Lisa Chavez News

Sarasota Opera Triumphs in Verdi's Nabucco

Amidst a setting of ancient times, Nabucco-king of Babylon-conquers the Hebrews, destroys their holy temple of Solomon and takes them into captivity. Meanwhile, his daughters Fenena and Abigaille both yearn for the forbidden affection of the Israelite Ismael. Her love unrequited, Abigaille is obsessed with vengeance. In the ultimate act of hubris, Nabucco declares that he is God and is struck mad by a thunderbolt. Will he regain his reason, repent, and return the Jews to their homeland?

Executive Director Richard Russell and Artistic Director Victor DeRenzi have announced that bass baritone Kevin Short will return to Sarasota Opera this season to sing the role of Zaccaria in Sarasota Opera's production of Giuseppe Verdi's Nabucco, opening Saturday, March 2, 2019.

The New York City Opera has announced that Andrew Bidlack, Liz Bouk, Lisa Chavez, Michael Corvino, Jessica Fishenfeld, Mark Heller, Brian James Myer, and Jordan Weatherston Pitts have been cast in its world-premiere production of the new opera STONEWALL, with music by Iain Bell, libretto by Pulitzer Prize-winner Mark Campbell, and direction by Leonard Foglia.   STONEWALL will open Friday, June 21 and run for five performances only through Friday, June 28 at the Rose Theater at Jazz at Lincoln Center (in the Time Warner Center at Broadway and 60th Street).

Amidst a setting of ancient times, Nabucco-king of Babylon-conquers the Hebrews, destroys their holy temple of Solomon and takes them into captivity. Meanwhile, his daughters Fenena and Abigaille both yearn for the forbidden affection of the Israelite Ismael. Her love unrequited, Abigaille is obsessed with vengeance. In the ultimate act of hubris, Nabucco declares that he is God and is struck mad by a thunderbolt. Will he regain his reason, repent, and return the Jews to their homeland?

Sarasota Opera will celebrate its 60th Season when the 2019 Winter Opera Festival opens on February 9th with Puccini's Turandot. The festival will continue with Mozart's The Magic Flute, Verdi's Nabucco, and the premiere of a rare and delightful comic double bill: Donizetti's Rita (Two Men and a Woman) and Wolf-Ferrari's Susanna's Secret. Special events, lectures, recitals, and concerts continue through the season. Capping off the festivities will be the Diamond Anniversary recital and dinner on April 5th.

Sarasota Opera Brilliantly Stages The Barber of Seville

Don't Miss Sarasota Opera's Production of Carmen

There are no second acts in American lives, wrote F. Scott Fitzgerald in 'The Last Tycoon.' New York City Opera proves him wrong, with its new chamber version of the Tobias Picker-JD McClatchy 2013 opus DOLORES CLAIBORNE. Based on a novel by Stephen King perhaps better known from the film starring Kathy Bates this terse retelling of murder and misery among the rich and poor is never less than interesting and sometimes compelling in Michael Capasso's quickly moving production.

New York City Opera opened New York's cultural season with a new production of Puccini's beloved La fanciulla del West, which WQXR called one of the resurrected City Opera's strongest productions yet. This October City Opera follows the success of La fanciulla del West with the world premiere of a new chamber adaptation of Tobias Picker's 2013 opera Dolores Claiborne, based on the novel by Stephen King. The adaptation has been prepared for City Opera by Picker, who is also City Opera's Composer-in-Residence.

World premieres, new productions, and exciting artist debuts will make the 59th season at Sarasota Opera a season not to miss. Highlights of the upcoming year include the return of Giuseppe Verdi, the 6th Sarasota Youth Opera world premiere, and operas by composers such as Vincenzo Bellini and Eugen D'Albert whose operas have not been heard on our stage.

Announcing Medicine Ball: Playwrights v. Poets 2017! Come join us for the literary battle of the millennium June 22-24th at the Erickson Theater, 1524 Harvard Avenue in Seattle. Performances for this unique, annual, barnbuster of a show are three nights only at 8 pm.

Come join us for the literary battle of the millennium June 22-24th at the Erickson Theater, 1524 Harvard Avenue in Seattle. Performances for this unique, annual, barnbuster of a show are three nights only at 8 pm.

Playing June 22 - 24 at the Erickson Theatre, the literary boxing match of the century brings playwrights, poets, visual artists, theatre artists, and musicians together for a unique evening of performance.

Announcing Medicine Ball: Playwrights v. Poets 2017! Come join us for the literary battle of the millennium June 22-24th at the Erickson Theater, 1524 Harvard Avenue in Seattle. Performances for this unique, annual, barnbuster of a show are three nights only at 8 pm.

Last Chance to see Dialogues des Carmelites at the Sarasota Opera House

Thrilling music, exciting new voices, and compelling theater will launch Sarasota Opera into its 58th Winter Festival Season on Saturday, February 11th, 2017. This will be the company's first season in 28 years to not include any operas by Giuseppe Verdi.

PREformances with Allison Charney's stand-out, December 5th concert welcomed featured guests violinist Laura Goldberg, composer and pianist Moshe S. Knoll, soprano Indira Mahajan and Russian-born American pianist Julia Zilberquit with a surprise debut performance by mezzo-soprano Lisa Chavez, occasioned by noted mezzo soprano Sara Murphy who was indisposed.

Mezzo soprano Lisa Chavez make will make her debut appearance with the popular New York classical concert series 'PREformances with Allison Charney' on December 5 at theGoldman Sonnenfeldt Auditorium on Manhattan's Upper West Side. Ms. Chavez, who just finished performances with the New York City Opera, will join PREformances featured guest artists violinist Laura Goldberg, composer and pianist Moshe Knoll and virtuoso pianist Julia Zilberquit - as a surprise addition to the concert roster - replacing mezzo soprano, Sara Murphy who is indisposed.

If you're a fan of Puccini-esque music and the “magic realism” of the great Colombian writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Daniel Catan's FLORENCIA EN EL AMAZONAS may be for you. Others might find the opera--which had its New York premiere at New York City Opera's home at Jazz at Lincoln Center's Rose Theatre--like falling into a production of “Alice in Puccini-land.” With an endless array of high-strung arias, it left no room for anyone to come up for air for 2½ hours, despite some first-rate performances.