David Daniels To Join University Of Michigan Voice Faculty In Fall 2015

Rising Star: Daniels appeared in the pages of Vanity Fair
 magazine just three years after getting his masters
 degree at the University of Michigan.

"The University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance (SMTD) has announced that American countertenor David Daniels will be appointed professor of music in the Department of Voice beginning fall 2015, pending U-M Regental approval. Daniels will maintain his active international performance schedule while launching his academic career in Ann Arbor. He received his master's degree from SMTD in 1992, studying with acclaimed tenor George Shirley. Hailed by The New York Times as 'the most acclaimed countertenor of the day, perhaps the best ever,' Daniels, has appeared with the world's major opera companies and on its main concert and recital stages. The Chicago Tribune described him as 'today's gold standard among countertenors,' and Gramophone magazine acknowledged his contribution to recorded excellence, as well as his expansion of the repertoire for his voice type, by naming him one of the 'Top Ten Trailblazers' in classical music today. Honored by the music world for his unique achievements, Daniels has been the recipient of two of classical music's most significant awards: Musical America's Vocalist of the Year, and the Richard Tucker Award. Highlights of Daniel's recent seasons include multiple appearances at the Metropolitan Opera in the title role of Handel's Giulio Cesare directed by David McVicar; in the inventive The Enchanted Island; and in the title role of Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice in a new production marking Mark Morris' debut at the Met as a stage director, conducted by music director James Levine. Daniels has won admiration for his performances of extensive concert and art song repertoire, including song literature of the 19th and 20th centuries not usually associated with his voice type. An accomplished recording artist with several critically acclaimed and best-selling solo albums to his credit, his latest release was a collection of Bach's Sacred Arias and Cantatas conducted by Harry Bicket with The English Concert. Daniels joins a celebrated voice faculty at SMTD, chaired by Stephen West. Recent graduates of the program include tenor Michael Fabiano, soprano Janai Brugger, and mezzo-soprano Carla Dirlikov. " [Source]

Chris Powell To Leave Pittsburgh Opera For Glimmerglass Festival

"Pittsburgh Opera music administrator Chris Powell will leave the company on April 13 to grow to be director of administration and community engagement beginning on April 20 for Glimmerglass Festival in Cooperstown, N.Y. He will oversee advertising, planning, artistic administration, public relations and community engagement. 'This is a truly exceptional chance for Chris,' says the Pittsburgh Opera's general director Christopher Hahn. Hahn hired Powell in 2001. 'He's worked through a range of responsibilities and is in a very very good position to move forward in his profession,' Hahn says. 'Glimmerglass is certainly a incredibly fine festival enterprise and the possibilities this will afford him are fantastic. I'm extremely pleased for him.' Powell, 43, is a Mt. Lebanon native who graduated from Duquesne University and the University of Miami. He was a winner as a horn player of the Music in Mt. Lebanon competition in 1991. He also was personnel manager from 2005 to ‘09 for the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra in the course of James Levine's tenure with the Boston Symphony and the Tanglewood Festival. As Pittsburgh Opera's music administrator, Powell has been in charge of procurement of all added musical instruments, was personnel manager for the chorus and orchestra, in charge of the daily and extended term schedules and took care of visa, immigration and other problems for guest artists. He's also managing director of 3 Rivers Ringers, a handbell choir." [Source]

Christina Scheppelmann New Artistic Director Of Gran Teatre del Liceu

"La comissió tècnica encarregada de la selecció de la Direcció Artística del Liceu ha proposat Christina Scheppelmann per a aquest càrrec. El seu nomenament correspondrà a la Comissió Executiva de la Fundació, que es reunirà en sessió ordinària a finals del mes de juny. El passat 28 de novembre de 2013, la comissió executiva de la Fundació del Gran Teatre del Liceu va acordar obrir una convocatòria internacional per a la designació de Director Artístic en substitució de Joan Matabosch. Un total de 49 candidats, d'onze nacionalitats i amb un alt perfil professional, van presentar la seva candidatura al final del termini fixat, el 2 de gener de 2014. A tots ells se'ls va requerir per presentar la seva proposta, d'acord amb el model artístic del Liceu. La recepció de les propostes ha tingut lloc al llarg del primer quatrimestre de 2014. Finalitzat aquest període es van determinar 9 candidatures finalistes. El període d’estudi i contactes amb els potencials candidats s’ha perllongat fins a mitjans del mes de maig, i en tot moment el procés s’ha dut a terme garantint la confidencialitat dels mateixos i la dels propis candidats. El procés ha comptat en tot moment amb la supervisió de les Administracions Públiques que integren la Comissió Executiva del Liceu: Ministeri d’Educació i Cultura, Departament de Cultura de la

Priti Gandhi Makes Transition From Center Stage To Behind Scenes

"For soprano Priti Gandhi, the past two months have had all the melodramatic highs and lows of grand opera. But fortunately, her story is ending more happily than those of the tragic divas she’ll play Saturday in a North County opera recital. Gandhi is one of five singers who will join the Center Chorale and Festival Orchestra for 'Opera's Greatest Moments' at the California Center for the Arts, Escondido. The longtime Del Mar resident gave up her full-time singing career last fall for a desk job with the San Diego Opera. Then in March, she and her co-workers were stunned when the opera’s ex-leadership announced it would shut down the struggling 49-year-old company this spring. Since then, a groundswell of support from repentant board members, employees and the opera-going public have rescued the company — and Gandhi’s job — from extinction. 'I’m so grateful, so humbled and so overjoyed,' said Gandhi, 41. 'I feel renewed by the faith that San Diego has shown us.' Over the past 19 years, San Diego Opera fans have watched Gandhi grow up on the Civic Theatre stage. Fresh out of UCSD in 1995, she joined the company’s chorus, then spent two years each with the touring vocal ensemble and as a resident artist. In 2000, she made her solo debut in the company’s A Streetcar Named Desire. The Mumbai-born singer spent the next 13 years performing internationally with opera companies in France, England, the Czech Republic, Mexico and throughout the U.S. But the peripatetic life of a starving artist grew stale and she was grateful when an opportunity came along last September to apprentice with Marianne Flettner, the company’s 30-year artistic administrator. When Flettner retires next month, Gandhi will assume her position." [Source] Watch several videos after the jump of Ms. Ghandi discussing the San Diego Opera and her career as a singer.

Lyric Opera Of Chicago's William Mason Steps Into San Diego Role

"The former general director of the Lyric Opera of Chicago, one of the premiere opera companies in the country, will serve as a temporary artistic adviser at San Diego Opera for the next six months. William Mason came out of a well-earned retirement — he spent more than 50 years in the opera business — to guide the troubled opera company towards stability. 'I’ve had such a wonderful career in opera, it was a chance to give something back,' Mason said. Mason says he was interested in the gig because it was not just about helping on the artistic side, despite the title. He says he realized the company needed someone with general director experience as well. In addition to helping flesh out the 2015 season, the opera’s 50th anniversary, and offer direction on the operas already booked for 2016, Mason will advise the board on how to govern the newly organized company and weigh in on financials and fundraising until a new general director is appointed. That person, says Mason, needs to have a fresh outlook. 'They need somebody new,' Mason explained. 'I’m 72 years old. I have no new ideas, and I’m not trying to formulate any.' His old ideas worked well for the Lyric, which remained in the black throughout Mason’s tenure, without sacrificing quality, says Marc Scorca, president of Opera America, a national umbrella organization. Scorca says Mason’s vast experience and popularity in the opera world will send a message internally and to the outside world that the ship has been righted. 'I think Bill will not only provide continuity in many ways but he’ll also provide a different leadership style that will win new friends for San Diego Opera,' said Scorca." [Source]

Maestro Ramón Tebar Named Music Director At Opera Naples

"Opera Naples announces the appointment of Maestro Ramón Tebar as music director, effective immediately. He also serves as music director of the Florida Grand Opera, artistic director of the Palm Beach Symphony and music director of the Dominican Republic’s biannual Santo Domingo Festival. When he was named to his position with the Florida Grand Opera in 2011, he became the first Spanish conductor appointed to an American opera company. Mr. Tebar began working as a pianist and assistant conductor in his hometown of Valencia in Spain when he was 15 years old. He went on to become assistant conductor with the Joven Orquesta Nacional de España, while at the same time graduating with honors in piano and chamber music. Since his arrival in the U.S. in 2005, he has been part of the musical staff of Palm Beach Opera and Cincinnati Opera, producing more than 40 different operas, while maintaining a full schedule in Europe, the Caribbean and South America. He has served as a guest conductor for organizations including Italy’s Orchestra Teatro Regio di Torino and the Spoleto Festival Orchestra, Spain’s Festival de Opera de a Coruna, Germany’s Kolner Philharmonie, the Netherlands’ Het Concertgebouw, Russia’s St. Petersburg Symphony and Orchestra de Rouen Haute- Normandie, to name a few. He has conducted many internationally renowned artists, including tenor Ben Heppner, violinist Joshua Bell, soprano Maria Guleghina and cellist Gautier Capuçon. In addition, he remains in collaboration with many of the world’s most famous vocal artists — among them Montserrat Caballé, Angela Gheorghiu, Roberto Alagna and Joseph Calleja, performing with them from Buenos Aires to Amsterdam, San Juan to Moscow. Orchestral conducting occupies a good part of his annual activities in his native Spain as well as the Netherlands. He will make his Vienna State Opera debut in Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia in winter 2016. Mr. Tebar currently lives with his family in Miami." [Source] For more information about the conductor, click here.

Chicago Opera Theater Will Have New Director on January 1

New Appointee: Andreas Mitisek

"The Chicago Opera Theater has selected a new general director. Andreas Mitisek will replace the current director, Brian Dickie, who brought international attention to the city's second opera company. 'For me, opera is an acronym for out of the box, provocative, engaging, relevant and adventurous,' Mitisek said. 'We need to create experiences that are relevant to our lives, and I hope we have our audiences walk out of the performance talking about what they just experienced and not talking about what are we going to have for dinner.' 'We chose Andreas to be the next General Director due to his original and unique artistic vision which builds upon the incredibly high standard set by Brian (Dickie),' COT Board President Gregory O’Leary said in a statement. 'The Search Committee, as well as the Board and I, are extremely enthusiastic about the future of the company under Andreas’ direction.'" [Source]