Ben Heppner News

The stage is set for opera's next generation of stars to shine, when the young artists of the Canadian Opera Company's Ensemble Studio take on Rossini's comic masterpiece, The Barber of Seville. This special performance takes place at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts today, May 15, 2015, with all tickets accessibly priced at $25 or $55. This new COC production is sung in Italian with English SURTITLES.

International conductor Ramon Tebar will make his official debut as Principal Guest Conductor of Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia earlier than the previously announced 2015-2016 season. He replaces on short notice the venerable conductor Nicola Luisotti, who as Music Director of San Francisco Opera, has had to regretfully cancel his last two performances for artistic contingency reasons with the opera house.

Toronto – The stage is set for opera's next generation of stars to shine, when the young artists of the Canadian Opera Company's Ensemble Studio take on Rossini's comic masterpiece, The Barber of Seville. This special performance takes place at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts on May 15, 2015, with all tickets accessibly priced at $25 or $55. This new COC production is sung in Italian with English SURTITLES.

JCC Manhattan presents PREformances with Allison Charney on Monday, April 13th at 7:30pm.

The Art Song Preservation Society (ASPS) will present French Mezzo-Soprano, Virginie Verrez in recital with accomplished piano collaborator, Thomas Muraco. Ms. Verrez, the first place winner of the 2014 Mary Trueman Vocal Art Song Competition sponsored by the Art Song Preservation Society, will present works by Brahms, Monteverdi, Poulenc, Duparc, Canteloube among others.

The Art Song Preservation Society (ASPS) will present French Mezzo-Soprano, Virginie Verrez in recital with accomplished piano collaborator, Thomas Muraco. Ms. Verrez, the first place winner of the 2014 Mary Trueman Vocal Art Song Competition sponsored by the Art Song Preservation Society, will present works by Brahms, Monteverdi, Poulenc, Duparc, Canteloube among others. The recital is on March 21 at 2pm at the National Opera Center (330 7th Avenue) in New York City. Tickets are $25 at the door. You can purchase tickets by visiting the Art Song Preservation Society website at www.artsongpreservationsocietyny.org

The Art Song Preservation Society (ASPS) will present French Mezzo-Soprano, Virginie Verrez in recital with accomplished piano collaborator, Thomas Muraco. Ms. Verrez, the first place winner of the 2014 Mary Trueman Vocal Art Song Competition sponsored by the Art Song Preservation Society, will present works by Brahms, Monteverdi, Poulenc, Duparc, Canteloube among others.

Toronto – The Canadian Opera Company Ensemble Studio, Canada's premier training program for young opera professionals, welcomes three talented new Canadian artists for the 2015/2016 season. Tenors Charles Syand Aaron Sheppard were among the seven finalists featured in the fourth annual Ensemble Studio Competition in November 2014. Sy and Sheppard were top prize winners at the competitive vocal showcase which was the feature event of the COC's Ensemble Studio Competition Gala, Centre Stage, an evening dedicated to the discovery and celebration of the next generation of opera stars. In addition to the two opera singers, the 15/16 Ensemble Studio also welcomes pianist Hyejin Kwon.

OPERA NEWS Editor in Chief F. Paul Driscoll today announced the recipients of the 10th Annual Opera News Awards. This year's honorees—Piotr Beczala, Ferruccio Furlanetto, Sondra Radvanosky, Samuel Ramey and Teresa Stratas—will be feted at a black tie gala celebration on Sunday, April 19, 2015 at the Plaza Hotel in New York City. Previous Opera News Award Winners Martina Arroyo,Gerald Finley and Susan Graham are among the presenters.

Toronto – Tenor Charles Sy of Toronto took home first prize and the Audience Choice Award at the Canadian Opera Company's Ensemble Studio Competition on November 25, 2014, at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts. The competition is the feature event of the COC's annual fundraising gala, Centre Stage, an evening dedicated to the discovery and celebration of the next generation of opera stars. Sy was selected from seven finalists to receive the $5,000 award. Baritone Dimitri Katotakis of Toronto, won the second prize of $3,000,and tenor Aaron Sheppard of St. John's, N.L.., was awarded the third prize of $1,500. In addition, Sy was selected by the audience as the winner of the Audience Choice Award, worth $1,500.

Out of a pool of 175 aspiring opera singers from across the country, theCanadian Opera Company has selectedseven to compete at Centre Stage: Ensemble Studio Competition Gala today, November 25, 2014 at Toronto's Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts.

Out of a pool of 175 aspiring opera singers from across the country, theCanadian Opera Company has selectedseven to compete at Centre Stage: Ensemble Studio Competition Gala on November 25, 2014 at Toronto's Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts. This year hosted by world renowned Canadian tenor Ben Heppner,Centre Stage is the COC's annual fundraising gala dedicated to the discovery and celebration of the next generation of opera stars. TheEnsemble Studio Competition is the gala's feature event and an exhilarating vocal showcase with the singers, selected from nationwide auditions for the COC Ensemble Studio – Canada's premier training program for young opera professionals – vying for cash prizes ranging in value from $1,500 to $5,000.

Out of a pool of 175 aspiring opera singers from across the country, the Canadian Opera Company has selected seven to compete at Centre Stage: Ensemble Studio Competition Gala on November 25, 2014 at Toronto's Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts. This year hosted by world renowned Canadian tenor Ben Heppner, Centre Stage is the COC's annual fundraising gala dedicated to the discovery and celebration of the next generation of opera stars. The Ensemble Studio Competition is the gala's feature event and an exhilarating vocal showcase with the singers, selected from nationwide auditions for the COC Ensemble Studio - Canada's premier training program for young opera professionals - vying for cash prizes ranging in value from $1,500 to $5,000.

JCC Manhattan presents PREformances with Allison Charney on Monday, November 17th at 12:30pm.

Opera and Classical music fans in Toronto have a lot to sing about! Legendary soprano Aprile Millo will be returning to Toronto for in November for a very special weekend of performances. The New York Post's James Jorden said of Millo: 'The soprano, considered the foremost stylist of Italian romantic vocal music, always draws an audience of hard core cognoscenti, who are practically an opera in themselves'.

JCC Manhattan launches the sixth season of PREformances with Allison Charney on Monday, October 20th at 12:30pm.

Soprano Amanda Majeski is a 2009 George London Award winner who just made her Metropolitan Opera debut in the Met's season-opening presentation of Le nozze di Figaro, and bass-baritone Ryan McKinny is a 2011 George London Award winner who this past summer sang the roles of Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire with the Los Angeles Opera and Billy Bigelow in Carousel at Glimmerglass Opera. Together, they will open the 2014-15 season of the George London Foundation for Singers with a joint recital at Gilder Lehrman Hall at The Morgan Library and Museum on Sunday, November 9, 2014, at 4:30 PM, with pianist Ken Noda. The event is Mr. McKinny's New York recital debut.

Good morning, BroadwayWorld! Because we know all our readers eat, sleep and breathe Broadway, what could be better than waking up to it? Today's big news: IT'S ONLY A PLAY opens tonight and we'll be bringing you the real-life verdict, AMAZING GRACE begins in Chicago, Lucie Arnaz returns to PIPPIN, Elaine Paige says 'farewell' and more!

David Mirvish has announced that Ben Heppner, the greatest opera tenor of his generation, will be joining the cast of the new production of the Tony Award-winning Best Musical TITANIC. TITANIC is part of the Mirvish 2014-15 Subscription Season. It will play May 20 to June 21, 2015 at the Princess of Wales Theatre. The production was originally slated to open in Toronto last summer, prior to a Broadway run, but was cancelled.

Deborah Voigt showcases her enviable range in a trio of major summer festival engagements this month.