Giacomo Puccini was an Italian composer known primarily for his operas. Regarded as the greatest and most successful proponent of Italian opera after Verdi, he was descended from a long line of composers, stemming to the late-Baroque era. Though his early work was firmly rooted in traditional late-19th-century Romantic Italian opera he later developed his work in the realistic verismo style, of which he became one of the leading exponents.
La bohème is an opera in four acts, composed by Giacomo Puccini between 1893 and 1895 to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on Scènes de la vie de bohème (1851) by Henri Murger. The story is set in Paris around 1830, and shows the Bohemian lifestyle of a poor seamstress and her artist friends.
Jake Heggie is an American composer of opera, vocal, orchestral, and chamber music. He is best known for his operas and art songs as well as for his collaborations with internationally renowned performers and writers.
Utah Festival Opera & Musical Theatre (UFOMT) is an opera company based in Logan, Utah. The company performs four fully staged works with orchestra in repertory every July and August at the Ellen Eccles Theatre on Logan's Main Street. The works performed range from operas to operettas to musicals. Singers, performers, technicians and orchestra come from all over the United States, including artists from Broadway and the Metropolitan Opera.
Gianni Schicchi is a comic opera in one act by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Giovacchino Forzano, composed in 1917–18. The libretto is based on an incident mentioned in Dante's Divine Comedy. The work is the third and final part of Puccini's Il trittico – three one-act operas with contrasting themes, originally written to be presented together. Although it continues to be performed with one or both of the other trittico operas, Gianni Schicchi is now more frequently staged either alone or with short operas by other composers. The aria "O mio babbino caro" is one of Puccini's best known, and one of the most popular arias in opera.
The Festival Puccini is an annual summer opera festival held in July and August to present the operas of the famous Italian composer Giacomo Puccini.
Licia Albanese was an Italian-born American operatic soprano. Noted especially for her portrayals of the lyric heroines of Verdi and Puccini, Albanese was a leading artist with the Metropolitan Opera from 1940 to 1966. She also made many recordings and was chairwoman of The Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation, which is dedicated to assisting young artists and singers.
The Hawaii Opera Theatre (HOT) is the islands' only major opera company established in 1960. The company performs three or more operas in a season. Opera seasons start in October and end in the early summer of the following year. It performs mostly in the Blaisdell Concert Hall, Honolulu.
Union Avenue Opera is an opera company based in St. Louis, Missouri. The company was founded in 1994 by Scott Schoonover, the music director of Union Avenue Christian Church, which serves as the company's venue in St. Louis' Visitation Park neighborhood.
Daniel Okulitch is a Canadian bass-baritone. He first came to attention on Broadway as Schaunard in Baz Luhrmann's production of La bohème in 2002/03 – a role he repeated when the production traveled to Los Angeles the following year, for which he received the Ovation Award for Best Ensemble Performance from the Los Angeles Stage Alliance. He has since begun an international career with opera companies and orchestras throughout Europe and North America, and is admired for both his singing and powerful stage presence. He is sought after for many contemporary operas and world premieres, as well as the roles of Mozart, including Figaro and Don Giovanni.
Grange Park Opera is a professional opera company and charity whose base is West Horsley Place in Surrey, England. Founded in 1998, the company staged an annual opera festival at The Grange, in Hampshire and in 2016-7, built a new opera house, the 'Theatre in the Woods', at West Horsley Place – the 350-acre estate inherited by author and broadcaster Bamber Gascoigne in 2014.
Antoinette Halloran is an Australian operatic soprano.
Edmonton Opera is a professional Canadian opera company in Edmonton, Alberta, which performs in the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium with its Opera Centre located at 15230 128 Ave in northwest Edmonton. The Opera Centre is home to a box office, production shops, costume storage, and a Jubilee stage-sized rehearsal hall. It celebrated its 50th anniversary during the 2013/14 season.
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's providing orchestral accompaniment.
Moby-Dick is an American opera in two acts, with music by Jake Heggie and libretto by Gene Scheer, adapted from Herman Melville's 1851 novel Moby-Dick. The opera received its premiere at Dallas Opera in Dallas, Texas, on 30 April 2010. Heggie dedicated the opera to Stephen Sondheim.
OperaUpClose is a touring opera company, based in London and led by Artistic Director Robin Norton-Hale. The company was founded in 2009 to produce its début production, Robin Norton-Hale's Olivier Award winning, modern adaptation of Puccini's La bohème at The Cock Tavern Theatre.
Gene Scheer is an American songwriter, librettist and lyricist. Brother to Samuel Scheer, an English teacher at Windsor High School and part-time musician.
Amanda Juliet Holden was a British pianist, librettist, translator, editor and academic teacher. She is known for translating opera librettos to more contemporary English for the English National Opera, and for writing new librettos, especially in collaboration with Brett Dean. She contributed to encyclopedias such as the New Penguin Opera Guide.
Patrick Summers is an American conductor best known for his work with Houston Grand Opera (HGO), where he has been the artistic and music director since 2011, and with San Francisco Opera, where he served as principal guest conductor, 1999–2016.
Tomer Zvulun is an Israeli stage director. Since 2013 he is the General and Artistic Director of Atlanta Opera.
