Soprano Angela Meade Married By Justice Ruth Bader-Ginsburg

The Bride Wore Blue: Soprano Meade on
her special day (Photo: Facebook)

Congratulations to Metropolitan Opera star Angela Meade on her marriage to tenor John Myers on May 23, 2015, in Philadelphia. The ceremony was officiated by Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. As the opera world knows, Justice Ginsburg is a huge fan of singers. In fact, she previously presided over the ceremony of countertenor David Daniels back in June 21, 2014. Below is a picture from the 2013 Tucker Gala featuring Angela Meade, Justice Ginsburg, Barry Tucker, and Renée Fleming. The soprano will return to the MET as Leonora in Verdi's Il Trovatore during February 2016. See another image of the happy newlyweds at the Supreme Court with Justice Ginsburg and a shot from the 2014 Tucker Gala, after the jump.

View image | gettyimages.com

Opera Auction: Private Graham Concert; Meade Dinner X2; Signed Fleming Photo; And More!

"Welcome to the bidding site for the Metropolitan Opera Guild’s 10th Annual OPERA NEWS Awards Live and Silent Auction. We invite you to browse our auction catalog and forward it on to your friends and colleagues. The auction will close at the end of the event and winners need not be present to bid or win. Be sure to check back frequently as new items will be added as they are secured! We encourage you to bid generously, knowing all proceeds go directly to fund our community and school programs. The mission of the Metropolitan Opera Guild is to enrich lives through an awareness and deeper appreciation of opera, while supporting the Metropolitan Opera by expanding its reach to diverse communities and a wider audience. The Metropolitan Opera Guild is the world’s premier arts education organization dedicated to enriching people’s lives through the magic and artistry of opera. The Guild fosters collaboration, literacy skills, and self-confidence in children with customized education programs integrated into the curriculum of schools, and builds a deeper appreciation of opera in adults through workshops, community programs, and by publishing Opera News, the world’s leading opera magazine. Through its unique relationship with the Metropolitan Opera, the Guild offers newcomers to opera and its most ardent fans access to one of the world’s most renowned performing arts companies." [Source] Items up for bid include:

**Twenty-minute recital by Metropolitan Opera star Susan Graham at your next dinner party at a mutually agreeable date and time in either New York City or Los Angeles.

**Dinner for two with Met Opera star Angela Meade and the Editor-in-Chief of OPERA NEWS magazine, F. Paul Driscoll, at Loi Estiatorio (132 West 58th Street, New York, NY 10019).

**One autographed photo of Renée Fleming from the OPERA NEWS December 2014 cover shoot. Framed, 11” x 14”, archival quality print. Photo by Todd Rosenberg.

Browse many more of the items up for bid by clicking here!

Watch The Entire Maestro James Levine "60 Minutes" Interview

Looking Back: Maestro James Levine conducts Marilyn
Horne (left) and Leontyne Price (center) as featured
 in the 60 Minutes interview with Bob Simon.

Hopefully with the reminder last week about Maestro James Levine's interview on 60 Minutes it was on everyone's calendar. But in case you missed it, you can watch the full interview below, as well as two web exclusive clips after the jump. Although not Bob Simon's final interview before his death, it was one of the last and the opera world can be happy that it was finished in its entirety. Read more about the interview by clicking here. There are also a few photos after the jump featuring highlights from the interview.

Notorious Ruth Bader Ginsburg Would Love To Be A Great Diva

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg marries Michael Kaiser, former
president of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing
 Arts, and his partner John Roberts in August 2013.

"People seeking clues about how soon the Supreme Court might weigh in on states' gay marriage bans should pay close attention to the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg told a Minnesota audience Tuesday. Ginsburg said cases pending before the circuit covering Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee would probably play a role in the high court's timing. She said 'there will be some urgency' if that appeals court allows same-sex marriage bans to stand. Such a decision would run contrary to a legal trend favoring gay marriage and force the Supreme Court to step in sooner, she predicted. She said if the appeals panel falls in line with other rulings there is 'no need for us to rush.'....Ginsburg spent 90 minutes before an audience of hundreds discussing her two decades on the Supreme Court as well as her days as an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer. In a question-and-answer period, she predicted that cases dealing with the environment and technology would make for watershed decisions in years to come. Privacy of information carried on smartphones in the context of criminal searches could be particularly big, Ginsburg said. 'You can have on that cellphone more than you can pack in a file cabinet,' she said. The liberal justice said the court is the most collegial place she has worked as she fondly described her close relationship with conservative Justice Antonin Scalia. She made sure to plug a comic opera about the two of them — Scalia/Ginsburg — that will debut next year in Virginia. And the 81-year-old Ginsburg elicited plenty of laughter by highlighting a Tumblr account about her called the 'Notorious R.B.G.' and a never-realized dream job. 'If I had any talent God could give me, I would be a great diva,' she said." [Source] See pictures of Justice Ginsburg with the many opera divas (and a few divos) she has befriended over the years, including Renée Fleming, Leontyne Price, Plácido Domingo, and Marilyn Horne, after the jump.

Olympics Of Singing To Air January 11 On PBS

"Tune in to PBS on Jan. 11 to watch Stephanie Blythe, Stephen Costello, Joyce DiDonato, Renée Fleming, Christine Goerke, Susan Graham, Gregg Grimsley, Angela Meade, Eric Owens, Ailyn Pérez, Matthew Polenzani, and 2013 Richard Tucker Award Winner Isabel Leonard perform at the highly anticipated opera event. Check local listings: http://to.pbs.org/12CzT1B"

Indra Thomas and Angela Meade Among Celebrants at Concert

"Evening Hours" by Bill Cunningham in the Sunday, December 18, 2011, edition of the New York Times 

Palm Beach Opera Displays Financial and Artistic Success

Founded in 1961 as the "Civic Opera of the Palm Beaches," the Palm Beach Opera is a professional opera company performing at the Kravits Center for the Performing Arts in West Palm Beach, Florida. For years the jet-set have been traveling from large cities across the country to reach this haven for the rich in an area known

Daniel Biaggi: Captain of the high C's

mostly for its golfing and yachting during the winter months. West Palm Beach is technically a municipality (the oldest in South Florida) with a population that inches toward 100,000 residents and its slightly more exclusive neighbor, Palm Beach, has only 30,000 residents during peak vacation season. Opera can be a tough sell in these parts, especially since Florida Grand Opera is operating a mere 67 miles south in Miami and the Metropolitan Opera broadcasts to movie theater as part of their "Live in HD" series. In the beginning, the company performed one production annually and by the mid-1990s four fully staged operas were taking place each season. Artistically, Palm Beach Opera hit its stride during the directorship of its Principal Conductor Anton Guadagno from 1984 to 2002. The new millennium brought corporate scandals and plummeting stock portfolios for many supporters of the opera. The company had no choice but to

James Valenti: Star tenor and
West Palm Beach resident.

make bold choices for leadership in order to succeed and flourish in the coming decade. After Maestro Guadagno passed away in August 2002, the company brought Bruno Aprea in as the Artistic Director & Principal Conductor beginning in 2005 and appointed Daniel Biaggi as the new General Director in 2008. As Palm Beach Opera celebrates its 50th Anniversary this season by opening with Madama Butterfly on December 16, 2011, it is clear the artistic and financial vision of the company is beginning to pay off. Although they reduced the budget from $6.5 million to $4.7 million, trimmed full-time staff to ten positions and now present three fully staged operas with one concert performance a season (Beethoven's Symphony #9 and Verdi's Requiem were recent choices), the quality of singing has skyrocketed. In addition to meeting the expectations of audiences aurally skilled in houses like the Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago and San Francisco Opera, the company has to provide A-list singers alongside budding young talent that fits the budget. Recent seasons have seen veterans Ruth Ann Swenson and Dolora Zajick, as well as newcomers Angela Meade, Anthony Roth Costanzo, Nadine Sierra, James Valenti and Nicole Cabell.

Metropolitan Opera soprano Ruth Ann Swenson
at a post-performance dinner 

Now that the company has found its footing, they hope to expand beyond the typical Italian and French repertoire into 20th-century works (especially American pieces) and Baroque. For more about the cast and performance dates of Madama Butterfly at the Palm Beach Opera, click here. And if you are in the neighborhood on January 20 and 22, the company will present two Golden Jubilee concerts featuring scenes from La Traviata, Die Fledermaus, La Bohème, Carmen, Aïda, among others and will be hosted by the baritone Sherrill Milnes. The concerts will be lead by conductors Julius Rudel and Bruno Aprea with singers Angela Brown, Ruth Ann Swenson, Denyce Graves-Montgomery, Brandon Jovanovich and many more.[Source, Source, Source]

Does Competition and Foundation Prize Money Help Singers?

Angela Meade (l) with 1986 Richard
Tucker Award winner Dolora Zajick
(Photo: Ruth Fremson/NY Times)

Anthony Tommasini wrote in the New York Times: "Since 1975 the Richard Tucker Music Foundation, named for the great American tenor, has fostered the careers of emerging singers." The annual gala concert was held on Sunday (November 7) evening. "The evening’s main business was to honor this year’s Tucker Award winner, the young soprano Angela Meade, who receives a $30,000 prize, the foundation’s largest grant. Ms. Meade recently sang three performances of the title role in Donizetti’s Anna Bolena in the Met’s new production, and she returns to the company in February for Verdi’s seldom-heard Ernani. Her first offering here was a fiery aria from Verdi’s Attila. Her sound was enormous, rich and unforced; her coloratura runs and passagework were dispatched with aplomb and precision. Vocally, Ms. Meade was even better in the Act I finale of Bellini’s Norma, for which she was joined by the mezzo-soprano Dolora Zajick as Adalgisa and the sturdy tenor Frank Porretta (substituting for Mr. Giordani) as Pollione." But how much fostering does Ms. Meade's career need at this point? According to the Metropolitan Opera, a top-earner makes $16K/performance. Even a newcomer like Meade (who actually was a winner of the National Council Auditions in 2007 and made her debut at the MET in the 2008 production of Ernani) could easily pull in $9K/performance at the low-end estimate. So at this stage of the game, does a singer like Angela Meade need the help of the Richard Tucker Foundation? Looking back at past Tucker Award winners might show that most of these singers were well on their way and didn't need much "fostering." Check out examples, as well as video performances of these past winners at the Richard Tucker Gala, after the jump.

Pisaroni, Meade & Costanzo in 9/11 Anniversary Concert

"The Trinity Church at Wall Street presents Remember to Love: Let Us Love One Another With a Sincere Heart which will take place Friday, September 9, 8:30pm-10:30pm . The Trinity Wall Street Choir, NYC Master Chorale, Young People's Chorus of NYC, The Washington Chorus, The Bach Choir of Bethlehem, and Copley Singers will unite for a final, stirring performance under the direction of the participating choirs' conductors. Part of Trinity Wall Street's observance of the tenth anniversary of September 11, 2001. The event will be webcast, click here for more information."

Repertoire and Participants:
Requiem (Fauré)
Last Words of King David (Thompson)
"Soon ah Will Be Done" (Spiritual)
Psalm 23 (Foss)
"Amazing Grace" (Furnivall)
Windhover Fantasy (Merryman)
Ein Deutsches Requiem excerpts (Brahms)
Chichester Psalms (Bernstein)
"Dona nobis pacem" from Mass in B minor (Bach)

Special Guest Artists:
Gil Shaham, violin
Anthony Roth Costanzo, countertenor
Angela Meade, soprano
Luca Pisaroni, baritone

Trinity Choir, Julian Wachner, Conductor
NYC Master Chorale, Thea Kano, Artistic Director
Francisco J. Nunez, Founder, Artistic Director,
Young People’s Chorus of New York City
The Washington Chorus, Julian Wachner, Conductor
The Bach Choir of Bethlehem, Greg Funfgeld, Conductor
The Copley Singers, Brian Jones, Conductor
NOVUS NY

Trinity Soloists:
Jolle Greenleaf, soprano
Dashon Burton, baritone
[Source]

While NYCO Runs Amok, the MET Performs in Central Park

"It has been four years since the Metropolitan Opera decided to stop presenting full operas in its summertime concerts in New York City’s parks, a decision that was difficult to understand, given the popularity of these free performances, and the likelihood that they were winning the company new listeners. Now, presumably, the Met’s high-definition opera screenings are expected to be its audience builders: It is presenting free screenings of 10 of them in its Met Summer HD Festival, at Lincoln Center from Aug. 27 to Sept. 5. But the Met also recognizes that it should maintain a presence in the parks with live music, and on Monday evening it opened this year’s installment of its Summer Recital Series with a program of arias and duets, with three young singers — Angela Meade, soprano; Jennifer Johnson Cano, mezzo-soprano; and Atalla Ayan, tenor — as part of Central Park SummerStage. The bass-baritone Eric Owens was on hand to introduce the program (and to sing Marcello’s offstage line in “O soave fanciulla,” from Puccini’s Bohème, from his seat in the audience)." [Source]

(Images left to right: Meade, Ayan, Cano. Photos by Hiroyuki Ito/New York Times)

Stars to Come Out for Astoria Music Festival in Oregon

Swenson to sing Mozart's "Exsultate
Jubilate" and Mahler Symphony #4

"This year, in what may be the greatest musical event ever presented in Astoria, the festival brings to the stage one of the finest sopranos in American operatic history, Ruth Ann Swenson, in a concert of Mozart and Mahler. Opportunities like this are rare indeed, and there is no need to say more, other than this: Don't miss it. The 2011 festival's major opera production is Verdi's Il Trovatore. One of the most popular operas ever written, it has an evil count, a vengeful gypsy woman, a passionate troubadour, love, death and a mysterious power. The only thing missing is coffee. Enrico Caruso once said of Il Trovatore that a successful performance only required the four greatest singers in the world. The Astoria Music Festival has come close to Caruso's ideal, with a cast that stars the latest sensational Metropolitan

Meade stars as Verdi's Leonora

Opera diva, Angela Meade, who happens to almost be a local girl (she comes from Washington). Richard Zeller, he of the magnificent baritone and a perennial festival favorite, plays the evil Count Luna. Tenor Daniel Snyder, Canadian mezzo-soprano Rebecca Hass and local favorite Deac Guidi round out the cast. The 'mini opera' is Maxwell Davies' Eight Songs for a Mad King, starring John Duykers...as King George III. The North Coast Chorale and the Baroque Band will join soprano Amy Hansen and organist Julia Brown in a presentation of music by Handel, the mad king's favorite composer. The final opera is Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro. A comic opera that is one of the world's favorites, the festival has managed to make it a unique event – or two events. The first is a Master Class with Swenson and singers from the Vocal Artist Apprentice Program, who will perform the opera. This is a unique chance to see the making of singers and of a performance. The other reason this Figaro is unique is the ticket price: $5." [Source]

Learn more about the festival by going to their website.