Aidan Lang News

Start Halloween early by joining Seattle Opera for its Family Day presentation of Hansel and Gretel! This Oct. 30 performance of Engelbert Humperdinck's masterpiece offers students age 18 and under $15 tickets for almost any seat.* During intermission, activities will include a costume dress-up station, crafts, interactions with costumed characters, and even trick-or-treating (just in time for Halloween!). Sunday, Oct. 30 will also offer an audio-described option for visually-impaired patrons (for more information, click here).  

You can never be too grown-up for the magic of a Brother's Grimm fairy tale. That's very clear from Seattle Opera's upcoming Hansel and Gretel, which comes from the vivid imagination of French stage director Laurent Pelly. This edgy version of Engelbert Humperdinck's masterpiece presents a thrilling quest ending not in a gingerbread house, but in a supermarket with a checkout lady from hell!

Reducing racial and socioeconomic barriers to opera is a top priority for Seattle Opera, announced General Director Aidan Lang at the company's Annual Meeting on Sept. 6, 2016. Lang aims to serve the diverse communities across the Pacific Northwest through new theatrical approaches in performances, as well as increased educational and engagement arts programming in the community. 

Opera is something that you control much less as a conductor

SEATTLE – Seattleites, you've been warned: There's a cheeky bad boy causing a ruckus this summer, and he's headed straight for McCaw Hall! Seattle Opera presents The Wicked Adventures of Count Ory—a brand-new production that packs the punch of a Broadway musical with a nod to the humor and visual style of Monty Python. This Rossini comedy takes place in a medieval French village—while the men are off fighting the Crusades, the ladies are easily enticed by the notoriously naughty Count Ory. Australian Stage Director Lindy Hume and Production Designer Dan Potra have let their imaginations run wild, creating a mashup of medieval France and psychedelic '70s flower power.

Before Captain Jack Sparrow of the Pirates of the Caribbean films sailed the seven seas, Wagner's operatic tale of a cursed pirate had been thrilling audiences for almost 200 years. Seattleites will soon get to experience this masterpiece for themselves in May 2016, as Seattle Opera presents The Flying Dutchman.

After two days of intense competition by some of the most talented young singers in the country, the winners of the 28th Annual Dallas Opera Guild Vocal Competition were announced late this evening from the stage of the Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House at the AT&T Performing Arts Center.

Join Seattle Opera this April for a black-tie gala featuring Greer Grimsley, star of Seattle Opera's famous Ring cycle and title character in the company's upcoming Flying Dutchman. Gala attendees can share their experience on social media using the hashtag #SOCelebrate.  

Before Captain Jack Sparrow of the Pirates of the Caribbean films sailed the seven seas, Wagner's operatic tale of a cursed pirate had been thrilling audiences for almost 200 years. Seattleites will soon get to experience this masterpiece for themselves in May 2016, as Seattle Opera presents The Flying Dutchman.

Join Seattle Opera this April for a black-tie gala featuring Greer Grimsley, star of Seattle Opera's famous Ring cycle and title character in the company's upcoming Flying Dutchman. Gala attendees can share their experience on social media using the hashtag #SOCelebrate.  

You can almost take any two characters in a room and there's a story line between them

Lang's remarkable blend of talents, which include expertise in the theatrical, artistic and business realms, serve him well in his new position

Thrilling theater and unforgettable music -- that's what audiences can expect from Seattle Opera's 2016/17 Season. The company today announced the operas next up at Marion Oliver McCaw Hall. They include: The Wicked Adventures of Count Ory, Hansel & Gretel, La traviata, Katya Kabanova and The Magic Flute.

Seattle Opera has received a $30,000 grant from National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). The funds, in support of the February, 2016 production of Donizetti's Mary Stuart, are part of a larger $27.6 million that NEA is awarding to American arts groups in 2016.

DALLAS, TX, NOVEMBER 20, 2015 - The Dallas Opera wishes to remind potential candidates that applications for the expanded and revised Dallas Opera Guild Vocal Competition, scheduled to take place on Friday, April 29, 2016 at 11:00 a.m. (Semi-Final Round) and Saturday, April 30, 2016 at 6:30 p.m.(Finals Round) will be accepted through tomorrow – Saturday, November 21, 2015 at 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time.

SEATTLE – Come away with Seattle Opera to an island paradise this fall. Bizet's intoxicating romance The Pearl Fishers will offer a chance to escape reality for a night of grand operatic spectacle tonight, Oct. 17 – 31, 2015. In this tale, a gorgeous priestess with an air of mystery is pursued by both a brave hunter and his best friend, the leader of a fishing village. Honor, jealousy, and communal duty complicate the love triangle; but a long-buried secret saves the day. Composed 12 years before Carmen, The Pearl Fishers is decorated with passionate duets, lusty choruses, and high-energy dance numbers. British fashion icon Zandra Rhodes has created a technicolor dream world with set and costume design. Rhodes has designed for Princess Diana and Elizabeth Taylor, and her vintage pieces have been worn by Sarah Jessica Parker on “Sex in the City,” and by Kate Moss and Kelly Osbourne, to name a few. Seattle audiences may remember her whimsical costumes from The Magic Flute (2011).         

Opera boasts some of the composer's most sensuous and compelling music

SEATTLE – Come away with Seattle Opera to an island paradise this fall. Bizet's intoxicating romance The Pearl Fishers will offer a chance to escape reality for a night of grand operatic spectacle Oct. 17 – 31, 2015. In this tale, a gorgeous priestess with an air of mystery is pursued by both a brave hunter and his best friend, the leader of a fishing village. Honor, jealousy, and communal duty complicate the love triangle; but a long-buried secret saves the day. Composed 12 years before Carmen, The Pearl Fishers is decorated with passionate duets, lusty choruses, and high-energy dance numbers. British fashion icon Zandra Rhodes has created a technicolor dream world with set and costume design. Rhodes has designed for Princess Diana and Elizabeth Taylor, and her vintage pieces have been worn by Sarah Jessica Parker on “Sex in the City,” and by Kate Moss and Kelly Osbourne, to name a few. Seattle audiences may remember her whimsical costumes from The Magic Flute (2011).         

DALLAS, TX, SEPTEMBER 14, 2015 - The Dallas Opera is pleased to announce that applications for the expanded and revised Dallas Opera Guild Vocal Competition, scheduled to take place on Friday, April 29, 2016 at 11:00 a.m. (Semi-Final Round) and Saturday, April 30, 2016 at 6:30 p.m. (Finals Round) will be accepted beginning tomorrow – Tuesday, September 15, 2015 – through Saturday, November 21, 2015.

Come experience the power of music on a whole new level at the Seattle Opera premiere of Giuseppe Verdi's Nabucco this month. Viewers will be visually transported to ancient Babylon through magnificent costumes, awe-inspiring projections, and a new staging configuration that brings the music and performers closer to the audience than ever before.