New York Opera Fest 2021 : Virtual Premieres, Walking Tours, Podcasts
Sixth Annual New York Opera Fest 2021: June-July-August
Hailed as “a remarkably strong and diverse exploration of everything opera can be in the city (The New York Times),” the New York Opera Fest celebrates its sixth season with both virtual and in-person performances by 20+ local, New York City-based opera companies. Presented by the New York Opera Alliance, with support from OPERA America, this annual festival runs for two months May-June 2021 starting with a special kick-off event April 29th. For a complete list of events, fans can turn to NYoperafest.com.
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FESTIVAL DETAILS
(preliminary schedule in chronological order | subject to change)
*world premiere
WHEN: May 1-June 30, 2021 except when listed with specific dates
WHERE: Streaming online on companies’ respective digital platforms
HOW: Tickets range from FREE-$60. Tickets may be purchased by contacting NYOA at newyorkoperafest.org. Tickets go on sale April 1, 2021.
Regina Opera Company
May 1 – June 30, 2021
Broadcast: Recorded at the company’s Sunset Park theater
Tickets: FREE
Regina Opera presents their “2021 Spring Concert.” This is a half-hour video concert (available to stream for two months) of popular opera arias and songs featuring four of Regina Opera’s soloists, Lisa Bryce, soprano; Galina Ivannikova, mezzo-soprano; Lindell Carter and Hyunho Cho, tenors; accompanied by pianist Dmitry Glivinskiy, recorded in Sunset Park theater on December 13, 2020. Among the selections are arias by Puccini, Verdi, and Massenet.
Hunter Opera Theater
May 1 – June 30, 2021
Broadcast: Pre-recorded
Tickets: FREE
Hunter Opera Theater presents the Richard Burke Pocket Opera at Hunter College. This year’s operas are: The Taxi Driver, libretto and music by Joe Young, The Blue Bird Opera: The Pursuit of Happiness, libretto and music by Alyssa Regent, Panic Room, libretto and music by Deshawn Withers, and Prince Danila Govorila, music by Matthew Sandahl, with a libretto by Alkiviades Meimaris.
Prototype Presents Modulation
May 1 – June 30, 2021
Broadcast: Pre-recorded and available for download (access from home or Times Square)
Tickets: FREE
Commissioned, Developed, and Produced by PROTOTYPE: Opera | Theatre | Now. Prototype presents Modulation, a creative investigation on the strands that weave together our lives over this past tumultuous and revelatory year. A digital, self-guided exploration of these distanced times created by 13 of the most provocative and diverse voices in the contemporary music idiom; Modulation leads you through the themes of isolation, identity, and fear, with the connection of breath. An electrifying auditory and visual journey of new creations awaits.
Prototype Presents Times3 (Times x Times x Times)
May 1 – June 30, 2021
Broadcast: Pre-recorded and on demand
Tickets: $5 and Up
Commissioned, Developed, and Produced by PROTOTYPE: Opera | Theatre | Now. Composer Pamela Z and theatre artist Geoff Sobelle collaborate on a site-specific sonic journey through Times Square – past, present and imagined. In this work of sound and space, the listener is brought into a realm where the city and score come together and fall apart and come together again. Times3 is Prototype’s fourth iteration of Out of Bounds, a platform for new vocal performance pieces taking place in unlikely locations throughout New York.
Lighthouse Opera
May 1 – June 30, 2021
Broadcast: Pre-recorded and on demand
Tickets: FREE
The Lighthouse Opera Company presents “Die Zauberfloete” – a virtual “Distant Flute” by W. A. Mozart, conducted by Stephen Francis Vasta and directed by John Tedeschi and scenes/arias from Verdi’s “La Traviata” performed by a few different singers. Performed in German with English dialogue in a virtual, socially distant setting.
No Dominion Theater Company
May 1 – June 30, 2021
Broadcast: Pre-recorded
Tickets: FREE
Hindsight is the new true crime opera by librettist Bea Goodwin and composer Felix Jarrar featuring singers Gabriel Hernandez and Joseph Beutel. The opera raises points about fascism and elitism in America and how they tie into our modern world, 100 years later. It is based on the history of the Leopold and Loeb case. Leopold and Loeb, notorious for their familial wealth and intelligence, set out to commit the perfect crime, just for the thrill of it. This case examines abuse of power and privilege—a seemingly timeless echo reverberating within our nation. Washington, and critically acclaimed baritone, Kenneth Overton, who will be the featured soloist of the tours. This on-demand free showcase takes you “behind the lens” of the opera’s production.
May 1-July 31, 2021; On Site Opera
Broadcast: Pre-recorded via App
Tickets: $60 and Up
On Site Opera once again re-defines the immersive and site-specific experience in Spring 2021 with The Road We Came, a new opera- and song-based project that explores the composers, musicians and places that define the rich Black history of New York City through a series of self-guided, musical walking tours. Celebrating a collection of never-recorded and seemingly lost classical compositions by Black composers, The Road We Came will use filmed musical performances and spoken narration to connect audiences to the musical timeline of Harlem, Midtown/Hell’s Kitchen and lower Manhattan. From the home and texts of the prolific poet Langston Hughes, to Lincoln Center, to the African Burial Ground National Monument, and beyond, The Road We Came will open windows to the past and re-frame the present. The Road We Came is a multimedia collaboration between On Site Opera, Ryan & Tonya McKinny’s Keep the Music Going Productions, award-winning biographer and Harlem historian Eric K. Washington. Each tour is approximately a 90-minute immersive musical experience that patrons can access via a walking tour app.
HERE Arts Center
May 1 – June 30, 2021
Broadcast: Pre-recorded and on demand
Tickets: TBA
A live serial space opera from the creators of the world’s first Zoom opera All Decisions Will Be Made By Consensus and the digital surveillance opera Looking at You. Watch all seven episodes from Season 1 – originally streamed live weekly from October 29-December 17, 2020.
New Camerata Opera
May 6 and 8, 2021, @ 8:00 p.m. EST
Broadcast: Live with pre-recorded elements
Tickets: $40 and Up
The Brooklyn Job is an interactive, virtual museum heist written and directed by New York comedian Sarah Morgan Ashey. Under the music direction of Dan Franklin Smith, this thrilling narrative is set to wide-ranging repertoire selections performed by a cast of ten singers. On-location shoots, professionally recorded audio, and live performance elements converge with engaging audience polls to create a truly unique and exciting story. Guests can enhance their at-home viewing experience by opting into chic cocktail kits and themed party favors for a fully immersive experience. The cast includes sopranos Samina Aslam and Barbara Porto; mezzo-sopranos Eva Parr, Julia Tang, and Anna Tonna; tenors Erik Bagger and Victor Khodadad; baritones Stan Lacy and Scott Lindroth; and bass Kofi Hayford.
Brooklyn College Conservatory
May 14, 2021 @ 7:00 p.m. EST + May 18, 2021 @ 12:30 p.m. EST
Broadcast: Pre-recorded
Tickets: FREE
Directed by Isabel Milenski with music preparation by Dmitry Glivinskiy, The Brooklyn College Opera Theatre will present a production of Bizet’s “Carmen” via Facebook.
Victor Herbert Renaissance Project
May 16-23, 2021
Broadcast: Archival Performance Footage
Tickets: $10
The Victor Herbert Renaissance Project LIVE! presents HEART O’MINE, the Irish music of Victor Herbert (1859-1924) and his grandfather Samuel Lover (1797-1868). You can see the entire concert in the upcoming New York Opera Associates 2021 Festival. This particular work “Cruiskeen Lawn” is an old Irish drinking song arranged by Victor Herbert for the Friendly Sons of Erin Society of New York’s Glee Club which he founded around 1900 and still exists today.
SAS Performing Arts Company and Studios
June 5-12, 2021 @ 7:30 p.m. EST
Broadcast: Pre-recorded and on-demand
Tickets: $15
SAS Performing Arts Company presents “A Night at the Opera”, a virtual concert featuring music of Mozart, Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti, Verdi, Puccini, and Strauss. Featuring members of SAS Performing Arts Concert Opera.
Beth Morrison Projects
May 27, 2021 @ 7:00 p.m. EST
Broadcast: Live
Tickets: FREE
Join Beth Morrison Projects for the Next Generation concert and discover the most daring voices in the industry, streamed digitally from National Sawdust in Brooklyn. BMP: Next Generation was established to stay connected to a new generation of aspiring composers, singers and artists. Chosen from over 100 applicants, 10 first-round composer finalists are chosen to be showcased in an evening of new music. Two composers will then be chosen by a panel of industry professionals for a second-round competition, returning the following year to premiere a new and original 30-minute work. Ultimately, one of the two finalists receive a commission for an evening-length work, including the development and World Premiere production of their project. BMP’s first generation of composers have gone on to be leaders of their generation – Du Yun, Ted Hearne, David T. Little, Missy Mazzoli, Nico Muhly, Paola Prestini, Kamala Sankaram, and others — we’re excited to discover who will be next!
AS/COA
May 28, 2021 @ 7:00 p.m. EST
Broadcast: Pre-recorded
Tickets: FREE
Ebbó (1998) is an opera-oratorio by Cuban composer Louis Aguirre and librettist Rafael Almanza. The piece is an expression and reinvention of Afro-Caribbean religious, aesthetic, and musical heritage. This new production, commissioned by Americas Society from Dominican artist Yelaine Rodríguez, was created specifically to be seen online. The musical ensemble, including a solo soprano (Estelí Gómez), narrator, and instruments including Latin Jazz master Bobby Sanabria, was recorded independently by musicians scattered around the world, from New York to California, and from Tokyo to Buenos Aires.
Heartbeat Opera
May 29, 2021 @ 7:30 p.m. and May 30, 2021 @ 3:00 p.m. EST
Broadcast: Live, in-person socially distanced performances
Tickets: $5
Heartbeat has commissioned its first new opera! The Extinctionist, composed by Daniel Schlosberg with a libretto by Amanda Quaid, will be developed in a semi-staged presentation at PS21 in Chatham, NY — the premiere of the full production is planned for Spring 2022. The 60-minute one-act opera is scored for four singers and four multi-instrumentalist players. A young couple is trying to have a baby. Ice caps are melting. Brooklyn will soon be underwater. Upcycling is the new recycling. The Woman wonders: What if the only way to protect her future daughter was to not have her? Schlosberg’s music follows Quaid’s tightly-drawn libretto, from contemporary small talk to roiling dreamscape, its acute style encompassing witty gesture, expressionist stichomythia, and full-on dramatic pathos in the tradition of opera’s great mad scenes. Surrounded by apple orchards and acres of beautiful land, the open-air pavilion at PS21 is a poignant place to begin our journey on this piece questioning motherhood, climate collapse, and our relationship to nature.
Little Opera Theater of NY
June 4, 2021 @ 7:30 p.m. EST
Broadcast: Live
Tickets: $5 and Up
Enjoy one of the earliest Venetian chamber operas, Il combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda, by Italian composer Claudio Monteverdi, and music of the time by Barbara Strozzi and Dario Costello. This performance will be sung in German with simultaneous English translation and presented as a livestream from St. John’s in the Village, NYC.
The American Opera Project
June 13, 2021 @ 4:00 p.m. EST
Broadcast: Live
Tickets: FREE
Created and hosted by Emmy Award-winning soprano Adrienne Danrich, Music as the Message (MaM) is an interactive, virtual series. Streamed live, MaM celebrates the power of music to unify and to inspire healing, joy, laughter, love and most importantly, community. Adrienne, along with guest artists, the MaM choir and commissioned composers, leads a program of uplifting songs and spoken word. The MaM artists sing live from their own homes and encourage attendees to join in and lift their voices, as well —on mute, of course. Following this musical catharsis, the audience is welcome to speak with the artists, and reflect or listen in support of their fellow participants. The Music as the Message series is presented by The American Opera Project in association with Opera On Tap.
Bronx Opera
May 8-August 29, 2021
Broadcast: Pre-recorded Zoom performance + Bronx TV live broadcast and interviews complemented by archived performance footage
Tickets: FREE
Mozart’s IMPRESARIO in the age of Zoom. Directed by Benjamin Spierman, Conducted by Michael Spierman. Piano Accompaniment by Eric Kramer. Starring Blake Friedman, Halley Gilbert, Ben Spierman, Hannah Spierman and Jack Anderson White. Drops on YouTube the evenings of Saturday, May 8 and Sunday, May 9 beginning at 7:00 p.m. EST. Bronx Opera and Bronxnet Community Cable present “Sunday Night at the Opera”. Each Sunday at 7:00 p.m. EST (beginning May 16th), Bronx Opera will present a production from Bronxnet’s vault. They will add pre-show intros and intermission interviews with cast and staff of each show. This will run all the way through June (and into August).
Divaria Productions
June 2021
Broadcast: Pre-recorded Film
Tickets: $20
Created during COVID-19 on an intercontinental basis with individuals in four different locations, Rival Queens tells the story of Mary Queen of Scots and Queen Elizabeth I. This biopic represents a new form of art that melds documentary film with the music of opera which serves as the driving force of the story. It draws on the primary sources of the letters between these women who never actually met in person, and historical research, culminating in narration that connects the letters with music from Maria Stuarda. The story is a historic metaphor for the tragedy of judgment and choosing fear over trust, painting a powerful picture of the destruction that the naked push for power leaves in its wake. The film premiered with Bay Street Theatre and was recently an official selection for the NYC Indie Film Fest as well as the Docs without Borders Film Festival.
dell’Arte Opera Ensemble
May 1-August 31, 2021
Broadcast: Pre-recorded
Tickets: FREE
From Songs of Hibernation to Summer Garden Recitals…dAOE keeps to its mission of providing emerging opera artists with training and performance opportunities necessary to bridge the gap between the conservatory and a flourishing career by mounting a series of concert performances. Artistic Director, Chris Fecteau, prepares each of its singers and serves as pianist for many broadcasts. dAOE will offer rebroadcasts of this winter’s selection and will post new material over May to August with new garden recitals on their YouTube channel.
Experiments in Opera
May 1–June 30, 2021
Broadcast: Pre-Recorded podcasts
Tickets: FREE
Aqua Net & Funyuns is a podcast opera featuring five newly-commissioned, original stories, each written by a different librettist/composer combo. Drawing from the style of audio fiction podcasts, the 25-minute, serial episodes are designed specifically to tell compelling narratives with voices, instruments and immersive sound design. Aqua Net & Funyuns features music by Tariq Al-Sabir, Jason Cady, Kamala Sankaram, Aaron Siegel and Michi Wiancko, and librettos by Jason Cady, Cara Ehlenfeldt, Annie-Sage Whitehurst and Daniel Shepard.
Indie Opera Podcast
June Date TBA
Broadcast: Facebook Live
Tickets: FREE
A Zoom Live Panel with transgender singers (artists TBA) hosted by Charles Sachs.
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