53 Things to Do in DC This May: Concerts, Exhibits, Plays

kennedy center opera house

The “feel” of the music seemed to range from rock to quasi -operatic and onwards to quasi -novelty songs to ballads. “No Day but Today” and “Live for Today” is a continual musical motif/refrain amidst the chaos and apocalyptic ambience of the characters living on the edge with HIV, addiction, and economic pressures (it feels like a sin to use the term “characters” as the individuals given to us in this book by Larson are such real individuals that easily remind one of people one might know). Though the influence of the opera La bohème is well known to be underlying the book of this influential “rock opera”, the multi-talented Jonathan Larson has written a work that only grows in power and relevancy.

d Tier

In 2008 she joined an elite group of history’s singers when, as Elvira in Verdi’s Ernani, she made her professional operatic debut on the Met stage. Since then she has fast become recognized as one of today’s outstanding vocalists, excelling in the most demanding heroines of the 19th-century bel canto repertoire as well as in the operas of Verdi and Mozart. New York credits include Forever Dusty for New World Stages, Pinocchio's Ashes for Theater for a New City and The Saint of Bleecker Street at Dicapo Opera Theatre, among others, and he has worked at numerous regional opera and theater companies around the country. A British artist based in Los Angeles for many years, David Hockney (born 1937) is a distinguished designer, artist and author whose work has been seen at the world’s most prestigious venues. He is among the most visible and well-known serious contemporary artists of our time.

Audra McDonald in Concert

The sensational Angela Meade takes on the iconic title role, with Russell Thomas as her fearless suitor and Guanqun Yu as the woman who shows everyone the true meaning of ultimate devotion. Music Director James Conlon conducts Puccini's thrilling final masterpiece, one that has had audiences leaping to their feet for a century, with ravishing stage designs by David Hockney that embrace the spectacle of Turandot's fairytale mystery and magic. Mr. Boniello’s vocals on “One Song Glory”, ‘Your Eyes” and his musical moments with Ms. Courtney were vigorous and exciting. In Puccini’s unfinished 1924 opera, the eponymous princess asks potential suitors to answer three questions to win her hand; a wrong answer means death.

Remote Warfare Clashes with Humanity in Grounded at the Kennedy Center - The Zebra

Remote Warfare Clashes with Humanity in Grounded at the Kennedy Center.

Posted: Fri, 03 Nov 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]

24 Season

He was also seen as Conrado in a workshop performance of Long Season by Chay Yew and Fabian Obispo, as part of Huntington Theatre Company’s Breaking Ground Festival. Ahn attended the New England Conservatory of Music, where he studied with the world-renowned tenor Vinson Cole and performed a wide range of operatic roles. Versatile tenor Julius Ahn delights audiences around the world with his unique interpretations. He regularly appears at the Metropolitan Opera, where he is a graduate of the Lindemann Young Artist Program. He debuted there in a production of Fidelio and has since appeared as Sarastro in The Magic Flute (both in the original production and in the children’s English version), Ferrando in Il Trovatore, the King in Aida, and in roles in Nabucco, Tannhäuser, and the new productions of Les Troyens and Salome. He has also appeared at the San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Dallas Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, Pittsburgh Opera, Opera Philadelphia, Seattle Opera, LA Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, Opera Theater of St. Louis, Teatro alla Scala, Volksoper Wien, Opera Australia, and the Aix-en-Provence Festival.

Original Lighting Design

Stroker was also sublime in a different vein as she sang with passion and defiance in “Take Me or Leave Me”. Rent in Concert proved that the music and lyrics of composer Jonathan Larson are inexhaustible in their richness and complexity. Larson’s beloved work moved the audience to tears, laughter and vigorous applause after each musical moment. The lush yet biting orchestrations by Sean O’Loughlin were played with sublime resonance and clarity by the National Symphony Orchestra aided by a top-notch group of theatrical talent---and aided by the superior acoustics of the Kennedy Center Concert Hall. Conductor Steven Reineke conducted with sensitivity to the music and, concurrently, with a sparkling verve. The Orchestra is located on the lowest level of the theater and provides direct views of the stage.

Her numerous engagements also led her to the Deutsche Oper Berlin and the Semperoper Dresden. With Lucrezia in a concert performance of I due Foscari, she madeher highly noticed debut at the Salzburg Festival in 2017. The Kennedy Center should be commended for presenting this once in a lifetime musical experience celebrating the work of the musical genius that is Jonathan Larson. A cultural pop phenomenon, initial audience members grew up with this amazing rock opera and they are nostalgic for these songs and music --- hopefully, this concert will tour widely, and a new generation can see what all the very justified fuss is about! Ali Stroker delivered a knockout comedic performance replete with theatrically polished embellishments and timing in the witty “Over the Moon”.

Fight & Intimacy Director

Calaf rushes to strike the gong, thereby declaring his intention to pursue Turandot, but Ping, Pang and Pong, the Emperor’s ministers, intervene. They warn him that striking the gong leads to certain death, and Timur and Liù echo their entreaties while the ghosts of Turandot’s executed suitors egg Calaf on. Calaf tries to comfort her (“Non piangere, Liù”), but Liù only foresees certain death. Born in Washington, D.C., Bruce was a choirboy at Washington National Cathedral and holds degrees in English and drama from Tufts University.

kennedy center opera house

After internships with Hal Prince and Leonard Bernstein in the early 1990’s, he joined the staffs of the Santa Fe Opera, Washington National Opera, Dallas Opera, and Opera Colorado. His award-winning production of La Cenerentola for Kansas City has traveled to Austin, Orlando, and Madison. Known especially for his large-scale work of the standard repertoire, he has created stagings of Turandot, Carmen, Tosca, Aida, Pagliacci and La Bohème that have been seen coast to coast.

Raise a toast to reimagined 'Company' on tour at Kennedy Center - DC Theater Arts

Raise a toast to reimagined 'Company' on tour at Kennedy Center.

Posted: Fri, 15 Mar 2024 07:00:00 GMT [source]

Ping, Pang, and Pong try to wrench the secret from Calaf, but he refuses all of their attempts to elicit his name. The soldiers try to torture it out of her, but she grabs one of their daggers and stabs herself, declaring that by her sacrifice, the princess will come to love the stranger. Calaf indignantly kisses Turandot, trying to thaw the princess of ice (“Principessa di morte!”). When the crowd asks if she knows the stranger’s name, she replies, looking into Calaf’s eyes, “His name is love! Insatiably curious and even more energetic, Tom enthusiastically embraced new technologies in the theater. He developed innovative ways to use projections and was instrumental in installing some of the earliest computerized lighting systems.

In 2021, he was named the winner of the Graduate Concerto Competition at the University of Michigan. Studies at Michigan, he was selected as a national finalist in the 2019 National Association of Negro Musicians convention. In his undergraduate studies at Northern Arizona University, he was selected as a finalist for two consecutive years in the Rocky Mountain District for MONC auditions.

Future seasons include appearances in Berlin, London, Toronto, Chicago, Houston, New York, and Washington, D.C. With a “heroically shining tone of exceptional clarity and precision” (Opera magazine) and “gorgeously burnished power” (The New York Times), American tenor Russell Thomas uses his signature elegance and intensity to create vivid character portrayals on the world’s most important stages. Turandot is a masterpiece that contains imagined, outdated and inaccurate representations of Asian culture. LA Opera has worked in consultation with the Asian Opera Alliance, who have offered input on how to present the work with greater consciousness, care and context, while maintaining fidelity to the original opera and this classic 1992 David Hockney production. Monumental Theatre Company will stage Duncan Sheik and Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa’s American Psycho this summer.

Kitty has collaborated extensively with the LA Philharmonic, developing new productions of Rite of Spring, Firebird, Bolero, Esa Pekka Salonen’s Wing on Wing, A Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra and more. Ballets include RIFT, commissioned by Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music and the Kennedy Center, the creation of the new ballets Traces and Transit for National Choreographer’s Initiative and colony for LA Ballet’s NEXT Wave Series. Conlon holds four honorary doctorates, was one of the first five recipients of the Opera News Awards, and was distinguished by the New York Public Library as a Library Lion.

Internationally recognized as one of today’s most versatile and respected conductors, James Conlon has cultivated a vast symphonic, operatic and choral repertoire. Since his 1974 debut with the New York Philharmonic, he has conducted virtually every major American and European symphony orchestra, and at many of the world’s leading opera houses including the Metropolitan Opera. Through worldwide touring, an extensive discography and filmography, numerous writings, television appearances, and guest speaking engagements, Conlon is one of classical music’s most recognized and prolific figures. Conlon has been Principal Conductor of the RAI National Symphony Orchestra in Torino, Italy (2016–20); Principal Conductor of the Paris Opera (1995–2004); General Music Director of the City of Cologne, Germany (1989–2003), simultaneously leading the Gürzenich Orchestra and the Cologne Opera; and Music Director of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra (1983–91). Conlon was Music Director of the Ravinia Festival (2005–15), summer home of the Chicago Symphony, and is now Music Director Laureate of the Cincinnati May Festival―the oldest choral festival in the United States―where he was Music Director for 37 years (1979–2016), marking one of the longest tenures of any director of an American classical music institution.

Additional highlights include an ECHO Klassik Award-winning recording cycle of operas and orchestral works by Alexander Zemlinsky; a CD/DVD release of works by Viktor Ullmann, which won the Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik; and the world-premiere recording of Liszt’s oratorio St. Stanislaus. Conlon’s extensive discography and filmography spans the Bridge, Capriccio, Decca, EMI, Erato, and Sony Classical labels. His recordings of LA Opera productions have received four Grammy Awards, two respectively for John Corigliano’s The Ghosts of Versailles and for Kurt Weill’s Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny. Additional highlights include an ECHO Klassik Award-winning recording cycle of operas and orchestral works by Alexander Zemlinsky; a CD/DVD release of works by Viktor Ullmann, which won the Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik; and the world-premiere recording of Liszt’s oratorio St. Stanislaus.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Falmouth Jamaica cruise port schedule

CMPD investigating third shooting in 3 weeks at south Charlotte apartment complex