Elaine Alvarez

​​​​​​​ South Florida Symphony Orchestra will close out its triumphant 25th anniversary season with a grand finale concert featuring  Rachmaninoff's demanding Piano Concerto No. 3 performed by Svetlana Smolina; along with Bruckner's choral masterpiece, Te Deum, featuring the South Florida Symphony Chorus and vocalists Elaine Alvarez, soprano; Rehanna Thelwell, mezzo-soprano; Neil Nelson, bass-baritone; and Arnold Rawls, tenor.

In his first appearance with Fort Worth Opera, globally acclaimed superstar tenor Russell Thomas joins renowned soprano Elaine Alvarez, critically acclaimed mezzo-soprano Guadalupe Paz, and rising young baritone Spencer Reichman for an evening of thrilling performances, accompanied by FWO Artistic Director and composer Joe Illick.

After fourteen years of producing a nationally recognized Festival in the springtime, the organization will return to a year-round format, as it looks to expand its presence and visibility in the growing North Texas arts scene.

From now to November 29, 2020, Los Angeles Opera is featuring The Anonymous Lover Composed by a Black man, Joseph Bologne, also known as the Chevalier de Saint-Georges. The cast, made up of members of LAO's Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program, is conducted by Music Director James Conlon. https://www.laopera.org/performances/updated-2021-season/the-anonymous-lover/

The Columbus Symphony and Music Director Rossen Milanov today announced the 2020-21 Masterworks season that focuses on the expressive power of the human voice. Subscriptions go on sale at 10am on Wednesday, May 13.

Renowned music conservatory Manhattan School of Music (MSM) is celebrating its Centennial during the 2018-19 season with performances and events that draw inspiration from its rich 100-year history of music-making and education.

The San Diego Opera's production of Daniel Catan's Florencia en el Amazonas was premiered Saturday at San Diego's Civic Center. Much has been made of the influence the magical realism of Nobel-Prize winning author Gabriel Garcia Marquez had on Marcela Fuentes-Berain's libretto, but most of the magic is in Catan's music. In this production, the voices and staging added another helping of enchantment. What little magical realism there is in the libretto, compared to Marquez's inventive, often disorienting novels, was largely lost in the mix.

I spoke recently with Elaine Alvarez who will be singing the lead role this weekend in the San Diego Opera's production of Florencia en el Amazonas by Mexican composer Daniel Catan and librettist Marcela Fuentes-Berain. Alvarez told me that when she got a call from the San Diego Opera's General Director David Bennett, 'I was at a train station in France, and it was cold. I started jumping up and down! And he was like, 'Do you think you're going to be ready to sing this? Is this in line now with where your voice is.' And I'm like, a hundred percent! Yes! Yes! Yes!' Spanish was her first language, Florencia appealed to her Latin heritage, and she knew her voice was ready. She'd sung Beatrice in Catan's earlier opera Rappaccini's Daughter and was delighted with the opportunity to make her San Diego debut with another of his works.

General Director David Bennett's first complete season

Soprano Michelle Bradley and pianist Michael Gaertner, winners of the 2014 Music Academy of the West Marilyn Horne Song Competition, will perform a program of lieder, spirituals, and other works by Beethoven, Strauss, Duparc, Faure, Poulenc, Bachelet, and H.T. Burleigh in recital appearances this May in Santa Barbara, Dallas, and New York City.

The Dallas Opera has announced a partnership with the Music Academy of the West located in Santa Barbara, California, that will allow patrons from across North Texas to experience the artistry of the winners of the annual Marilyn Horne Song Competition as an added dimension of the popular Robert E. and Jean Ann Titus Art Song Recital Series. The Music Academy of the West is one the nation's premier summer training programs for gifted young classical musicians.

Thomas Hampson will be at Manhattan School of Music today, March 19th to give a vocal master class. This master class, a free event and open to the public, takes place at 4:00 p.m. in the School's Greenfield Recital Hall, and will be streamed live by going to http://dl.msmnyc.edu/live. The master class will be given in collaboration with MSM's world renowned Distance Learning and Recording Arts Department, headed by Christianne Orto, Dean of Distance Learning and Recording Arts at Manhattan School of Music.

Thomas Hampson will be at Manhattan School of Music on Wednesday, March 19th to give a vocal master class. This master class, a free event and open to the public, takes place at 4:00 p.m. in the School's Greenfield Recital Hall, and will be streamed live by going to http://dl.msmnyc.edu/live. The master class will be given in collaboration with MSM's world renowned Distance Learning and Recording Arts Department, headed by Christianne Orto, Dean of Distance Learning and Recording Arts at Manhattan School of Music.

Acclaimed young baritone John Brancy and pianist Mario Antonio Marra, winners of the 2013 Music Academy of the West Marilyn Horne Song Competition, will perform the world premiere of Force by up-and-coming composer Chris Kapica, as well as the famous Schumann song cycle Dichterliebe, works by Dvorak, and a trio of American standards at 7:30 pm in Hahn Hall tonight, March 4.

Acclaimed young baritone John Brancy and pianist Mario Antonio Marra, winners of the 2013 Music Academy of the West Marilyn Horne Song Competition, will perform the world premiere of Force by up-and-coming composer Chris Kapica, as well as the famous Schumann song cycle Dichterliebe, works by Dvorak, and a trio of American standards at 7:30 pm in Hahn Hall on Tuesday, March 4. Following the recital, world-renowned mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne will conduct a question-and-answer session with the performers on stage.

The 2013 winners of the Music Academy of the West's Marilyn Horne Song Competition, baritone John Brancy and pianist Mario Antonio Marra, will perform the premiere of Force by up-and-coming composer Chris Kapica, Schumann's Dichterliebe, works by Dvorák, and American standards in a trio of East and West Coast recitals. The first will take place at the Music Academy's Hahn Hall in Santa Barbara, California on Tuesday, March 4, followed by Santa Monica's Broad Stage on Friday, March 7, and the National Opera Center in New York City on Sunday, March 16. The New York recital is part of OPERA America's Emerging Artist Recital Series, a showcase for finalists and prizewinners from the nation's most prestigious young artist programs and competitions.

Gotham Chamber Opera, in collaboration with Works & Process at the Guggenheim presents selections from Daniel Catán's 1988 opera, La hija de Rappaccini (Rappaccini's Daughter), in A Musical Journey, From Venice to Tuscany and back again 1851-1991 onAugust 26, 2013 at 9pm at the Courtyard at Guggenheim-Venice.

Baritone John Brancy and pianist Mario Antonio Marra have been named winners of the 2013 Music Academy of the West Marilyn Horne Song Competition, which took place July 20 at the Music Academy's Hahn Hall. Messrs. Brancy and Marra will each receive a cash award of $2,500, and will be presented in recital next year at Hahn Hall, Santa Monica's Broad Stage, and the National Opera Center in New York City. Tenor Andrew Haji was the recipient of an Encouragement Award. Biographies appear below.

Baritone John Brancy and pianist Mario Antonio Marra have been named winners of the 2013 Music Academy of the West Marilyn Horne Song Competition, which took place July 20 at the Music Academy's Hahn Hall. Messrs. Brancy and Marra will each receive a cash award of $2,500, and will be presented in recital next year at Hahn Hall, Santa Monica's Broad Stage, and the National Opera Center in New York City. Tenor Andrew Haji was the recipient of an Encouragement Award. Biographies appear below.