Marietta Simpson News

Over three days of preliminary auditions today, February 25 through the 27th, 2013, approximately 90 of the best young American and Canadian opera singers will compete to reach the final round of the 42nd annual George London Foundation Awards Competition.

Over three days of preliminary auditions on February 25-27, 2013, approximately 90 of the best young American and Canadian opera singers will compete to reach the final round of the 42nd annual George London Foundation Awards Competition.

Houston Grand Opera presents SHOW BOAT, which opened January 18. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the production below.

Houston Grand Opera presents SHOW BOAT, which opened January 18. BroadwayWorld has a first look at highlights from the show below.

Houston Grand Opera opened their Winter Repertory offerings with an impressive and rousing production of Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II's iconic book musical SHOW BOAT. The musical historically changed the face of American Musical Theatre and introduced a genre of entertainment that many feel OKLAHOMA perfected and solidified. Despite it's classification as a musical, the show's score is incredibly operatic and requires many classically trained voices to effectively pull off a production.

With rehearsals underway this week, Houston Grand Opera welcomes Lara Teeter to the role of Cap'n Andy in the new production of SHOW BOAT opening January 18. Teeter takes on the role after Tommy Tune stepped down because he is on vocal rest.

A quickly-rising star who is already one of the opera world's most sought-after vocalists, soprano Susanna Phillips has filled the upcoming season with an exciting schedule of engagements. Phillips returns to New York's Metropolitan Opera for her fifth consecutive season, makes her Carnegie Hall solo recital debut, and taps into her Southern heritage as Stella in Andre Previn's A Streetcar Named Desire with Renee Fleming in performances at Carnegie Hall and Lyric Opera of Chicago.

With rave reviews for Puccini's La boheme and Rossini's Italian Girl in Algiers to its credit, Houston Grand Opera's season is up and running. Starting in January, the company offers productions of Mozart's Don Giovanni and Kern and Hammerstein's classic American musical Show Boat, which bring with them the company debuts of conductor Trevor Pinnock, bass Morris Robinson, baritone Adrian Erod, Broadway legend Tommy Tune, and more. They will be followed in March by HGO's original and highly acclaimed production of Cruzar la Cara de la Luna / To Cross the Face of the Moon, a mariachi opera by Jose "Pepe" Martinez and Leonard Foglia. Tickets are on sale now and moving quickly for this winter repertory period, which accounts for 14 of the season's 44 performances, a 38 percent increase from an average of 32 performances in recent seasons. This increase, as well as HGO's 34 percent growth in subscription sales and more than $112 million fundraising effort over the last five years, clearly identifies HGO as today's most successful American opera company.

Houston Grand Opera, with Music Director Patrick Summers and Managing Director Perryn Leech, announces its 2012-13 season, headlined by four new productions. The first of these is Puccini's La boheme, which launches the new season with a new staging by award-winning British director John Caird. To honor 2013's joint bicentennials of Wagner and Verdi, the coming season juxtaposes Tristan und Isolde - starring Ben Heppner and Nina Stemme in a new contemporary staging by Christof Loy - with a revival of Steven Lawless's unforgettable take on Il trovatore. British conductor Trevor Pinnock leads a strong international cast in Mozart's ensemble masterpiece Don Giovanni, while Francesca Zambello's new production of Kern and Hammerstein's Show Boat brings together stars of Broadway and the opera house in a celebration of America's own contribution to the art. For a more intimate experience, Daniela Barcellona and Lawrence Brownlee star in Rossini's dramma giocoso, The Italian Girl in Algiers.

A quickly-rising star who is already one of the opera world's most sought-after vocalists, soprano Susanna Phillips has filled the upcoming season with an exciting schedule of engagements. Phillips returns to New York's Metropolitan Opera for her fifth consecutive season, makes her Carnegie Hall solo recital debut, and taps into her Southern heritage as Stella in Andre Previn's A Streetcar Named Desire with Renee Fleming in performances at Carnegie Hall and Lyric Opera of Chicago.

According to the Houston Chronicle, nine-time Tony Award winner, Broadway performer, choreographer and director Tommy Tune is set to play 'Cap'n Andy Hawks' in the Houston Grand Opera production of Show Boat, opening January 18, 2013.

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts today announced that mezzo-soprano J'nai Bridges, recipient of the 2012 Marian Anderson Award-a grant for American singers in mid-career-will perform a free recital in the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater tonight, September 10, 2012 at 6 p.m.

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts today announced that mezzo-soprano J'nai Bridges, recipient of the 2012 Marian Anderson Award-a grant for American singers in mid-career-will perform a free recital in the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater on Monday, September 10, 2012 at 6 p.m.

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts today named mezzo-soprano J'nai Bridges the recipient of the 2012 Marian Anderson Award, a biennial award of $15,000 given to an American singer in mid-career.

The Collegiate Chorale presents Tippett's A Child of Our Time and Bruckner's Te Deum on Friday, February 3, 2012 at 7pm at Carnegie Hall, 881 Seventh Avenue, NYC. The performance features Nicole Cabell, Marietta Simpson, Russell Thomas, John Relyea and the American Symphony Orchestra, conducted by James Bagwell.

The Collegiate Chorale is set to present Tippett's A Child of Our Time and Bruckner's Te Deum on Friday, February 3, 2012 at 7pm at Carnegie Hall, 881 Seventh Avenue, NYC.

Houston Grand Opera, with Music Director Patrick Summers and Managing Director Perryn Leech, announces its 2012-13 season, headlined by four new productions. The first of these is Puccini's La boheme, which launches the new season with a new staging by award-winning British director John Caird. To honor 2013's joint bicentennials of Wagner and Verdi, the coming season juxtaposes Tristan und Isolde - starring Ben Heppner and Nina Stemme in a new contemporary staging by Christof Loy - with a revival of Steven Lawless's unforgettable take on Il trovatore. British conductor Trevor Pinnock leads a strong international cast in Mozart's ensemble masterpiece Don Giovanni, while Francesca Zambello's new production of Kern and Hammerstein's Show Boat brings together stars of Broadway and the opera house in a celebration of America's own contribution to the art. For a more intimate experience, Daniela Barcellona and Lawrence Brownlee star in Rossini's dramma giocoso, The Italian Girl in Algiers.