Lyric Opera Baltimore

Last updated

Lyric Opera Baltimore was an American opera company based in Baltimore, Maryland. The group performed its inaugural season in 2011, bringing opera back to the Lyric Opera House on Mount Royal Avenue after the unfortunate 2009 bankruptcy filing at the beginnings of the recent Great Recession of 2008-2009 of the now-defunct longtime Baltimore Opera Company. That company had become known for its espousal of American singers and its commitment to education and outreach since its beginnings as the Baltimore Civic Opera Company in the 1920s and under the later sponsorship of the nationally renowned diva and Baltimorean, the late Rosa Ponselle.

Lyric Opera Baltimore performed in Baltimore's historic Lyric Opera House of 1894 in the Mount Vernon-Belvedere-Mount Royal neighborhood north of downtown, also the former home of the old BOC along with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and Maryland Ballet Company, now renovated again, renamed and called the Modell Performing Arts Center at the Lyric, in honor of Art Modell (1925-2012), and his wife's bequest to the city's arts and culture scene by the late longtime owner of the Baltimore Ravens professional football franchise. James Harp, formerly the Artistic Administrator of the former Baltimore Opera Company and Cantor/Organist-Music Director at St. Mark's Evangelical Lutheran Church at Saint Paul and 20th Streets, was named the new Artistic Director of Lyric Opera Baltimore.

Another company, Baltimore Opera Theatre, had already resurrected opera in the city shortly after the bankruptcy of the BOC, albeit at a venue closer to the city's central business district, but this company is no longer producing operas. A number of smaller companies have also produced operas in Baltimore, on various scales. [1]

The first season (2011–2012) consisted of La traviata (with Elizabeth Futral and Eric Margiore), Le nozze di Figaro (directed by Bernard Uzan), and Faust (starring Stefania Dovhan and Bryan Hymel). In partnership with the city's historic and premier Peabody Institute (music conservatory), Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress was also staged.

It was announced in early 2012 that Lyric Opera Baltimore would plan to stage three operas in its second season, including one in partnership with the nearby Peabody Institute, founded 1857, facing the landmark Washington Monument, which is now part of The Johns Hopkins University. [2]

The 2012–2013 season featured La bohème (with Anna Samuil and Georgy Vasiliev), Don Giovanni (in conjunction with the Peabody Institute), and Rigoletto (starring Stephen Powell and Bryan Hymel). A "Bravissimo Bel Canto" concert was presented in April 2013 which featured noted soloists including Alek Shrader and Daniela Mack.

In addition to the Peabody team-up, the newer version of the opera company became more partnership-oriented in the pit as well. While the old Baltimore Opera Company had always played with its own ensemble, some performances of Lyric Opera Baltimore featured the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (founded 1916) in the pit. (Other performances used the Concert Artists of Baltimore orchestra, many members of which had previous BOC pit experience.)

The 2013–2014 season consisted of Tosca (starring Jill Gardner and Raymond Aceto, with stage direction by Artistic Director James Harp), The Dialogues of the Carmelites (in conjunction with the Peabody Institute), an evening of French Grand Opera (starring Nicole Cabell and Stephen Costello), and Nabucco (with Michael Chioldi and Francesca Mondanaro).

One grand opera was produced in the 2014–2015 season as part of the Lyric Opera House's 120th anniversary season. "Madama Butterfly" was presented in November with Asako Tamura, Chad Shelton, Mika Shegamatsu, and Timothy Mix. The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra was conducted by Steven White, and James Harp was Stage Director. The Peabody Opera was produced in March and was "The Abduction from the Seraglio".

The 2015–2016 season included a musical preview in October, a Peabody production of "Street Scene" in November, "Il Barbiere di Siviglia in March and Romeo et Juliette in May.

Lyric Opera Baltimore ceased operation in 2017.

As of 2019, James Harp leads a new organization, Maryland Opera. [3]

Related Research Articles

Maryland is a U.S. state with a musical heritage that dates back to the Native Americans of the region and includes contributions to colonial era music, modern American popular and folk music. The music of Maryland includes a number of popular musicians, folk styles and a documented music history that dates to the colonial archives on music from Annapolis, an important source in research on colonial music. Famous modern musicians from Maryland range from jazz singer Billie Holiday to pop punk band Good Charlotte, and include a wide array of popular styles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Conlon</span> American conductor

James Conlon is an American conductor. He is currently the music director of Los Angeles Opera and principal conductor of the RAI National Symphony Orchestra.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peabody Institute</span> Performing arts conservatory of Johns Hopkins University

The Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University is a private music and dance conservatory and preparatory school in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1857 and affiliated with Johns Hopkins in 1977, Peabody is the oldest conservatory in the United States and one of the world's most highly-regarded performing arts schools.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baltimore Symphony Orchestra</span> Symphony orchestra based in Baltimore, Maryland

The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is an American symphony orchestra based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Baltimore SO has its principal residence at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, where it performs more than 130 concerts a year. In 2005, it began regular performances at the Music Center at Strathmore in Bethesda.

Roxanna Panufnik is a British composer of Polish descent. She is the daughter of the Polish composer and conductor Sir Andrzej Panufnik and his second wife Camilla, née Jessel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lyric Baltimore</span> Music venue in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.

The Lyric Baltimore is a music venue in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, located close to the University of Baltimore law school. The building was modeled after the Concertgebouw concert hall in Amsterdam, and it was inaugurated on October 31, 1894, with a performance by the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Australian opera singer Nellie Melba as the featured soloist. Beginning in 1904, it was also used for touring performances by the Metropolitan Opera, and from 1950, it was the home of the Baltimore Opera Company until that company's liquidation in 2009.

The music of Baltimore, the largest city in Maryland, can be documented as far back as 1784, and the city has become a regional center for Western classical music and jazz. Early Baltimore was home to popular opera and musical theatre, and an important part of the music of Maryland, while the city also hosted several major music publishing firms until well into the 19th century, when Baltimore also saw the rise of native musical instrument manufacturing, specifically pianos and woodwind instruments. African American music existed in Baltimore during the colonial era, and the city was home to vibrant black musical life by the 1860s. Baltimore's African American heritage to the start of the 20th century included ragtime and gospel music. By the end of that century, Baltimore jazz had become a well-recognized scene among jazz fans, and produced a number of local performers to gain national reputations. The city was a major stop on the African American East Coast touring circuit, and it remains a popular regional draw for live performances. Baltimore has produced a wide range of modern rock, punk and metal bands and several indie labels catering to a variety of audiences.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall</span> Music venue in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.

The Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, often referred to simply as the Meyerhoff, is a music venue that opened September 16, 1982, at 1212 Cathedral Street in the Mount Vernon neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland, United States. The main auditorium has a seating capacity of 2,443 and is home to the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. It is named for Joseph Meyerhoff, a Ukrainian-Jewish Baltimore businessman, philanthropist, and arts patron who served as president of the Baltimore Symphony from 1965 to 1983.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Downtown Baltimore</span> Place in Maryland, United States

Downtown Baltimore is the central business district of the city of Baltimore traditionally bounded by Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard to the west, Franklin Street to the north, President Street to the east and the Inner Harbor area to the south.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baltimore Opera Company</span> Former American opera company in Baltimore

The Baltimore Opera Company (BOC) was an opera company in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, based at the Baltimore Lyric Opera House.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Grandis</span> French conductor

David Grandis is currently the Director of Orchestras at the College of William and Mary, Music Director of the Virginia Chamber Orchestra, and Music Director of the Williamsburg Youth Orchestra. He studied in several national conservatories in France and began his conducting apprenticeship with Klaus Weise. After receiving a B.M. in Musicology in France, he completed a M.M. in orchestral conducting at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with Donald Schleicher, a G.P.D. at the Peabody Conservatory with Gustav Meier and a D.M.A. in conducting under James Smith at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He has participated in several master classes with Marin Alsop, Rossen Milanov, John Farrer, Daniel Lewis (conductor), Donald Thulean, Philip Greenberg and Adrian Gnam. He also attended several conducting workshops as a participant in Russia with Misha Kats and in Bulgaria with Gustav Meier.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patricia Breslin</span> American actress and philanthropist (1925–2011)

Patricia Rose Breslin was an American actress and philanthropist. She had a prominent career in television, which included recurring roles as Amanda Miller on The People's Choice (1955–58), and as Laura Harrington Brooks on Peyton Place (1964–65). She also appeared in Go, Man, Go! (1954), and the William Castle horror films Homicidal (1961) and I Saw What You Did (1965).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cincinnati Opera</span> American opera company

Cincinnati Opera is an American opera company based in Cincinnati, Ohio and the second oldest opera company in the United States. Beginning with its first season in 1920, Cincinnati Opera has produced operas in the summer months of June and July with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra providing orchestral accompaniment.

Gustav Meier was a Swiss-born conductor and director of the Orchestra Conducting Program at the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University. He was also Music Director of the Greater Bridgeport Symphony Orchestra in Connecticut, for more than 40 years (1972–2013).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Norman Scribner</span> American classical composer

Norman Orville Scribner was an American conductor, composer, pianist and organist. He was most widely known as the founder of The Choral Arts Society of Washington, and as its artistic director for over 45 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NI Opera</span>

Northern Ireland Opera is Northern Ireland's national opera company.

Concert Artists of Baltimore is a combination chamber orchestra and vocal ensemble in Baltimore, Maryland. The group describes itself as being a 30-year-old institution entirely composed of paid professionals. This puts it on a tier above other non-BSO orchestras in Baltimore, such as the Soulful Symphony, Baltimore Choral Arts Society, Baltimore Philharmonia, Baltimore Chamber Orchestra, Peabody Institute ensembles and various academic orchestras. The unique nature of the group allows it to stage large orchestral/choral works at a level of quality only viable in-house for a few other institutions on the East Coast. It also puts the group in demand for collaborations, including a 2011 performance of Honegger's Joan of Arc which, with more than 600 participants, was so massive as to require three of the groups mentioned above.

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Baltimore, Maryland, USA.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Keith Lockhart</span> American conductor (born 1959)

Keith Alan Lockhart is an American conductor. He is the Conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra, the Chief Guest Conductor of the BBC Concert Orchestra, and the Artistic Director of the Brevard Music Center in North Carolina.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Symphony Number One</span> Chamber orchestra in Baltimore, Maryland, US

Symphony Number One (SNO) is a chamber orchestra primarily devoted to new music based in Baltimore, Maryland. SNO performs each year in musical venues in Mount Vernon, Baltimore, at Morgan State University, and across the city. Jordan Randall Smith is Symphony Number One's founder and current music director.

References

  1. ↑ Tim Smith (23 October 2010). "Baltimore Opera | Opera rebounds in Baltimore". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  2. ↑ Tim Smith, "Clef Notes and Drama Queens: Lyric Opera Baltimore cuts back for second season", The Baltimore Sun, 20 April 2012, on weblogs.baltimoresun.com. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  3. ↑ "Marylan Opera - Granddaughter of the Baltimore Opera Company: Second Event". Operagene. March 24, 2019. Retrieved June 20, 2024.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.