Tonight, the season’s first Vocal Colors concert comes to The Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C. I’m sure you’ll enjoy this guest post by soprano Alexandra Loutsion, one of the three artists featured in tonight’s performance! As excited as I am to bring Cio-Cio San to Wolf Trap Opera audiences this summer, there has been a little gem
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The second in a series of short posts that will get you ready for The Ghosts of Versailles, a few easily digestible paragraphs at a time. Yesterday, I discussed the titular Ghosts and mentioned that one of them – Beaumarchais – wants to change the course of history and save Marie Antoinette from the guillotine. The tools he uses
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Today, the first in a series of short posts that will get you ready for The Ghosts of Versailles, a few easily digestible paragraphs at a time. The “Ghosts” of the title include Marie Antoinette, her husband King Louis XVI of France, and several of their aristocratic friends. The writer/musician Beaumarchais* – another ghost – is in love with Marie Antoinette,
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During the 2015 season, the blog will feature interviews with our Filene Young Artists. Today, we hear from baritone Will Liverman, Beaumarchais in The Ghosts of Versailles. Which experience(s) most influenced your decision to become a professional singer? What’s the earliest point in your life that you can identify in pointing you in this direction? The moment
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The Master Class phenomenon is a “thing” in the classical music world. In its best incarnation, an experienced and acclaimed artist works publicly with a young musician, and the assembled audience gets to peek behind the curtain and learn something about how a successful performance is constructed. And when handled with respect for both the
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Two unrelated slightly fatigue-laced observations on this closing night of a production that encompassed lots of personal bests and 4 enthusiastic sold-out houses. First, a nomenclature dilemma. There has been a refreshing sense of immediacy and connection with the stage throughout this whole run, and it’s another reminder of how opera in a human-sized space is
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Tonight, I write to encourage you to check out Michelle DeYoung’s master class this Sunday afternoon. As much as we all love listening to the finished product in operas and concerts, having a chance to peek behind the curtain and see how singers really put together and polish their performances always gives music lovers a
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It’s my day off (hallelujah!), so today’s post is of a suitably recreational nature. :) We’ve recently learned that Coloring Isn’t Just for Kids. It can help adults combat stress. Who knew? And since the process of being a young professional opera singer in a young artist program can be stressful, we decided to strew our artists’ waiting/studying areas
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There are many reasons that WTO is a well-oiled machine, not the least of which is that my colleague Lee Anne and I share a birthday. (Well, the date, not the year…) June 21. First day of summer. Longest day of the year. Almost always overrun with opera. Since June 21 is a double birthday – and
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During the 2015 season, the blog will feature interviews with our Filene Young Artists. Today, we hear from returning artist soprano Melinda Whittington, Marie Antoinette in The Ghosts of Versailles. Can you tell us an anecdote or story from your training or career so far that will give us insight into what makes you tick as an artist?
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