Gary Thor Wedow News

(Saratoga Springs, NY) -- Opera Saratoga announces subscriptions are now on sale for the 2015 Summer Festival, which will include three operas featuring guest artists from around the globe, and a wide-range of additional live performances and arts experiences. The three operas will take place over a three-and-a-half week period, from July 2nd to the 26th.

NEW YORK –– The Juilliard Opera season opens with a production of Gioachino Rossini's Il Turco in Italia (The Turk in Italy), a drama buffo in two acts with a libretto by Felice Romani. Juilliard alumnaSperanza Scappucci conducts the Juilliard singers and the Juilliard Orchestra in her conducting debut at Juilliard in the production directed by John Giampietro. Performances take place tonight, November 19, 2014 and Friday, November 21, 2014 at 8 p.m.; and Sunday, November 23, 2014 at 2 p.m., in Juilliard's Peter Jay Sharp Theater. Tickets for Juilliard Opera's production of Il Turco in Italia are $30 and available at events.juilliard.edu or at the Juilliard Box Office. Juilliard students may attend for free; non-Juilliard students with valid ID may purchase tickets at $15 at the Juilliard Box Office.

NEW YORK –– The Juilliard Opera season opens with a production of Gioachino Rossini's Il Turco in Italia (The Turk in Italy), a drama buffo in two acts with a libretto by Felice Romani. Juilliard alumnaSperanza Scappucci conducts the Juilliard singers and the Juilliard Orchestra in her conducting debut at Juilliard in the production directed by John Giampietro. Performances take place on Wednesday, November 19, 2014 and Friday, November 21, 2014 at 8 p.m.; and Sunday, November 23, 2014 at 2 p.m., in Juilliard's Peter Jay Sharp Theater. Tickets for Juilliard Opera's production of Il Turco in Italia are $30 and available at events.juilliard.edu or at the Juilliard Box Office. Juilliard students may attend for free; non-Juilliard students with valid ID may purchase tickets at $15 at the Juilliard Box Office.

The New York Philharmonic's 2014 holiday season presents classic masterpieces and seasonal favorites, the return of a former Philharmonic principal and debuts, and continuing and new traditions. This year's schedule includes the annual Holiday Brass concert, this time with former Principal Trumpet Philip Smith returning to host and conduct the complete New York Philharmonic Brass and Percussion sections; Handel's Messiah, led by Baroque specialist Gary Thor Wedow; the first-annual Holidays with the Philharmonic, led by Constantine Kitsopoulos and featuring a carol sing-along and The Night Before Christmas, narrated by Academy Award winner and New York Philharmonic Board Member Whoopi Goldberg (December 19) and humorist, journalist, and actor Mo Rocca (December 20), both in their Philharmonic debuts; and New Year's Eve: A Gershwin Celebration led by Bramwell Tovey and featuring vocalists Dianne Reeves, in her Philharmonic debut, and Norm Lewis, returning after his debut in the Philharmonic's production of Show Boat. The New Year's Eve concert will be telecast live nationally on Live From Lincoln Center on PBS stations.

This fall, Seattle Opera brings audiences one of the most popular operas of all time: Don Giovanni. Set to glorious music, Don Giovanni tells a cautionary tale of an unrepentant Casanova who must pay the price for his misdeeds. Seattle Weekly called Seattle Opera's production 'Sleek, chic and colorful' when it first played to packed houses in 2007. The Everett Herald wrote: 'Seattle's production pulses with scenic delights and compelling staging that never drags. It's a big story to tell: Don Juan seduces and worse, even murders, without remorse.… In this production, it's a great ride.'

Seattle Opera will feature Mark Walters in the title role of Don Giovanni on October 19 at 7:30 P.M.in Italian with English subtitles at McCaw Hall.

Opera Saratoga announces its 2015 Summer Festival season, which will run from July 2 - July 26, 2015 at multiple venues throughout Saratoga Springs, New York.

The October broadcasts of The New York Philharmonic This Week - the weekly radio series of concerts and recordings by the New York Philharmonic, hosted by Alec Baldwin - begins with Jeffrey Kahane conducting the New York Philharmonic in J.S. Bach's Concerto for Violin and Oboe, featuring Principal Associate Concertmaster Sheryl Staples (now the Orchestra's Acting Concertmaster) and Principal Oboe Liang Wang with Mr. Kahane leading from the harpsichord; Mozart's Symphony No. 33; and Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 1, with Mr. Kahane conducting from the piano.

This fall, Seattle Opera brings audiences one of the most popular operas of all time: Don Giovanni. Set to glorious music, Don Giovanni tells a cautionary tale of an unrepentant Casanova who must pay the price for his misdeeds. Seattle Weekly called Seattle Opera's production "Sleek, chic and colorful" when it first played to packed houses in 2007. The Everett Herald wrote: "Seattle's production pulses with scenic delights and compelling staging that never drags. It's a big story to tell: Don Juan seduces and worse, even murders, without remorse.… In this production, it's a great ride."

From the depths of hell to the heights of paradise, the four great operas of Seattle Opera's 2014/15 season will take operagoers on a fantastic journey. During this important season, leadership will pass from Speight Jenkins, who has been General Director of Seattle Opera for a remarkable 31 years, to Aidan Lang, who was announced as Jenkins' successor in June, 2013.

The December broadcasts of The New York Philharmonic This Week - the weekly radio series of concerts and recordings by the New York Philharmonic, hosted by Alec Baldwin - begin with Bernard Labadie returning to the Philharmonic to conduct Mozart's Requiem; J.S. Bach's Cantata No. 51, Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen!; and Handel's 'Let the Bright Seraphim' from Samson. The program's soloists will include soprano Miah Persson, mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe, tenor Fre?de?ric Antoun, bass Andrew Foster-Williams, and Associate Principal Trumpet Matthew Muckey, joined by the New York Choral Artists directed by Joseph Flummerfelt. The following week Music Director Alan Gilbert conducts the New York Premiere of The Marie- Jose?e Kravis Composer-in-Residence Christopher Rouse's Oboe Concerto featuring Principal Oboe Liang Wang, and Richard Strauss's Also sprach Zarathustra and Don Juan, both featuring Concertmaster Glenn Dicterow in the concertmaster solos.

Lyric Opera of Kansas City continues its 56th season with a co- production of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's The Magic Flute November 9, 13, 15 and 17, 2013 at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. Check out video highlights below!

The December broadcasts of The New York Philharmonic This Week - the weekly radio series of concerts and recordings by the New York Philharmonic, hosted by Alec Baldwin - begin with Bernard Labadie returning to the Philharmonic to conduct Mozart's Requiem; J.S. Bach's Cantata No. 51, Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen!; and Handel's 'Let the Bright Seraphim' from Samson. The program's soloists will include soprano Miah Persson, mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe, tenor Fre?de?ric Antoun, bass Andrew Foster-Williams, and Associate Principal Trumpet Matthew Muckey, joined by the New York Choral Artists directed by Joseph Flummerfelt. The following week Music Director Alan Gilbert conducts the New York Premiere of The Marie- Jose?e Kravis Composer-in-Residence Christopher Rouse's Oboe Concerto featuring Principal Oboe Liang Wang, and Richard Strauss's Also sprach Zarathustra and Don Juan, both featuring Concertmaster Glenn Dicterow in the concertmaster solos.

Lyric Opera of Kansas City continues its 56th season with a co-production of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's The Magic Flute November 9, 13, 15 and 17, 2013 at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts.

For 70 years, The People's Opera – New York City Opera – has focused on producing unique works, showcasing emerging young artists, and educating the next generation of performing arts lovers.

Tenor Nicholas Phan will kick off his 2013-14 season as one of the prime voices heard in celebrations of the composer's centenary as they culminate this fall. Today, September 5, Phan helps launch Trinity Wall Street's four-month Celebrating Britten Festival with the orchestral song cycle Nocturne. The tenor also curates the 2013 Collaborative Works Festival as the Artistic Director of Collaborative Arts Institute of Chicago, performing Britten's Canticle II: Abraham and Isaac and The Heart of the Matter, plus folk-song arrangements by Beethoven (Sept 11-15). Phan and pianist Myra Huang then embark on a U.S. recital tour - starting at Trinity Wall Street on September 21 - with a program juxtaposing Britten and Schubert.

Tenor Nicholas Phan will kick off his 2013-14 season as one of the prime voices heard in celebrations of the composer's centenary as they culminate this fall. On September 5, Phan helps launch Trinity Wall Street's four-month Celebrating Britten Festival with the orchestral song cycle Nocturne. The tenor also curates the 2013 Collaborative Works Festival as the Artistic Director of Collaborative Arts Institute of Chicago, performing Britten's Canticle II: Abraham and Isaac and The Heart of the Matter, plus folk-song arrangements by Beethoven (Sept 11-15). Phan and pianist Myra Huang then embark on a U.S. recital tour - starting at Trinity Wall Street on September 21 - with a program juxtaposing Britten and Schubert.

Lyric Opera of Kansas City Artistic Director Ward Holmquist today announced a change in two conductors for two productions of the 2013-14 season. The September 21-29 production of Bellini's The Capulets and the Montagues will now be conducted by Lyric Opera of Kansas City Artistic Director Ward Holmquist. Maestro Leonardo Vordoni will make his company debut leading a production in the 2014-15 season to be announced at a later date. The November 9-17 production of Mozart's The Magic Flute will now be conducted by Gary Thor Wedow. Ward Holmquist had been scheduled to conduct that production.

New York City Opera is pleased to announce casting for numerous roles in its 2013-14 productions: Anna Nicole, a co-production with BAM that kicks off the 2013 Next Wave Festival, September 17 - 28 at the BAM Howard Gilman Opera House; Johann Christian Bach's Endimione, February 8 - 16, 2014 at El Museo del Barrio; Bluebeard's Castle, a co-production with St. Ann's Warehouse, February 28 - March 15, 2014; and The Marriage of Figaro, April 19 - April 26, 2014 at New York City Center. The Company will announce additional casting soon.

Seattle Opera's 2012/13 season concludes in May with a double bill of compelling twentieth-century operas, both new to the company: La Voix Humaine, by Francis Poulenc, and Giacomo Puccini's Suor Angelica. Both these one-act operas follow fascinating women who must grapple with despair as they meet their fate; but the two works, like the composers who created them, are extremely different. In Poulenc's sensual monodrama, a woman stumbles through a minefield of emotions as she attempts to stay connected to her ex-lover over the telephone. Puccini's mystical tragedy tells the story of a young nun who learns of the death of the son she was forced to abandon. She kills herself yet miraculously passes into a state of grace. Performances begin tonight, May 4 and run through May 18.