Opera Newsroom

Anyone who’s spent enough time watching network TV knows an American criminal justice system that is built around simplistic stories of the good guys (hard-working prosecutors and police detectives) putting away the bad guys (“perps” of all stripes) with the help of brilliant DNA evidence that points the way to the truth. That’s not exactly the impression that we get from BLIND INJUSTICE—the opera by composer Scott Davenport Richards and librettist David Cote that had its New York debut this week.

Experiments In Opera has announced the world premiere of SOLOperas, two back-to-back operas written for and inspired by the self-accompanying solo performer.

Opera on Tap has announced its upcoming Benefit Concert. This will serve as a vital fundraiser supporting Opera on Tap's Playground Opera and Opera Maker Lab education programs.

The Kosciuszko Foundation, in collaboration with the New York City Opera, the Polish Cultural Institute New York, and the National Institute of Music and Dance, cordially invites you to a recital and lecture about composer Mieczysław Weinberg.

Even though there’s no shortage of contemporary opera around, we all still long for the rediscovery of a delightful operatic work from the archives, particularly a comedy, of which there is a short supply. Would Opera Philadelphia’s THE ANONYMOUS LOVER (L’AMANT ANONYME)--by Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-George, a contemporary of Mozart, with libretto by Francois-Georges Fouques Deshayes, Desfontaines--fit the bill? Hope sprang eternal, for me at least.

The Vancouver USA Arts & Music Festival has revealed that Renée Fleming, Mark and Maggie O'Connor, and Sharon Isbin will headline the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra USA performances at the 2025 Festival.

ARIANA MATER, the opera by Kaija Saariaho, who died last summer at 70, won this year's Grammy for Best Opera Recording, for the Deutsche Grammophon recording issued last August. With its libretto by Amin Maalouf, the production by Peter Sellars features the San Francisco Symphony and Chorus under Esa-Pekka Salonen and mezzo Fleur Barron in the title role.

Long Beach Opera will present two landmark performances of a new production of Pauline Oliveros' El Relicario de Los Animales, February 15th & 16th at the historic indoor-outdoor Heritage Square Museum in Los Angeles.

Anabella Lenzu will celebrate the release of her new book, Teaching and Learning Dance through Meaningful Gestures, in February. The event will take place on Sunday, February 23rd, 2025 at 2PM at Peridance Center (126 East 13th Street, New York, NY, 10003), Studio 3.

Florida Grand Opera will present Gaetano Donizetti's The Elixir of Love (L'elisir d'amore), an iconic romantic comedy filled with humor, human emotion, and unforgettable bel canto melodies.

Robert Carsen's vision is as uncompromising as ever, but the world has changed in three short years

Karen Slack will continue the nationwide tour of her new program African Queens. This program celebrates the history and legacy of seven African queens, revered as rulers but not widely heralded in the Western world. Learn how to attend.

The 17th and 18th centuries rode roughshod over the programming at the 92NY the other night, when that brilliant British baroque ensemble, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, and superb guest soloist, soprano Julia Bullock, bathed the audience in the warmth of what itself acknowledged was a lineup of ‘chestnuts.’

Sarasota Opera is once again offering its popular Mini Events, which take place throughout the year and are themed, intimate dining events hosted at a private home or venue.

OPERA America will award the Robert L.B. Tobin Director-Designer Prize to four teams of creative artists. The prize connects these rising artists with producers who can advance their careers.

New York City's leading chamber choir, Musica Viva NY, will present CURSE UPON IRON, a one-night only concert at Manhattan's All Souls NYC in March. Learn more here!

The New York premiere of the Christopher Cerrone/Stephanie Fleischmann opera IN A GROVE, in Mary Birnbaum’s simply beautiful—or beautifully simple—production triumphed at La Mama Experimental Theatre Club on Saturday as part of the Prototype Festival. It is inspired by Ryunosuke Akutagawa’s classic story (best known from its film version, “Rashomon”).

Watch Erin Morley, Rihab Chaieb, Pene Pati, and Luca Salsi sing an excerpt from the Act III quartet in a recent performance.  Reigning Verdi baritone Quinn Kelsey reprises his devastating portrayal of the title court jester, and soprano Nadine Sierra, following her acclaimed performances as Juliette in Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette last season, sings the role of his daughter, Gilda, as they lead the first of two casts beginning.

It’s a mistake to dismiss Claus Guth’s production of Janacek’s Jenůfa as symbolically overwrought and interminably grey. Look closer and you’ll discover a duality to each beguiling appearance.

The lobby of the HERE Theatre in SoHo was buzzing after Saturday’s performance of the new opera EAT THE DOCUMENT—not just for the performance we’d just watched but for the memories of the age that the piece evoked for many in the audience. Based on the novel of the same name by Dana Spiotta, DOCUMENT is a story of the ‘70s underground, with its activism, and a tale of sacrifice and living a secret.

Calgary Opera's Don Pasquale will run February 1, 5 and 7, 2025, at the Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium, Featuring an all-Canadian cast of superstars and Calgary favourites.

The George and Nora London Foundation Competition for American and Canadian opera singers, one of the opera world's oldest and most prestigious competitions, will hold its 53rd event in 2025, with a public final round at New York's Morgan Library and Museum on Friday, February 21, at 4:00 pm.

New York City Opera will present Music of Survival: Works by Weinberg, Korngold, and Rovne, with the NYC Opera Orchestra, featuring Constantine Orbelian, Conductor; Kristina Reiko Cooper, Cello; and Elizaveta Ulakhovich, Soprano.

Teatro Grattacielo has added three remarkable female leaders to its Board of Directors and Advisory Board. Learn more about the new board members and about the company!

PBS has set the premiere of Jeanine Tesori’s powerful new opera Grounded as part of their Great Performances at the Met series. Based on librettist George Brant’s acclaimed play and featuring mezzo-soprano Emily D’Angelo, Grounded will air Friday, March 21, at 9 p.m. ET on PBS.