Ben Heppner News

Following her summer role debut in Santa Fe as Clairon in Richard Strauss's Capriccio, Grammy Award-winning mezzo-soprano Susan Graham - hailed by Gramophone as 'America's favorite mezzo' - launched the 2016-17 season with Renée Fleming and Michael Tilson Thomas performing Rossini songs in the San Francisco Symphony's opening night gala.

When this year's aspiring opera stars take to the stage of Toronto's Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts to compete in the Ensemble Studio Competition at the Canadian Opera Company's annual Centre Stage gala, they'll do so with legendary Canadian tenor and CBC Radio personality Ben Heppner in attendance.

The Dallas Opera is delighted to announce the winner of the 2016 'Maria Callas Debut Artist of the Year' Award: transcendent American mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato.

Upon the conclusion of the 20th year of its celebrated recital series, which was marked with a gala in April featuring some of opera's most prominent American and Canadian stars, the Foundation announces its 2016-17 season of events.

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. 

Toronto – The future of Canadian opera will be on full display on February 22, 2016 when the rising young stars of the Canadian Opera Company's Ensemble Studio sing the lead roles in Mozart's comedic tour-de-force, The Marriage of Figaro. This special, one-night-only performance of the COC's new production takes place at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, with all tickets accessibly priced at $25 and $55. The Marriage of Figaro is sung in Italian with English SURTITLES.

JCC Manhattan presents the fall season finale of PREformances with Allison Charney on Monday, December 14th at 12:30pm. In this unique concert series, you will hear celebrated classical musicians just before their performances on the world's most prestigious stages removing traditional barriers between performer and audience.

New York, NY (December 10, 2015) – OPERA NEWS Editor in Chief F. Paul Driscoll today announced the recipients of the 11th Annual OPERA NEWS Awards. This year's honorees — Joseph Calleja, El?na Garan?a, Waltraud Meier, Anna Netrebko, and José van Dam — will be feted at a black tie gala celebration on April 10th at the Plaza Hotel in New York City. 

?Named "Best Female Singer" at the 2014 International Opera Awards, German soprano Diana Damrau appears in recital with pianist Craig Rutenberg at Carnegie Hall on Sunday, December 6 at 2:00 p.m. in Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage. Ms. Damrau and Mr. Rutenberg perform German lieder by Schubert and R. Strauss, French songs by Poulenc and Manuel Rosenthal, and Dvo?ak's Zigeunermelodien.

Toronto – Emily D'Angelo of Toronto took home First Prize (the Chair's Prize) at the Canadian Opera Company's annual Ensemble Studio Competition on November 3, 2015 at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts. The competition is the feature event of the COC fundraiser Centre Stage, a highly anticipated annual celebration of the next generation of opera stars. D'Angelo was selected from eight finalists to receive the $5,000 award, supported annually by the Chair of the COC's Board of Directors. Lauren Eberwein of Qualicum Beach, BC won the Second Prize of $3,000, and Bruno Roy of Montreal was awarded the Third Prize of $1,500. Emily D'Angelo was also selected by the audience as the winner of the Audience Choice Award, worth $1,500.

Out of a pool of 120 aspiring opera singers from across the country, the Canadian Opera Company has selected eight to compete at Centre Stage: Ensemble Studio Competition tonight, November 3, 2015 at Toronto's Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts.

Toronto – Out of a pool of 120 aspiring opera singers from across the country, the Canadian Opera Company has selected eight to compete at Centre Stage: Ensemble Studio Competition on November 3, 2015 at Toronto's Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts. Centre Stage is the COC's annual celebration of the next generation of opera stars. The Ensemble Studio Competition is the evening's feature event: 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.

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.

David Mirvish's chamber-sized revival of TITANIC, starring Ben Heppner, the greatest opera tenor of his generation, closes today, June 21, 2015.

On Sunday afternoon, the previously Broadway-bound chamber sized production of TITANIC opened in Toronto. The production is currently scheduled at The Princess of Wales Theatre through June 21st, 2015. BroadwayWorld has a recap of all the reviews below, updating live as they come in.

BroadwayWorld Toronto Senior Editor Alan Henry interviewed TITANIC star Ben Heppner at The Princess of Wales Theatre prior to the show's opening in Toronto Sunday afternoon. Take a look at the interview below, which includes brand new production footage!

Titanic the Musical opened yesterday afternoon in Toronto, and was met by thunderous applause and a standing ovation following the performance. The musical, which opened in 1997 on Broadway and pre-dates the James Cameron film went on to win five Tony Awards including 'Best Musical' - but still closed at a significant financial loss on Broadway and was negatively received by critics.

DALLAS, MAY 21, 2015 – The Dallas Opera is pleased to announce the winner of the 2015 “Maria Callas Debut Artist of the Year” Award: incandescent Russian soprano Ekaterina Scherbachenko.

TITANIC is part of the Mirvish 2014-15 Subscription Season, playing through June 21, 2015 at Toronto's Princess of Wales Theatre. In this new reimagining of the musical, director Thom Southerland uses an ensemble cast, meaning that everyone in the cast plays two or three or more roles in the telling of the story.