Christopher Allen News

Penny Van Horn, Board Chair of The Solti Foundation U.S. and Elizabeth Buccheri, Artistic and Awards Committee Chair, today announced the names of the recipients of the 2017 Solti Foundation Career Assistance Awards, bringing the number of such grants given by the Foundation to 55, and the amount awarded to young conductors since 2004 to $500,000, a major milestone in the organization's history. This year's recipients hold positions throughout the United States, Canada and Brazil with posts in California, Idaho, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Tennessee, Utah, Wisconsin, Hamilton, Ontario, and Rio de Janiero.

What a show! Opera Theatre of St. Louis has opened The Grapes of Wrath, a work by Ricky Ian Gordon and Michael Korie. I have never in my life been more emotionally moved by an opera than by this glorious production.

The San Diego Women's Chorus treated audiences this past weekend (May 6-7, 2017) to a set of three celebratory performances of their 30th Anniversary concert, 'Reflections: Looking Back On Our First 30 Years!' at the University Christian Church in Hillcrest. The concerts featured over 100 women of SDWC singing songs from the chorus' 30-year history, encapsulating the group's rich commitment to peace, social action, honoring the lives of women who came before them, and providing quality musical entertainment to the local community.

Penny Van Horn, Board Chair of The Solti Foundation U.S. and Elizabeth Buccheri, Artistic and Awards Committee Chair, announced today the Foundation's eighth grant, The Sir Georg Solti Conducting Award, to Christopher Allen, Resident Conductor for Cincinnati Opera.

The early reviews for Florida Grand Opera's production of Jorge Martín's powerful opera Before Night Falls have appeared, and critics agree that the work represents a bold and adventurous step forward for the company that is the oldest continuously operating performing arts organization in the state of Florida.

The Film Society of Lincoln Center announces the fourth edition of Art of the Real, an essential showcase for boundary-pushing nonfiction film, April 20 - May 2.

Christopher Allen, a writer and author, has completed his new book 'FML- My Year in Korea': a gripping and potent account of the author's time spent in Korea, starting in 2010.

Despite it's bombastic and highly visible ensemble of cheery papas, THE DAUGHTER OF THE REGIMENT is a showcase for its two stars, Oropesa and Brownlee.

Washington National Opera (WNO) continues its 2016–2017 season with a new production of Gaetano Donizetti's mashup of slapstick comedy and charming romance—The Daughter of the Regiment, November 12–20, 2016, in the Kennedy Center Opera House. The cast is led by superstar tenor Lawrence Brownlee as the hero Tonio and fast-rising soprano Lisette Oropesa, who starred as Susanna earlier this season in WNO's The Marriage of Figaro, as Marie. While the opera is best known for the vocal acrobatics required of its singers, the high-comedy antics of the non-singing role of The Duchess of Krakenthorp often steal the show. On opening night, November 12, 2016, the role of The Duchess will be performed by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in her official Washington National Opera stage debut. The brand-new WNO production is directed by acclaimed Broadway director and choreographer Robert Longbottom, and the WNO Orchestra is led by rising conductor Christopher Allen, both in their WNO debuts.

MasterVoices (formerly The Collegiate Chorale) will celebrate its 75th anniversary during the 2016-2017 season, beginning with the New York premiere of Ricky Ian Gordon and Royce Vavrek's 27, specially adapted for MasterVoices, on October 20 and 21, 2016 at 8pm at New York City Center, 131 W. 55th Street, New York City.

MasterVoices (formerly The Collegiate Chorale) will celebrate its 75th anniversary during the 2016-2017 season, beginning with the New York premiere of Ricky Ian Gordon and Royce Vavrek's 27, specially adapted for MasterVoices, on October 20 and 21, 2016 at 8pm at New York City Center, 131 W. 55th Street, New York City.

Broadway's Rebecca Baxter, Wade McCollum, Robert Sella, Jeanne Lehman and EJ Zimmerman will be featured in an industry presentation of DIARY OF A DOMESTIC GODDESS by Kevin Duda and Christine Toy Johnson in New York City on Friday, September 16, 2016. Alan Muraoka directs.

Florida Grand Opera (FGO), with its new artistic vision, is proud to announce the casting choices for the four productions of its 2016-17 Season, which include Georges Bizet's Carmen, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin, Jorge Martin's Before Night Falls, and Giuseppe Verdi's A Masked Ball (Un Ballo in Maschera).

What do love, lust, bee keeping, and the artificial insemination of turkeys have in common? Find out as the Blyth Festival presents The Birds and the Bees, a hilarious, raucous, new comedy with huge, honeyed, heart. Written by Mark Crawford (who gave us the 2014 season hit, Stag and Doe), and directed by Ann Hodges, The Birds and the Beeswill have you rolling in the aisles from June 22 to August 6 in Blyth's Memorial Hall. Reserve your seats by calling the Box Office at 519.523.9300, Toll Free 1.877.862.5984 or online atblythfestival.com.

Ann Harada, Lewis Cleale, Rebecca Baxter, Wade McCollum and Jeanne Lehman will be featured in an invited staged reading of DIARY OF A DOMESTIC GODDESS by Kevin Duda and Christine Toy Johnson in New York City on May 6, 2016. Alan Muraoka directs.

Ann Harada, Lewis Cleale, Rebecca Baxter, Wade McCollum and Jeanne Lehman will be featured in an invited staged reading of DIARY OF A DOMESTIC GODDESS by Kevin Duda and Christine Toy Johnson in New York City on May 6, 2016. Alan Muraoka directs.

MasterVoices (formerly The Collegiate Chorale)will open its 75th anniversary season with Ricky Ian Gordon's 27, with libretto by Royce Vavrek, starring Stephanie Blythe, Heidi Stober,Theo Lebow, Tobias Greenhalgh, and Daniel Brevik, conducted by Ted Sperling, and directed by James Robinson, with Orchestra of St. Luke's on October 20 and 21, 2016at New York City Center.

Tony Award-winner Lena Hall (Hedwig and the Angry Inch) will lead an industry reading of Citizen Ruth: An American Musical Comedy in New York City on Thursday, March 10, 2016. Based on the Miramax film, screenplay by Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor, Citizen Ruth features a book and lyrics by Mark Leydorf and music by Michael Brennan. The invite-only reading will precede an anticipated Off-Broadway run this summer.