Kennedy Center Opera House after a nearly 20-year absence, from October 26a?"November 16, 2019.

It's easy to see why 'Tosca' is one of the most popular works in opera.Its very musical style, broken free from the strict opera house rules before it, allows it to breathe. Singers are not urgently singing every moment. The supertitles person can take a break as it goes dark from time to time. Still, there is drama to burn in the story of an opera singer in the midst of a divided Italy in 1800.

Puccini's story of the strong-willed diva returns to the Kennedy Center stage in WNO's Tosca, from May 11 25, 2019. Tickets start at $35.