Podcasts about contemporary opera

Proclive al minimalismo repetitivo y la orquesta sinfónica, el norteamericano experimenta con todo tipo de escenarios, desde la ópera y el cine hasta a la poesía. Estudioso de la matemática, la filosofía y la espiritualidad oriental, ha llegado a un público masivo con sus creaciones._____Has escuchadoConcerto for Violin and Orchestra (1987). David Nebel, violín; London Symphony Orchestra; Kristjan Järvi, director. Sony (2020)Cuarteto n.º 3 “Mishima” (1985). Cuarteto Quiroga, cuarteto de cuerda. Grabación sonora realizada en directo en la sala de conciertos de la Fundación Juan March, el 23 de noviembre de 2022Étude for Solo Piano, No. 2 (1995). Anthony Romaniuk, piano. Grabación sonora realizada en directo en la sala de conciertos de la Fundación Juan March, el 3 de mayo de 2023Glassworks. Opening (1981). Víkingur Ólafsson, piano. Deutsche Grammophon (2017)_____Selección bibliográficaEVANS, Tristian, Shared Meanings in the Film Music of Philip Glass: Music, Multimedia and Postminimalism. Ashgate, 2015FANET, Sylvain, Philip Glass: Accords et désaccords. Le Mot et le Reste, 2022FRANDSEN, Paul John, “Philip Glass's Akhnaten”. The Musical Quarterly, vol. 77, n.º 2 (1993), pp. 241-267*GLASS, Philip et al., Music by Philip Glass. Harper & Row, 1987—, Palabras sin música: memorias. Malpaso Ediciones, 2017GLASS, Philip y John Howell, “Interview: Satyagraha and Contemporary Opera”. Performing Arts Journal, vol. 6, n.º 1 (1981), pp. 68-83*GRIMSHAW, Jeremy, “High, ‘Low,' and Plastic Arts: Philip Glass and the Symphony in the Age of Postproduction”. The Musical Quarterly, vol. 86, n.º 3 (2002), pp. 472-507*HASKINS, Rob et al., “Philip Glass and Michael Riesman: Two Interviews”. The Musical Quarterly, vol. 86, n.º 3 (2002), pp. 508-529*KOSTELANETZ, Richard (ed.), Writings of Glass. Essays, Interviews, Criticism. University of California Press, 1999NICKLESON, Patrick, The Names of Minimalism: Authorship, Art Music, and Historiography in Dispute. University of Michigan Press, 2023POTTER, Keith, Four Musical Minimalists: La Monte Young, Terry Riley, Steve Reich, Philip Glass. Cambridge University Press, 2000*RICHARDSON, John, Singing Archaeology: Philip Glass's Akhnaten. University Press of New England, 1999SWED, Mark, “Philip Glass's Operas”. The Musical Times, vol. 129, n.º 1749 (1988), pp. 577-579WATERS, Robert (Robert Francis), The Stage Works of Philip Glass. Cambridge University Press, 2022 *Documento disponible para su consulta en la Sala de Nuevas Músicas de la Biblioteca y Centro de Apoyo a la Investigación de la Fundación Juan March

On this episode, local musician, Lars Woodul, and local composer David Wolfson perform experts and discuss their forthcoming multidisciplinary art-song cycle: "Lyricycles."Lars Woodul has performed as a soloist in professional opera and concert in the US and abroad, specializing in 20thcentury repertoire. He created roles for premières with New York's Center for Contemporary Opera, including The Secret Agent and Enemies, A Love Story; Marc Blitzstein's Sacco and Vanzetti; and Seymour Barab's License to Marry at the York Theater. On the New York concert stage, he has appeared with the Manhattan Chamber Orchestra, Lincoln Center's Meet the Artist Series, and many others. David Wolfson holds a PhD in composition from Rutgers University, and has taught at Rutgers University, Montclair State University, Hunter College and Penn State University. He is enjoying an eclectic career, having composed opera, musical theatre, touring children's musicals, and incidental music for plays; choral music, band music, orchestral music, chamber music, art songs, and music for solo piano; comedy songs, cabaret songs and one memorable score for an amusement park big-headed-costumed-character show. Most recently, his Fortune's Children was (probably) the first opera to be performed live over Zoom; it and its sequels Changing Fortunes and Family Fortunes make up (almost certainly) the first serialized opera. His CD Seventeen Windows, featuring the solo piano suite "Seventeen Windows" and the Sonata for Cello and Piano, is available from Albany Records, iTunes and Amazon.com.

Barton and Gabriel sit down to discuss the world of Opera, performance and Gabe's mindset of performing Internationally at the highest level.  Highlights from this podcast include: - Life lessons from his Voice Teacher Elizabeth Parham stating "that little voice in your head telling us we're not enough... that is the devil"- How Gabe thinks about performing for thousands of people- what type of things Gabe does to prepare himself for a big performance.- how the voice works and how he's able to create such powerful sound and sing professionally.  Gabriel's Bio: Multiple Grammy Award winning baritone Gabriel Manro has been called “a new kind of baritone: not lyric, not helden, not Kavalier, not Bariton-Martin — none of those. Rather, he's a knock-down baritone.” --San Francisco Classical Voice. Indeed, Manro regularly sings dramatic baritone roles such as Don Carlo di Vargas (La forza del destino), Andrei Shchelkalov (Boris Godunov), and Tonio (I Pagliacci) Opera News describes Manro as “Gifted with a striking, sinister baritone that remains strong, even and sonorous throughout the range, he tears into Verdi's music with a vengeance.” -- Opera News.Mr. Manro made his professional operatic debut as Third Inmate in Jake Heggie's ground-breaking opera Dead Man Walking for Opera Pacific with Frederica von Stade. He went on to perform the role of Inquisitor in Opera Pacific's Candide. Mr. Manro has appeared in numerous contemporary and world-premiere operas and musicals:As Muscovite Trader in John Corigliano's The Ghosts of Versailles (Pentatone Music: Grammy--Best Opera Recording), as the Mousling in the Los Angeles Philharmonic's Alice in Wonderland by Unsuk Chin, the Computer in Los Angeles Opera's The Fly by film composer Howard Shore (Lord of the Rings Trilogy); as The Chauffeur in Opera Santa Barbara's Séance on a Wet Afternoon by Stephen Schwartz (Wicked, Godspell); and as Angry Voter in Los Angeles Opera's Il Postino (Sony Classical DVD). Manro created the role of President Lincoln in Golden Gate Opera's world-premiere Civil War Epic: Lincoln and Booth. Off-Broadway, Mr. Manro led the original cast of Center for Contemporary Opera's production of Oration by Line Tjørnhøj. On television, Manro appeared as Joel Lynch and Father Jackson in the European premiere live telecast of William Mayer's: A Death in the Family at the Hungarian National Theater and Opéra Grand D'Avignon which was voted “audience favorite” opera.  Gabriel also played Jafar in Walt Disney Company's original stage production of Aladdin.Gabe's European operatic debut was as Doctor Bartolo (Il barbiere di Siviglia) with Corfu Opera in Greece. His extensive repertoire and engagements have also included the roles of Bluebeard (Bluebeard's Castle), Count Almaviva, Bartolo, Antonio (Le nozze di Figaro), Guglielmo, Don Alfonso (Cosí fan tutte), Don Giovanni (Don Giovanni). See Mr. Manro next as Osmund in the world-premiere stage production of Siegfried Wagner's Rainulf and Adelasia  during this summer's Bayreuth Festival in Germany.http://gabrielmanro.comhttp://instagram.com/g_manroBarton on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/bartonguybryan/Podcast Website is: https://www.podpage.com/the-mindset-forge-podcast/Join the Mindset Forge Premium membership for $3 / month (Donor Level) or $150 / month for Coaching: https://themindsetforge.supercast.com

My guest today is a dear friend and colleague of mine Francesca Mondanaro. A fabulous singer and a master teacher. At the forefront of our discussion today are topics such as working with and Identifying the big voice and what “building” one actually means. Why developing and listening to your own intuition is so important in addition to three metrics Francesca has defined for trusting vocal growth for the young singer who is still learning to take ownership of their own instrument.  Why developing and knowing your WHY is crucial in being able to play and stay the long game, which is what it takes to build a career in opera, and dare I say in any business for that matter. There is some powerful information in this episode that you can profit from no matter where you are in your career.  After a 15-year international career performing as a dramatic soprano with such companies as Deutsche Oper Berlin, Spontini Festivale, Sarasota Opera, Nashville Opera, Opera Baltimore, Opera Delaware, Teatro Grattacielo, and many more, Francesca Mondanaro has moved into teaching voice for emerging young artists and working professionals in opera and musical theater.   In 2022 alone, her clients have been featured in roles with Santa Fe Opera, Sarasota Opera, Florentine Opera, Center for Contemporary Opera, Opera Delaware, Teatro Lirico d'Europa, Opera Orlando, Baltimore Concert Opera, Barn Opera, San Diego Opera, and the National Broadway Tour of Disney's Aladdin, just to name a few.   She has also been a guest master teacher for the Vancouver Opera Young Artist Program and Brooklyn Music School since 2018.  Francesca is absolutely passionate about working with unique instruments, and the whole human, not just the voice, by creating a nurturing, positive environment in her studio that allows for each individual artist to find their most authentic sound, built on a technique that gets them where they want to go on their artistic journey. It was such an honor to have had Francesca on the podcast as she is a wealth of knowledge and experience! A fabulous singer and a master teacher and just such a warm presence to be around!  Connect with Francesca Mondanaro: Website | Facebook   Resources Mentioned: The artist's Way by Julia Cameron The body keeps the score by Bessel van der Kolk Ikigai by Héctor García  

‘I cannot imagine how quickly their minds come up with all of this.'

As a tenor specializing in 21st century repertoire, Jonathan Blalock created over a dozen roles in world premieres with companies including the Dallas Opera, Washington National Opera, the Center for Contemporary Opera, Fort Worth Opera, the PROTOTYPE Festival, and UrbanArias. In 2019, he was featured in the new opera recordings of Paul's Case (by Gregory Spears) and the Grammy Award winning Fantastic Mr. Fox (by Tobias Picker). In concert, Jonathan recently performed with Winston Salem Symphony, Memphis Symphony, Opera Hong Kong, Arizona MusicFest, Wichita Symphony, Pacific Symphony, Syracuse Symphoria, Washington Chorus, and the Guggenheim Museum. A native of Burlington, Blalock earned Master of Music degrees in both vocal performance and choral conducting from UNC Greensboro.  Soprano Kinneret Ely is a freelance opera singer based in New York City and Tel Aviv. She was a young artist with Teatro Grattacielo's Camerata Bardi Vocal Academy in 2021. As part of it, she sang Ilia in IDOMENEO ALLA BREVE at the Rhodes International Festival in September 2021. She covered the roles of Anna in Catalani's LORELEY and the Fata Azzurra in Respighi's LA BELLA DORMENTE NEL BOSCO in Teatro Grattacielo's 25th Anniversary Concert in September 2019. She sang Violetta in LA TRAVIATA in July 2018 at the Jerusalem International Opera Masterclass (JIOM). She rejoined Teatro Grattacielo for their film production of Giordano's FEDORA as Un Piccolo Savoiardo, and covering the role of Dimitri. Her performed roles also include Gilda in RIGOLETTO, Madame Cortese in IL VIAGGIO A REIMS, and Rosina in IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA. She was a semifinalist in the Premiere Opera Foundation + NYIOP International Vocal Competition and Camerata Bardi International Vocal Competition in 2021, and also in the Premiere Opera Foundation + NYIOP International Vocal Competition and the Rochester International Vocal Competition in 2020. Her YouTube channel has more than 38,000 views. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Special Honors from Hunter College, from which she graduated cum laude, designing her own degree there in languages, history, and literature through their Thomas Hunter Honors Program. She studied Italian at the Società Dante Alighieri in Siena, French at the Alliance Française in Paris, German at the Goethe Institut in Berlin, and Russian at the Derzhavin Institute in St. Petersburg.  Kinneret's YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/KinneretEly Jonathan's YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/jblay100  

Keturah interviews Douglas Kearney, a renowned poet and librettist who is the inaugural recipient of the Campbell Libretto Prize through Opera America.  They talk about his work with Yuval Sharon and The Industry in LA, his work as a poet, and his philosophy of writing performative text.Douglas Kearney: https://www.douglaskearney.com/Anne LeBaron: https://www.annelebaron.com/The Industry LA: 

Episode 28 – Madison Marie McIntosh – Life of a Contemporary Opera Singer Our guest Madison Marie McIntosh shares with us on this podcast episode her life as a contemporary opera singer and performer. You will now have the chance to hear what it's like to be an opera singer and what goes on behind … Continue reading Episode 28 – Madison Marie McIntosh – Life of a Contemporary Opera Singer →

Keturah starts with a conversation with baritone, Robert Wesley Mason, about learning and performing the role of Jan in Royce Vavrek and Missy Mazzoli’s Breaking The Waves, based on the film by Lars Von Trier.Keturah’s next interview is with Michael Mori, the General and Artistic director of Toronto’s Tapestry Opera, a company that champions contemporary work, and has been operating LibLab, a “speed dating for librettists and composers” since 1995.  They talk about LibLab, creating contemporary opera, what the field looks like now, and what it should look like in the future.

In this episode about politics and political figures in opera, Keturah starts with an excerpt from her interview with Director, Daniel Kramer, about Pat Nixon’s aria in John Adams and Alice Goodman’s Nixon in China.Daniel Kramer - http://danielkramerdirector.com/bioNixon in China (Opera) - https://www.britannica.com/topic/Nixon-in-ChinaNixon in China (History) - https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/china-visit/Keturah’s next interview is with conductor, Steven Osgood.  They discuss one moment with Jackie Kennedy in the David T. Little and Royce Vavrek Opera, J.F.K.Steven Osgood - http://www.srosgood.com/J.F.K. (Opera) - https://www.altnyc.org/operas/jfkLastly, Keturah interviews Australian composer, Melissa Dunphy, about why she considers herself a “political composer,” and what it was like composing to actual hearing transcripts for her piece, The Gonzales Cantata, about George W. Bush’s disgraced attorney general, Alberto Gonzales.Melissa Dunphy - https://www.melissadunphy.com/The Gonzales Cantata - http://www.gonzalescantata.com/Jacqueline Goldfinger - http://www.jacquelinegoldfinger.com/William Butler Yeats - https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/william-butler-yeatsAlberto Gonzales - https://www.britannica.com/biography/Alberto-R-GonzalesArlen Specter - https://www.britannica.com/biography/Arlen-SpecterCantata - https://www.britannica.com/art/cantata-music

Keturah begins this episode with an interview with conductor, and artistic and general director of Chautauqua Opera, Steven Osgood. Steven has been the driving force behind the Composers and the Voice Workshop Series since its inception, when he was the artistic director of the American Opera Project. He lays out the program for Keturah, and gives information on how to apply, and application deadlines.Composers and the Voice at AOP: https://www.aopopera.org/composers-voiceSteven Osgood: http://www.srosgood.com/Next, Keturah speaks with a librettist fellow from Composers and the Voice, Sokunthary Svay. We speak about how she found opera, her poetry writing, her experiences with Composers and the Voice, and her two operas with Liliya Ugay: Woman of Letters, and Chhlong Tonle (Crossing the River).Sokunthary Svay: https://www.sokunthary.com/Liliya Ugay: http://www.liliyaugay.com/Jin-Xiang (JX) Yu: https://www.jinxiangyusoprano.com/Rob Paterson: https://robertpaterson.com/My conversation with Royce Vavrek: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1180661/4952711American Opera Intiative: https://www.kennedy-center.org/education/opportunities-for-artists/competitions-and-commissions/american-opera-initiative/Antigoni Gaitana: http://www.antigonigaitana.com/Kimiko Hahn: https://kimikohahn.com/

In this episode, Keturah ponders the topic of familial protection in opera text, pointing out her recent viewing of Kamala Sankaram and Jerre Dye’s Taking up Serpents at Chicago Opera Theater, as well as other operas that highlight a family relationship.In her first interview, she speaks with conductor and artistic director of Houston Grand Opera, Patrick Summers, about his love of Engelbert Humperdinck and Adelheid Wette’s Hansel & Gretel, concentrating largely on the Evening Prayer, and the protection that it offers, both in words and music.In her second interview, she speaks with singer and librettist, Roberta Gumbel, about her recent collaboration with composer, Susan Kander, Driving While Black. They discuss what it was like to write about worrying about her son as he reached driving age, and how it felt to dramatize and sing about those feelings.Here are some people and topics that come up in this episode:Taking Up Serpents at Chicago Opera Theater: https://chicagooperatheater.org/season/serpentsPatrick Summers: https://www.houstongrandopera.org/about-us/people/patrick-summers/Roberta Gumbel: https://music.ku.edu/roberta-gumbelSusan Kander: http://susankander.net/Driving While Black: https://www.icareifyoulisten.com/2020/11/reimagined-for-streaming-dwb-driving-while-black-examines-black-motherhood/Urban Arias’ Production: http://www.urbanarias.org/performances/driving-while-black/Anna Deavere Smith: https://www.annadeaveresmith.org/category/about-anna-deavere-smith/New Morse Code Ensemble: http://www.newmorsecode.com/

Keturah begins this episode chatting with baritone, Zachary Nelson (http://www.zacharynelsonbaritone.com/), who speaks with her about Mozart and DaPonte’s Le nozze di Figaro, the Beaumarchais plays, and their tie to the French Revolution. You can read more about these connections here: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2006/jan/06/classicalmusicandopera, and here: https://sfopera.com/blog/the-marriage-of-figaro-fomenting-the-french-revolution/.Next, Keturah speaks with Chicago based opera singer and hip-hop artist, Khary “K.F. Jacques” Laurent. (https://www.kfjacques.com/). They discuss genre mixing with hip hop and opera, crafting words for hip hop, and his work for Chicago Fringe Opera (https://www.chicagofringeopera.com/) on both The Rosina Project (https://www.gjcederquist.com/projects/6849633), and Corsair, which was created for the Decameron Opera Coalition (https://www.chicagofringeopera.com/event/corsair/).Other interesting things that come up in Keturah’s conversation with Khary:Merit Music - https://meritmusic.org/Chicago Academy of the Arts - https://www.chicagoacademyforthearts.org/Roosevelt University - https://www.roosevelt.edu/Pivot Arts - https://pivotarts.org/James Marvel - https://jamesmarvel.com/Kechi - https://www.buzz-music.com/post/r-b-soul-artist-kechi-is-captivating-his-audience-with-latest-single-justRapper’s Delight - https://youtu.be/mcCK99wHrk0Hans Zimmer - https://hans-zimmer.com/Sledgehammer - https://youtu.be/OJWJE0x7T4QA Promised Land, by Barack Obama - https://www.amazon.com/Promised-Land-Barack-Obama/dp/1524763160

Keturah speaks with Ricky Ian Gordon about how he collaborates with multiple composers, as well as compositions for which he has written the libretto.The episode begins with clips from last season: Michael Korie discussing how Ricky helped convince him to collaborate on The Grapes of Wrath (https://www.buzzsprout.com/1180661/5613223), and Leonard Foglia talking about Ricky’s phrase “Boil it down to stock,” and how it helped him as a writer. (https://www.buzzsprout.com/1180661/5280550). We also hear mezzo-soprano, Frederica Von Stade talking about how meaningful it was to work on A Coffin in Egypt. (http://www.fredericavonstade.com/)List of Ricky’s works in order they are mentioned:Orpheus & Euridice (https://www.rickyiangordon.com/project/orpheus-euridice/)Green Sneakers (https://www.rickyiangordon.com/project/green-sneakers/)Sycamore Trees (https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-2010-05-27-bs-ae-arts-sycamore-trees-20100527-story.html)Ellen West (https://www.brightshiny.ninja/ellen-west)My Life with Albertine (https://www.rickyiangordon.com/project/my-life-with-albertine/)Intimate Apparel (https://www.lct.org/explore/blog/lemon-ia-ricky-ian-gordon-crafting-intimate-apparel/)Garden of the Finzi-Continis (https://nycopera.com/shows/finzi/)The House Without A Christmas Tree (https://www.rickyiangordon.com/christmas-tree-wsj2017/)The Tibetan Book of the Dead (https://www.rochestercitynewspaper.com/rochester/interview-ricky-ian-gordon/Content?oid=8573366)The Grapes of Wrath (https://www.rickyiangordon.com/project/the-grapes-of-wrath/)Rappahannock County (https://www.rickyiangordon.com/project/rappahannock-county/)A Coffin in Egypt (https://www.rickyiangordon.com/project/a-coffin-in-egypt/)27 (https://www.rickyiangordon.com/project/27/)Other people/places mentioned:UCross Artists’s Colony - https://www.ucrossfoundation.org/Richard Nelson - https://www.broadwayplaypub.com/play-authors/richard-nelson/Lynn Nottage - http://www.lynnnottage.com/Frank Bidart - https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/frank-bidartAriel by Sylvia Plath - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/395090.ArielBravo! Vail Valley Music Festival - https://www.bravovail.org/Godard’s Vivre Sa Vie - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056663/

Keturah has a conversation with Canadian playwright and librettist, Kanika Ambrose. They discuss her upcoming opera with Ian Cusson, Of The Sea, her work at the Curtis Institute on Anansi and The Great Light, her Caribbean heritage and how it informs her writing, performing in one’s own work, and much much more.

Keturah speaks with librettist, director & choreographer, John de los Santos about his path into libretto writing, comedy in contemporary opera, looking at work as a director vs. a librettist, and experiencing paranormal activity while doing research for his and Clint Borzoni’s upcoming opera, The Copper Queen.

My guest today is a tango singer, and leader of the band Los Peores Del Tango. Originally from Greece, he is currently based in New York City. He has performed for the Contemporary Opera of Athens, and has studied with a number of renown singers. He has also performed in concerts all over Europe and the US. In 2010 he relocated to New York, where he established the Tango bands Tango Mediterraneo and Los Peores Del Tango. He was also the lead singer for Da Capo Tango in Washington, DC. Let's meet Stratos Achlatis... More on Stratos here: Website: http://lospeoresdeltango.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lospeoresdeltango/

Missy Mazzoli says she composes opera to connect people in a profound way. She joins us ahead of the Australian premiere of her adaptation of Lars Von Trier's Breaking the Waves at the Adelaide Festival. Also, new cast members fly into the Wizarding World of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, and we delve into William Shakespeare's Hamlet for our High School Playlist series with members of the current Bell Shakespeare production and students.

Missy Mazzoli says she composes opera to connect people in a profound way. She joins us ahead of the Australian premiere of her adaptation of Lars Von Trier's Breaking the Waves at the Adelaide Festival.Also, new cast members fly into the Wizarding World of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, and we delve into William Shakespeare's Hamlet for our High School Playlist series with members of the current Bell Shakespeare production and students.

Missy Mazzoli says she composes opera to connect people in a profound way. She joins us ahead of the Australian premiere of her adaptation of Lars Von Trier's Breaking the Waves at the Adelaide Festival. Also, new cast members fly into the Wizarding World of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, and we delve into William Shakespeare's Hamlet for our High School Playlist series with members of the current Bell Shakespeare production and students.

Opera News has called UC San Diego Music Professor Anthony Davis A National Treasure, for his pioneering work in opera. His six operas include works centered on recent historical figures & events, including Malcolm X and Patty Hearst. Davis' latest opera The Central Park Five, an exploration of the wrongful conviction of five teenagers of color in NYC in the 1980s, premiered at Long Beach Opera in 2019 to international acclaim. In this conversation with UC San Diego Music Professor Emeritus Cecil Lytle, Davis explains the genesis of The Central Park Five, and the challenges that ensue when art collides with current events. Series: "Contemporary Composers (1900-Present)" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 35078]

Opera News has called UC San Diego Music Professor Anthony Davis A National Treasure, for his pioneering work in opera. His six operas include works centered on recent historical figures & events, including Malcolm X and Patty Hearst. Davis' latest opera The Central Park Five, an exploration of the wrongful conviction of five teenagers of color in NYC in the 1980s, premiered at Long Beach Opera in 2019 to international acclaim. In this conversation with UC San Diego Music Professor Emeritus Cecil Lytle, Davis explains the genesis of The Central Park Five, and the challenges that ensue when art collides with current events. Series: "Contemporary Composers (1900-Present)" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 35078]

Opera News has called UC San Diego Music Professor Anthony Davis A National Treasure, for his pioneering work in opera. His six operas include works centered on recent historical figures & events, including Malcolm X and Patty Hearst. Davis' latest opera The Central Park Five, an exploration of the wrongful conviction of five teenagers of color in NYC in the 1980s, premiered at Long Beach Opera in 2019 to international acclaim. In this conversation with UC San Diego Music Professor Emeritus Cecil Lytle, Davis explains the genesis of The Central Park Five, and the challenges that ensue when art collides with current events. Series: "Contemporary Composers (1900-Present)" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 35078]

Opera News has called UC San Diego Music Professor Anthony Davis A National Treasure, for his pioneering work in opera. His six operas include works centered on recent historical figures & events, including Malcolm X and Patty Hearst. Davis' latest opera The Central Park Five, an exploration of the wrongful conviction of five teenagers of color in NYC in the 1980s, premiered at Long Beach Opera in 2019 to international acclaim. In this conversation with UC San Diego Music Professor Emeritus Cecil Lytle, Davis explains the genesis of The Central Park Five, and the challenges that ensue when art collides with current events. Series: "Contemporary Composers (1900-Present)" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 35078]

Opera News has called UC San Diego Music Professor Anthony Davis A National Treasure, for his pioneering work in opera. His six operas include works centered on recent historical figures & events, including Malcolm X and Patty Hearst. Davis' latest opera The Central Park Five, an exploration of the wrongful conviction of five teenagers of color in NYC in the 1980s, premiered at Long Beach Opera in 2019 to international acclaim. In this conversation with UC San Diego Music Professor Emeritus Cecil Lytle, Davis explains the genesis of The Central Park Five, and the challenges that ensue when art collides with current events. Series: "Contemporary Composers (1900-Present)" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 35078]

Opera News has called UC San Diego Music Professor Anthony Davis A National Treasure, for his pioneering work in opera. His six operas include works centered on recent historical figures & events, including Malcolm X and Patty Hearst. Davis' latest opera The Central Park Five, an exploration of the wrongful conviction of five teenagers of color in NYC in the 1980s, premiered at Long Beach Opera in 2019 to international acclaim. In this conversation with UC San Diego Music Professor Emeritus Cecil Lytle, Davis explains the genesis of The Central Park Five, and the challenges that ensue when art collides with current events. Series: "Contemporary Composers (1900-Present)" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 35078]

Opera News has called UC San Diego Music Professor Anthony Davis A National Treasure, for his pioneering work in opera. His six operas include works centered on recent historical figures & events, including Malcolm X and Patty Hearst. Davis' latest opera The Central Park Five, an exploration of the wrongful conviction of five teenagers of color in NYC in the 1980s, premiered at Long Beach Opera in 2019 to international acclaim. In this conversation with UC San Diego Music Professor Emeritus Cecil Lytle, Davis explains the genesis of The Central Park Five, and the challenges that ensue when art collides with current events. Series: "Contemporary Composers (1900-Present)" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 35078]

Opera News has called UC San Diego Music Professor Anthony Davis A National Treasure, for his pioneering work in opera. His six operas include works centered on recent historical figures & events, including Malcolm X and Patty Hearst. Davis' latest opera The Central Park Five, an exploration of the wrongful conviction of five teenagers of color in NYC in the 1980s, premiered at Long Beach Opera in 2019 to international acclaim. In this conversation with UC San Diego Music Professor Emeritus Cecil Lytle, Davis explains the genesis of The Central Park Five, and the challenges that ensue when art collides with current events. Series: "Contemporary Composers (1900-Present)" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 35078]

SRM #13: Contemporary Opera by Student Radio Maastricht

Ashley Tata is a director and designer of multi-media works of theater, contemporary opera, performance, live music and immersive experiences. Her work frequently sits at the intersection of music, installation and performance and has been presented in venues and festivals throughout the U.S. and internationally. Track her work at ashleytata.comSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/countsprojects)

This week I'm chatting to the charming Mr Paul Norcross-King. Episode 40 and we are coming to you live(ish)from the garden of my local pub! Paul is a talented Tenor who specialises in Early and Contemporary Opera, Oratorio, Musical Theatre, Operetta, Lieder, Melodies, Art Songs, and Swing Jazz. Paul is also a talented Actor/Musician and is a multi -instrumentalist. We talk about Paul's experiences of being a young gay boy in Kent in the 70's and 80's. The local influence of the 'Rolling Stones' on his area and how different his schooling experience was to mine. Paul talks candidly about being bullied and how his career trajectory took him from school to the city to touring the USA as one of 'Ireland's Three Tenors' . Our chat is very relaxed, fuelled by wine and beer, and is as you would find us in conversation on a Wednesday evening in April! Open a wine and join in. Links to Paul - http://paulnorcross-king.com/pjnk/Welcome.html https://encoremusicians.com/Paul-Norcross-King?tab=3 twitter.com/pjnorcrossking

Frank Pesci is an American contemporary opera composer based in Germany.

In this episode Katie talks in depth about her experiences of creating new and contemporary opera.

The Character of Voice – Ruby Kato Attwood on Exclusion and Appropriation in Contemporary Opera Today I talk with artist, musician, singer, researcher, and performer Ruby Kato Attwood about the beginnings of her new research project into voice and identity in contemporary music. Attwood is undertaking library and archive work as well as practice based-research in opera singing in order to understanding how developing this most intimate instrument can open up new subject positions and engender a recognition of the precariousness of voice in the operatic cannon. In this conversation Attwood highlights how some voices have tended to be excluded from opera while also being the unacknowledged source of appropriative compositional gestures. This episode originally aired on CFRU 93.3FM in Guelph, Ontario, on September 10, 2015. Sound It Out is hosted by Rachel Elliott who is a PhD candidate in Philosophy at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada. Sound It Out is produced in conjunction with the International Institute for Critical Studies in Improvisation. The show explores whether and how improvised music can serve as a basis for discursive inclusivity, the creation of new forms of shared meaning, and more democratic means of connecting with each other. Sound It Out airs on Guelph’s campus and community radio station, CFRU 93.3FM, on alternating Tuesdays at 5pm.

Today I talk with artist, musician, singer, researcher, and performer Ruby Kato Attwood about the beginnings of her new research project into voice and identity in contemporary music. Attwood is undertaking library and archive work as well as practice based-research in opera singing in order to understanding how developing this most intimate instrument can open … Continue reading Episode #26: The Character of Voice – Ruby Kato Attwood on Exclusion and Appropriation in Contemporary Opera →

When George Benjamin's Written on Skin had its American stage premiere at the Mostly Mozart Festival on August 11, it became an unlikely summer blockbuster: a complex, contemporary opera with an abstract storyline and a dense, modernist musical language. The work got standing ovations from audiences and rave reviews from critics – but not all of them. This summer also saw another big premiere: Cold Mountain, by American composer Jennifer Higdon, at Santa Fe Opera. That work features a more accessible language, with traditional melodies and a conventional linear storyline, though reviews were somewhat more mixed. This week's podcast explores which approach works best in contemporary opera, and what has "sticking power." Joining host Naomi Lewin are Marc Scorca, president and CEO of Opera America, which represents North American opera companies, Cori Ellison, dramaturg at the Glyndebourne Festival in England; she also teaches at Juilliard and the American Lyric Theater; and David Gockley, who is entering his 10th and final season as general director of San Francisco Opera. From 1972-2005 he ran Houston Grand Opera, where he commissioned a lot of new work. Gockley is unconvinced by the popularity of Written on Skin. "It's a connoisseur's piece," he said. "Its musical language is extraordinarily complicated. I mean, are you going to sit down and play [a recording of] that at dinner?" As someone whose job includes filling a 3,200-seat house every night, Gockley says that he looks for works with a certain "bourgeois" appeal. "That is what we are – a bourgeois art form," he said. And if audiences don't immediately embrace a new work, "they're not going to come back." Ellison points out that a very different situation exists in Europe. On a list of some 60 notable modern operas recently compiled by Washington Post readers, only about 15 of them are by non-American composers. "Those 15 operas are in a much more modernist style or spectralist style," she said. European opera houses are generally smaller, benefit from government funding and can afford to take more risks stylistically. "It's a different landscape." A scene from Jennifer Higdon's 'Cold Mountain' (© Ken Howard for Santa Fe Opera) But if traditional American opera audiences balk at a complex, modern work, how do we account for the warm reception Written on Skin received, and the cooler one for Cold Mountain? All three guests acknowledge that while Higdon's first opera wasn't perfect, it showed considerable promise. "I left Cold Mountain really wanting to hear Jennifer Higdon's next opera," said Scorca. He adds, "The challenge for today's composers is to find their own sweet spot between being truly contemporary, and writing in the moment of 2015, and finding a way to connect with the audience." And then there are regional tastes – and rivalries. "I think New York feels envious in one way and critical in another way of all the new operatic activity taking place outside of New York," said Gockley. "They are willing to dismiss it as being pap, and therefore, when something like the Benjamin comes along they can jump on that and think it's the bee's knees. As far as I'm concerned, it's just rehashing the modernism that has bit the dust again and again over the last 50 years." To hear our guest's comments on operas based on novels and films, and why that can help their success, listen to the full segment at the top of this page.

Despite the economic crisis, art in Greece is booming. By 2015, new museums and cultural organisations are scheduled to open their doors to the public, many of them privately funded rather than state-run as in the past. As Greek classical orchestras and opera companies find themselves in a bleak financial situation due to government spending cuts, private funding seems to have offered a way out. At the same time, non-traditional venues such as Syntagma Square’s metro station and airplane flights have been used as opera stages, in an effort to promote it to new audiences. Yet the question of how opera, along with other elite art forms such as classical music and theatre, can and should be made more accessible to all is a fraught one. Some argue, for example, that the key lies in demystifying some of opera’s difficulty by incorporating elements from popular culture and emphasising its contemporary socio-political relevance. Yet others warn that such an approach risks alienating current and potential audiences who are attracted to art precisely because it is so strange and diverts us from everyday concerns. They argue that the opera world – especially critics - should certainly focus their energies on inspiring and explaining opera’s virtues for the curious, while accepting that The Ring Cycle isn’t for everyone. Can such projects – whether privately or state funded - really be justified when they bring little obvious benefit to most Greeks, especially in a period of economic crisis? What emphasis should performers and critics place on making opera more accessible versus making judgments on purely artistic grounds? Does opera, or any other ‘difficult’ art form, by definition need to be held to different standards of accessibility than popular culture? Speakers Dr Eugenia Arsenis director; dramaturg, Center for Contemporary Opera, New York Dolan Cummings associate fellow, Institute of Ideas; editor, Debating Humanism; co-founder, Manifesto Club Dr Nikos Dontas head, Dramaturgy Department, Greek National Opera; music critic, Kathimerini Dimitrios Kiousopoulos historian; columnist, Eleftherotypia Ioannis Tselikas assistant professor, Hellenic American University; music editor and performer Chair Alan Miller co-director, NY Salon; co-founder, London's Truman Brewery; partner, Argosy Pictures Film Company Produced by Geoff Kidder director, membership and events, Institute of Ideas; convenor, IoI Book Club; IoI’s resident expert in all sporting matters Ira Papadopoulou director of cultural affairs, Hellenic American Union Dr Nikos Sotirakopoulos assistant lecturer in sociology, University of Kent

Institute of Musical Research ALBUM: New Music Insight lectures TITLE: Contemporary Opera in Performance: Round Table ARTIST: John Casken, Robert Saxton, Andrew Watts, Paul Archbold DESCRIPTION: John Casken, Robert Saxton and Andrew Watts discuss...

Gerard Mortier in conversation with Ashutosh Khandekar, Editor of Opera Now followed by a roundtable discussion with Hugo Shirley, Deputy-Editor of Opera magazine.

Gerard Mortier in conversation with Ashutosh Khandekar, Editor of Opera Now followed by a roundtable discussion with Hugo Shirley, Deputy-Editor of Opera magazine.

DARK SISTERS director Rebecca Taichman, conductor Neal Goren and composer Nico Muhly discuss the challenges of staging a contemporary opera, how the score guides the staging process, creating characters in opera, and the use of hymns in the music.

DARK SISTERS director Rebecca Taichman, conductor Neal Goren, and composer Nico Muhly discuss the challenges of directing opera, the benefits of "tablework" and the workshop process in opera, the role of physical movement in DARK SISTERS, and the relationship between vocal writing and characterization in the opera.