She’s been called “A once-in-a-generation voice.” Once you hear her sing, you will never forget the extraordinary Jamie Barton.
The renowned, Grammy Award-winning mezzo-soprano is returning to Cincinnati, 3 p.m. Oct. 25 in Memorial Hall with a concert for Matinee Musicale.
When Barton made her Cincinnati recital debut in 2018 with pianist Kathleen Kelly, her program illuminated the voices of women composers. Barton and Kelly will continue that thread in her return, including Six Lieder by Clara Schumann, “Love after 1950” by Libby Larsen, French art song, opera favorites and contemporary works. This could be my favorite: “In the Beginning” from “Cat Songs” by Jake Heggie.
A lot has happened for Barton since that 2018 visit. She’s now a Grammy winner, with the 2026 Grammy for Best Opera Recording for Intelligence, and her career has taken her to the Met, Carnegie Hall, the BBC Proms and major stages around the world.
Indeed, Barton is now a superstar. Here’s what I wrote for the Cincinnati Enquirer when she made her role debut as Azucena in Verdi’s “Il Trovatore” for Cincinnati Opera. It gives you some idea of the extraordinary power of her voice:
“At the opera’s center is the Gypsy, Azucena, who has seen her own mother burned at the stake. Thursday was Barton’s first outing in this role, and it seems ideal for her out-sized, rich mezzo-soprano, with its arresting color in the lower range. She cast a spell as she wove her tale in “Stride la vampa,” describing her mother’s demise at the stake. Her Third Act scene with the Count was chilling, as she communicated heart-rending emotion as well as palpable terror for the fate she was facing.”
Off the stage, she’s outspoken about body positivity, women’s issues and LGBTQ+ rights. Her own Instagram bio pretty much says it all: “Proudly queer opera singer into drag queens, bluegrass, social justice, equality, and cats.” Take a look at my last interview with her, on this blog!
For more information and Barton’s complete program, click here.
Ailyn Perez and Soloman Howard – Photo by Soloman Howard
Soprano Ailyn Pérez, mezzo-soprano J’Nai Bridges, tenor Matthew White, baritone Michael Chioldi, and bass Soloman Howard are the international opera stars who will headline Cincinnati Opera’s “Viva Verdi!” special concert as part of its 2027 Summer Festival.
The concert, to be at 7:30 p.m. June 25, 2027 in Music Hall, celebrates a transformational $6 million gift from the Harry T. Wilks Family Foundation.
Tenor Matthew White JustJamiPhotography
Cincinnati Opera announced the cast this week. The cast includes some of the most sought-after voices in classical music who perform regularly with prestigious opera companies and orchestras throughout North America, South America, Europe, and Asia. (Opera fans will recognize a number of Cincinnati Opera appearances, as well.)
They will be joined by the Cincinnati Opera Chorus, under the leadership of Chorus Master Henri Venanzi, and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra conducted by Alex Amsel.
This special concert is made possible by a transformational $6 million gift from The Harry T. Wilks Family Foundation, led by trustees Nanci Wilks Lanni and Barbara Wilks.
The gift was first announced from the Music Hall stage during Cincinnati Opera’s July 2026 performances of Carmen. It will establish The Harry T. Wilks Family Foundation Fund for Leading Artists, an endowed fund that will provide Cincinnati Opera with ongoing support for the presentation of singers of the highest quality, beginning in 2027 and continuing with key principal artist engagements in seasons to come.Read More »
Carmen (J’Nai Bridges) joins Escamillo (Ryan McKinny) in his celebration. Photos by Philip Groshong for Cincinnati Opera
Georges Bizet’s “Carmen” is possibly the most popular opera ever written. Besides its dramatic story, you are left humming its gorgeous, unforgettable tunes days later. Cincinnati Opera has mounted productions of “Carmen” since it’s second season,1921, in Cincinnati Zoo Pavilion.
On July 25 in Music Hall, I saw the 179th performance of “Carmen,” opening night of the final opera of its mainstage season, with a fine cast and an engagingly updated co-production. Although the performance was sometimes uneven, there were many standout moments. For me, the highlight was Bizet’s musical score, given a spirited reading by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in the opera pit under the baton of Spanish conductor Ramón Tebar.
Tebar led the orchestra briskly through the Prelude’s bright opening themes. When the music arrived at the “Fate” theme, the lights dimmed theatrically (Thomas C. Hase). The curtain rose on 1950s Havana, where the cigarette girls had to be unlocked from cage-like doors in order to take their factory break, perhaps a nod to Havana just before Fidel Castro came to power. The set designs by Gary McCann, who also designed the wonderful midcentury costumes, were charmingly evocative of old Havana. The heat was almost palpable in the saturated red lighting that simmered in the background against a painterly blue sky. The smuggler’s mountaintop hideout was a gloomy, abandoned warehouse with looming windows and a large doorway, through which the smugglers loaded their loot.
The title character, Carmen, performed by mezzo-soprano J’Nai Bridges, is a free-spirited femme fatale who seduces Don José and then dumps him for the toreador, Escamillo. In 2021, Bridges provided a glimpse of her gifts in an abridged “Carmen” with Cincinnati Opera. It was performed outdoors at Summit Park in Blue Ash, amplified and with Covid protocols in place.
A desperate Don José (Matthew White) confronts Carmen (J’Nai Bridges).
In this production, originally staged by Paul Curran and locally directed by Anderson Nunnelly, Carmen was more defiant than flirty or sensual. Bridges’ rich mezzo-soprano was pleasing in the upper register, although her lower phrases did not project well in the “Habanera.” Her Carmen had an edge – the director brought the factory spat vividly outdoors, as Carmen slapped a woman and yanked her hair. It was clear that men were putty in her hands as she tore off her apron down to a red dress for her sizzling “Seguidilla.”Read More »
Cincinnati Opera will mount Puccini’s “Turandot” for the first time since 2015. Production photos of Palm Beach Opera Turandot, January 24, 2020. Bruce Bennett – Palm Beach Opera
Cincinnati Opera’s 2027 Summer Festival will open with the world premiere “John Lewis: Good Trouble,” chronicling the life of the U.S. Congressman and Civil Rights icon. The season will include a lavish production of Puccini’s “Turandot,” not seen in Music Hall since 2015. And Mozart’s irresistible comedy “The Marriage of Figaro” will round out the mainstage season.
As we have come to enjoy in recent years, there will be several single-night musical events. In celebration of a new, $6 million gift from the Harry T. Wilks Family Foundation,“Viva Verdi!” will feature some of Verdi’s best-loved operatic music in a Music Hall concert in Springer Auditorium (7:30 p.m. June 25, 2027). And the popular Studio Sessions of intimate musical evenings curated by the performing artists will continue in two performances in Wilks Studio, July 1 and July 14, both at 8 p.m. in Wilks Studio at Music Hall. More details on those events will be unveiled later.
Performances will run from June 18 through August 1, 2027.
Artistic director Evans Mirageas announced details of the 2027 on July 25 to the Music Hall audience assembled for opening night of Bizet’s “Carmen.”
Said Mirageas in a statement: “During our 2026 season, it was thrilling to see how enthusiastically audiences responded to The Black Opera Project’s first work, Lalovavi,’ an encouraging sign that this endeavor has arrived at just the right time. We continue that momentum next summer by shining a light on an inspiring American icon with the world premiere of ‘John Lewis: Good Trouble.’ Combined with the epic emotions of ‘Turandot,’ the witty charm of ‘The Marriage of Figaro,’ the celebratory spirit of ‘Viva Verdi!,’ and the artist-curated Studio Sessions, we look forward to creating memorable experiences that connect and uplift our community.”
Cincinnati Opera’s production of “Carmen” continues through Aug. 2 in Music Hall. Philip Groshong, photo/Cincinnati Opera
Evans Mirageas, artistic director of Cincinnati Opera, announced at the opening night production of “Carmen” last night in Music Hall that the Harry T. Wilks Family Foundation has made a $6 million gift for a new fund in Cincinnati Opera’s endowment that will ensure artistic excellence for decades to come.
The Harry T. Wilks Family Foundation Fund for Leading Artists “will support world-class voices on this stage” in perpetuity, said Mirageas, whose position is the Harry T. Wilks Artistic Director. Mr. Wilks, who died in 2014, was a Hamilton based attorney and philanthropist.
“Harry loved opera, and served for many years on the Cincinnati Opera Board of Trustees. For decades, he made sure that this opera company could showcase the greatest voices in the world. Tonight, his family is making that vision permanent,” Mirageas said.
Mirageas also announced season repertoire for the 2027 Summer Festival, which will celebrate the gift with a special concert, “Viva Verdi!” showcasing great singers performing the music of one of Mr. Wilks’ favorite composers, Giuseppe Verdi.
Mr. Wilks was also an art collector who founded the Pyramid Hill Sculpture Park in Hamilton, preserving hundreds of acres to become one of the most remarkable outdoor art spaces in the country. He was an alumnus of Miami University and The University of Cincinnati College of Law.
I’m still thinking about ‘Lalovavi,” the first opera in Cincinnati Opera’s Black Opera Project, which had its world premiere last week, July 9 and 11. The Afrofuturist opera is set in a fantasy world that reimagines Black history and culture, with music by Kevin Day and the libretto by Tifara Brown.(Cincinnati MacDowell Society friends might be interested to know that Day wrote much of his score at the MacDowell colony.)
The creators spoke in a panel discussion with artistic director Evans Mirageas. Left to Right: composer Kevin Day, choreographer Chloe O. Davis, librettist Tifara Brown and conductor Kevin Miller
Besides the artistry that we witnessed onstage, the opera had an overwhelming reception by the audience on the evening I attended. Both performances were sold out, with only a few “limited view” seats available, I was told by officials. Music Hall seats 2,388 in its “opera” configuration. I was extremely impressed by the company’s success in getting out the Black community, which bodes well for the next two operas in this trilogy, coming, respectively, in the next two seasons. This project, which aims to tell uplifting Black American stories, could signal a seminal moment in American opera programming.
Click on the links above to interviews with the creators and my review, both on Cincinnati Business Courier. They are free to read. If you have a problem, please let me know.
Coming soon: Bizet’s “Carmen,” starring J’Nai Bridges in the title role and Matthew White as Don José in four performances in Music Hall: July 25, 29, 31 and Aug. 2. cincinnatiopera.org/carmen for info and tickets.
Jochanaan (Alfred Walker) is repulsed by Salome’s (Kathryn Lewek) infatuation. Tenor Zach Borichevsky, left, performed the role of Narraboth, captain of the guard. Photos by Philip Groshong are provided by Cincinnati Opera
For his opera about the depraved princess Salome who performs the “Dance of the Seven Veils” for Herod in return for the head of John the Baptist on a platter, Richard Strauss wanted “a 16-year-old princess with the voice of an Isolde.”
In her role debut as Salome at Cincinnati Opera on June 18, soprano Kathryn Lewek fit the bill spectacularly with vocal intensity and blazing high notes. She delivered a searing performance, singing with unflagging fervor all the way through her final, lurid moments of necrophilia with the severed head. The audience in Music Hall for the season opener on June 18 was riveted from beginning to end by the production staged by Jose Maria Condemi and conducted by Robert Spano.
“Salome” was last produced by the company in 2000 under then-artistic director Nic Muni. More than 120 years after its premiere, Richard Strauss’ opera “Salome” is still a shocker. The biblical story — which refers to Salome not by name but as the daughter of Herodias — may be found in the New Testament. Jochanaan, the prophet known as John the Baptist, was a prisoner of Herod, the tetrarch of Judea and Salome’s stepfather. It was Oscar Wilde who embellished the story, and Strauss based his 1905 opera on Wilde’s play. Hedwig Lachmann’s German translation of the play forms the libretto, with judicious trims made by Strauss.
The production was from San Diego Opera, which was also staged by Condemi, now a faculty member at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. A single, modernist scenic design (Tim Wallace) served the one-act opera. The palace terrace consisted of large stone pillars and an expansive ramp with steps going down to the floor where the cistern lay. A large, full moon loomed over the proceedings, and Thomas C. Hase’s effective lighting design followed the drama, sometimes bathing the entire stage in blood red. Lavish costumes (Anita Yavich) fit the period.
An exceptional cast told the story. It was Lewek’s second role debut with Cincinnati Opera’s summer festival after making an impressive debut singing Gilda in Verdi’s “Rigoletto” last year.
Lewek, as Salome, dashed impetuously onstage (coming from Herod’s banquet), and instantly became infatuated with the prisoner in the cistern, Jochanaan. She sang with a voice of beauty throughout her range, easily making Strauss’ difficult vocal leaps and tackling the lower register with clarity. She poured out her feelings in long, rapturous streams of love for Jochanaan’s skin, his hair, his lips, eventually crawling on her belly to grovel at his feet.Read More »
Nola Richardson as Hildegard during the premiere of “Hildegard” (Photo by Maria Baranova, provided by MCANA)
The opera “Hildegard,” by American composer Sarah Kirkland Snider has received the 2026 Award for Best New Opera by the Music Critics Association of North America (MCANA). Award Committee member Arthur Kaptainis presented the award to Snider on June 6 in Atlanta at MCANA’s annual meeting (hosted by the Atlanta Symphony and Atlanta Opera). She wrote both the music and the libretto.
The award honors musical and theatrical excellence in a fully staged opera that received its world premiere in North America during the preceding calendar year.
The opera, based on the life of the 12th-century German abbess Hildegard von Bingen, was partly developed in Cincinnati at an Opera Fusion: New Works workshop in 2024, the composer told me. She spoke to MCANA members about how, not knowing anything about the 12th-century abbess, she became captivated by Hildegard’s story after reading Oliver Sacks’ book, “Migraine,” where he posed the theory that Hildegard’s reported visions were caused by migraines. As a sufferer of migraines, it struck a chord with Snider, who began a deep dive into Hildegard’s life and her music.
Award Committee member Arthur Kaptainis spoke with composer Sarah Kirkland Snider about her opera, “Hildegard.”
Snider said it was “easily the most daunting artistic undertaking of my life,” and its composition and development took about 10 years. She is described as “one of new music’s leading names” (Gramophone), one of the “Top 35 Female Composers in Classical Music” (The Washington Post), and “a rising star on the American compositional scene” (The Wall Street Journal).
This year’s Awards Committee was co-chaired by Heidi Waleson (opera critic of The Wall Street Journal) and George Loomis (longtime contributor to the Financial Times and Musical America)—alongside committee members Arthur Kaptainis (contributor to Ludwig van Toronto and former music critic of the Montreal Gazette),John Rockwell (former critic and arts editor of The New York Times and a regular correspondent for Opera (UK) and Musical America), and Alex Ross (music critic of The New Yorker).
In praise of “Hildegard,” the committee wrote: “This compelling work of historical fiction explores the life and mind of the 12th century Benedictine abbess, visionary, and composer Hildegard von Bingen. Snider’s well-crafted libretto sets the action at a biographical turning point in 1147, when Hildegard’s transcribed visions were submitted to the pope, who would declare her to be either a prophet or a heretic.
“This complex heroine, who stands up to the power of the church and is disturbed by the nature of her feelings for a young novice, is captured in Snider’s distinctive, haunting music which reaches its apogee in the brilliantly explosive visions. Remarkable timbral variety belies the small size of the accompanying ensemble, and throughout, the opera’s musical radiance illuminates Hildegard’s visceral connection with the divine.”
The two-act chamber opera was commissioned byBeth Morrison Projects and theAspen Music Festival, and premiered byLos Angeles OperaandPrototype Festival in New York City, to rapturous reviews. “Hildegard”will have a semi-staged performance at the Aspen Music Festival this summer, at Harris Concert Hall on July 31. Future performances are being planned in the United States and Europe, as is a studio recording.
The Best New Opera Award reflects the overarching mission of MCANA to recognize distinctive achievements and, through its web publicationClassical Voice North America, to communicate the richness of musical life in the U.S. and Canada at a time when classical music coverage in traditional print media is shrinking.
“Hildegard” is the ninth such award bestowed by MCANA, whose members submit the nominations.
A public performance of excerpts from “Hildegard” took place on Oct. 10, 2024 in Cincinnati Music Hall’s Wilks Studio. That’s because Cincinnati has become one of the leaders of developing new opera in America. Opera Fusion: New Works is a collaboration of Cincinnati Opera and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.
For four cycles, the program was funded by a grant from the Mellon Foundation. When the grant ran out, a devoted Cincinnati patron stepped up to underwrite Opera Fusion: New Works, which is now funded by an anonymous donation, said Cincinnati Opera Artistic Director Evans Mirageas.
“We’re coming to the end of the first full year of a three-year cycle of Opera Fusion, funded by a single donor. We’re just incredibly grateful to that person,” Mirageas said.
“It’s unheard of in the history of philanthropy for a grant to be renewed four times,” he said, referring to the Mellon Foundation’s generosity. “What it did is it helped us build the repertoire of other companies. (Opera Fusion primarily workshops new opera for other companies.) But more importantly, locally, it built an audience, because we started getting sellout houses, as it were, for the presentations (of excerpts) at the end of workshops.”
Cincinnati Ballet announced a new music director via social media today. Alyssa Wang will succeed music director emeritus Carmon DeLeone, who served more than 50 years and still conducts the ballet on occasion. She is a “triple threat” — a conductor, composer and violinist. Alyssa is the recipient of the 2024 New Music USA Creator Fund, the 2023 Solti Foundation Career Assistance Award, and the 2022 St. Botolph Emerging Artist Award.
An accomplished violinist, she is the newest member musician of the Boston Chamber Music Society, and has been featured in numerous contemporary recording projects, such as Carlos Simon’s Grammy-nominated album, Requiem for the Enslaved (Decca).
As a composer, she premiered her own violin concerto, Swept Away, with the Chamber Orchestra of Pittsburgh, who commissioned the work, in February 2023. Her latest composition project is a string octet for Boston Chamber Music Society that will premiere in May 2026.
Alyssa earned her bachelor’s degree from Carnegie Mellon University under the tutelage of Andrés Cárdenes, and a master’s degree at the New England Conservatory where she studied with Malcolm Lowe. Read more here.
Jose Maria Condemi
The University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music welcomed two new faculty members to succeed two of the eight who are retiring by the end of this semester.
UC College-Conservatory of Music Dean Pete Jutras has just announced the appointment of JoseMariaCondemi, who earned his Master of Fine Arts degree in direction at CCM, as CCM’s new Associate Professor of Opera. His faculty appointment officially begins on Aug. 15.
“Jose Maria Condemi brings inspiring creative vision to CCM, along with a long and distinguished record of directing at the worlds’ major opera houses. He is no stranger to Cincinnati, and we are thrilled to welcome him to the CCM Opera Department,” said Jutras, in a statement. “I am grateful to our search committee chair Amy Johnson and committee members ThomasHase, KirillKuzmin and KennethShaw for their efforts with this successful search.”
Condemi has been a director and producer of opera and theater of exceptional artistic quality for over two decades, both in the United States and internationally. Upcoming directing engagements include Rigoletto for San Francisco Opera, Tosca for Cincinnati Opera and Alcina for the Trentino Music Festival.
In Cincinnati, you may also recall his work in Ainadamar, Don Giovanni, La Traviata, Tosca and Lucia di Lammermoor for Cincinnati Opera.
He has a long relationship with San Francisco Opera, where he has directed several mainstage productions and two world premieres, and he’s directed at other major opera houses across the country and internationally. Please click here to read more about him.
Brian Hong
In addition, violist Brian Hong is CCM’s new Assistant Professor of Viola. His appointment begins on Aug. 15.
“Brian Hong’s extensive performance experience, chamber music career, and innovative work in the non-profit and community arts sectors will bring great value to CCM’s esteemed String area,” said Dean Jutras. “I am grateful to our search committee chair Rachel Calin and committee members Aik Khai Pung and Catharine Lees for their efforts with this successful search.”
As the violist of the Grammy-nominated Aizuri Quartet from 2023-2025, he premiered major new works on nationally renowned chamber music series and conducted residencies at universities across the United States. He has performed as soloist with many orchestras and has participated in festivals such as Marlboro and the Perlman Music Program. Prior to his CCM appointment, Hong served on the viola and chamber music faculties at Bard College Conservatory of Music.
Hong is a graduate of Juilliard’s Artist Diploma program. He also holds a master’s degree from the Juilliard School, where he was awarded a prestigious Kovner Fellowship. He earned his bachelor’s degree from the New England Conservatory of Music. He’s also a successful music administrator. He is the program manager for the Vital Sounds Initiative of Project: Music Heals Us, a nonprofit dedicated to providing musical education, access and healing to marginalized populations. He is also a co-artistic director of NEXUS Chamber Music Chicago in Illinois, an artist-driven collective of musicians. Read more about him here.
The Grammy Awards were announced today, and there are a few familiar names this year. The biggest news: Elaine Martone has won Producer of the Year, Classical for a host of recordings, including: Joy! (John Morris Russell & Cincinnati Pops). It is her sixth Grammy Award in her stunning career. Congratulations to Elaine, who produces the Cincinnati Symphony and Pops recordings. She is truly world-class. (Martone is married to Robert Woods, founder of Telarc Records, which was famous for the 100 or so Pops albums they recorded during the Erich Kunzel years … )
The other supporting works on her list are:
• Bartók: String Quartet No.3; Suite From ‘The Miraculous Mandarin’ (Franz Welser-Möst & The Cleveland Orchestra)
• The Book of Spells (Merian Ensemble)
• Bruckner: Symphony No. 4 (Franz Welser-Möst & The Cleveland Orchestra)
• Divine Mischief (Julian Bliss, J. Eric Wilson & Baylor University Wind Ensemble)
• Prokofiev: Symphony No. 6 (Franz Welser-Möst & The Cleveland Orchestra)
• Schubert: The Complete Impromptus (Gerardo Teissonnière)
• Stranger at Home (Shachar Israel)
• Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 4 (Franz Welser-Möst & The Cleveland Orchestra).
Here are some other classical music awards, which also have a few Cincinnati connections:Read More »
She’s been called “A once-in-a-generation voice.” Once you hear her sing, you will never forget the extraordinary Jamie Barton.
