Brandon Cedel News

Opera Philadelphia's celebrated 2016-2017 Season comes to a humorous conclusion with a new production of one of the greatest operas ever written, Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro, with five performances at the historic Academy of Music from April 28-May 7. The screwball comedy complete with disguises, surprises, and compromises, comes to life with an impressive cast of singers, many making their company debut under the leadership of conductor Corrado Rovaris, Opera Philadelphia's celebrated Jack Mulroney Music Director.

The New York Choral Society will present Handel's biblical oratorio Israel in Egypt under the baton of Music Director David Hayes, today evening, May 10th, 2016, 8pm at Carnegie Hall's Stern Auditorium. Composed entirely from selected passages from the Bible's Old Testament, Israel in Egypt relates the harshness of the Israelites' captivity in Egypt and their subsequent triumphant escape from the Pharaoh's oppressive regime. Israel in Egypt is atypical in Handel's choral output, as it contains little solo material and is dominated by large-scale virtuosic choruses that exhibit Handel's mastery as a musical storyteller.

DALLAS, FEBRUARY 2, 2016 –Twenty of the finest young opera singers in the United States will be competing in the 28th Annual Dallas Opera Guild Vocal Competition presented, jointly, by The Dallas Opera and The Dallas Opera Guild. 

Rossini's madcap comedy is guaranteed to send you out laughing and humming a tune. Count Almaviva is in love with the beautiful Rosina. Rosina is essentially being held captive by the slimy Bartolo, who wants to marry her himself. With the help of the barber Figaro, Almaviva and Rosina attempt to outwit Bartolo and live happily ever after.  THE BARBER OF SEVILLE is the perfect introductory opera. It features recognizable music, comedic staging, fun costumes and a happy ending. You will love the amazing ensemble cast – which includes two former Resident Artists with tremendous personalities, Kevin Glavin and Jonathan Beyer – and the Pittsburgh debut of Michele Angelini, who has received superlative reviews around the world in his role. Antony Walker conducts.

The New York Choral Society will present Handel's biblical oratorio Israel in Egypt under the baton of Music Director David Hayes, on Tuesday evening, May 10th, 2016, 8pm at Carnegie Hall's Stern Auditorium. Composed entirely from selected passages from the Bible's Old Testament, Israel in Egypt relates the harshness of the Israelites' captivity in Egypt and their subsequent triumphant escape from the Pharaoh's oppressive regime. Israel in Egypt is atypical in Handel's choral output, as it contains little solo material and is dominated by large-scale virtuosic choruses that exhibit Handel's mastery as a musical storyteller.

The winners of the 45th annual George London Foundation Awards Competition for young American and Canadian opera singers were announced at the conclusion of the competition's final round this evening, which took place in a front of an audience at Gilder Lehrman Hall at The Morgan Library & Museum in New York City. 

Take one part “Casablanca,” a taste of Bernstein's CANDIDE, some Alfred Hitchcock and you get Sir Richard Eyre's film noir concept for the Met's new MANON LESCAUT, now set in France in the 1940s, complete with Nazis. Tack on that behind-the-scenes drama of “Roberto Alagna to the rescue”--when tenor Jonas Kaufmann cancelled at the last minute--and add the visual and vocal glamour of soprano Kristine Opolais and you have, well, a messy-but-enjoyable evening at the opera.

DALLAS, FEBRUARY 2, 2016 –Twenty of the finest young opera singers in the United States will be competing in the 28th Annual Dallas Opera Guild Vocal Competition presented, jointly, by The Dallas Opera and The Dallas Opera Guild. 

Canadian soprano Erin Wall, who in August was featured in the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra's performance of Mahler's “Symphony of a Thousand” led by Andris Nelsons, and American baritone Steven LaBrie, a 2013 George London Encouragement Award winner who has sung Schubert's Die schöne Müllerin with Jessica Lang Dance at BAM and Jacob's Pillow, are the two artists who will open the 2015-16 season of the George London Foundation for Singers. 

?The 2015-16 season marks two milestones for the George London Foundation for Singers, which has been honoring, supporting, and presenting the finest young opera singers in the U.S. and Canada since 1971:  the 45th annual George London Foundation Awards Competition, which gives George London Awards to young singers each year; and the 20th year of its acclaimed recital series, which presents pairs of singers, both established stars and recent George London Award winners, at The Morgan Library & Museum.

This review was first published by KDHX, St. Louis. Opera Theatre of St. Louis has opened Handel's 'Richard the Lionheart,' and it is truly astonishing! It is, in all aspects, the most perfect production of an opera that I've ever seen. And voices? Ah, the voices are quite stunning! This is not to be missed. This is a masterpiece.

Music Director Gustavo Dudamel and President and CEO Deborah Borda today announced the 2014/15 season of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. This new season, the orchestra's 96th, is devoted to moving music forward by presenting an ever-evolving vision through a series of programs that demonstrate the artistry of the Los Angeles Philharmonic as a leading orchestra of the 21st century, under the baton of Gustavo Dudamel.

The Metropolitan Opera and The Juilliard School announce casting for 'A Concert of Comic Operas' featuring varied excerpts and scenes from operas by Berlioz, Donizetti, and Mozart, and Stravinsky's rarely-performed Mavra, conducted by James Levine. The program includes Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail (Act 1); Stravinsky's Mavra; Berlioz's Benvenuto Cellini (Act 1, Scene 1); and Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore (Act 1, Part 2). Performances take place on Tuesday, February 11 and Friday, February 14, 2014 at 8 PM; and Sunday, February 16, 2014 at 2 PM in Juilliard's Peter Jay Sharp Theater. Met Opera Music Director James Levine conducts the Juilliard Orchestra and singers from the Met Opera's Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, as well as singers from the Ellen and James S. Marcus Institute for Vocal Arts at Juilliard. Director Edward Berkeley will direct the program in a semi-staged concert version.

Due to inclement weather conditions, tonight's final Summer Recital has been canceled. Scheduled performers were Ying Fang, soprano, Mario Chang, tenor, Brandon Cedel, bass-baritone, Bradley Moore, pianist. The only other previous cancelled event included the Staten Island performance.

The Metropolitan Opera has cancelled the evening recitals scheduled for Thursday, July 25, 2013 due to inclement weather. The recital will not be rescheduled.

The Metropolitan Opera announced that this evening's scheduled recital in Staten Island's Clove Lakes Park has been canceled due to expected inclement weather. The recital, part of the Met's Summer Recital Series, will not be rescheduled.

The Metropolitan Opera and SummerStage continue their long-time collaboration to present some of The Met's finest young singers in showcase recitals taking place across New York City.

The LA Phil's Mozart/Da Ponte trilogy continues with The Marriage of Figaro with sets designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Jean Nouvel and costumes by legendary couturier Azzedine Alaia. Joining Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic in this fully staged production is a stellar cast of internationally renowned soloists:

The Metropolitan Opera announced the return of its two popular series of free summer events, the Summer Recital Series and the Summer HD Festival. For the fifth consecutive year, the Met will present operatic recitals in parks in all five boroughs, as well as a ten-day outdoor festival of encore screenings from the Met's popular HD transmissions.

On Sunday afternoon March 10, the air was buzzing with anticipation at the Met, before the performances by the ten singers who had made it to the Grand Finals of the opera company's National Council auditions. No, this wasn't the opera equivalent of American Idol, where the emphasis is on the judges as much as the performers. It was a grown-up affair.