IN THE NEWS


Mark J. Weinstein Appointed as WNO's New Executive Director

On February 1, 2008, Mark J. Weinstein, current General Director of Pittsburgh Opera, will become the new Executive Director of Washington National Opera.  In addition to his tenure at Pittsburgh Opera, Mr. Weinstein served as Vice President of Operations of National Artists Management Company, an independent Broadway theatrical producing company; spent 13 years with New York City Opera; acted as a Vice Chair of the Board of Directors of OPERA America; and, for more than 20 years, served as an on-site evaluator and panel participant for the National Endowment for the Arts.

Weinstein was appointed by General Director Plácido Domingo to fill the position that has been officially vacant since Walter Arnheim finished his term as Executive Director in 2002.  Weinstein will join WNO as the company continues to grow and expand its plans for the future, such as the massive undertaking of mounting the full Ring cycle in 2009.

For more information, click here.

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Washington National Opera's Administrative Offices Have Moved

Washington National Opera's administrative offices have moved from Suite 104 to Suite 301 on the 3rd floor of The Watergate.

Please Note Our New Address:
Washington National Opera
2600 Virginia Avenue, NW, Suite 301
Washington, D.C. 20037

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Opera Across the Atlantic

On Monday, May 28, at 1:30 p.m., the Richard Tucker Music Foundation will present Opera Across the Atlantic, an unprecedented live transatlantic concert broadcast from Malta's Manoel Theatre directly to Lisner at 730 21st Street, NW.  Washington National Opera is pleased to offer this simulcast free of charge to friends and colleagues of WNO and the greater Washington, D.C., community. 

This simulcast features the Tucker Foundation's annual celebrity concert and marks the first time that the concert has been held outside the United States.  Maestro Eugene Kohn will conduct the National Orchestra of Malta and a distinguished lineup of opera singers, including Fabio Armiliato, Daniella Dessi, Scott Hendricks, and Neil Shicoff.  The program will consist of opera favorites. 

General admission seating will be on a first-come-first-served basis.  No tickets are required.  Please contact the Lisner Auditorium Box Office at 202.994.6800 for further information.

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Second WNO Podcast Now Available

As part of Washington National Opera's expanding public outreach programs, the company is launching a series of podcasts, offering listeners the chance to go behind the scenes with the company's world-renowned artists and artistic staff. 

In the second edition, WNO's resident musicologist Saul Lilienstein chats with director David Alden backstage at the Kennedy Center for a wide-ranging interview about Janacek's Jenufa.  Winner of the 2007 Olivier Award for Best Opera Production, this Jenufa is the "must-see" opera of the season!  Take a few minutes to hear what David Alden has to say about the composer, his own extremely moving stage interpretation, and why he thinks everyone needs to see Jenufa!

Click here to download the podcast, or visit iTunes to subscribe to the series for free.

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"This is Great Music Drama": Jenufa "Sets New Standard" for Washington National Opera

Washington National Opera's Jenufa, the Olivier Award-winning co-production with Houston Grand Opera and English National Opera, made its anticipated Washington debut this weekend to critical and audience acclaim.  “Jenufa sets a new standard for the troupe …cast from strength, from the leading roles to the tiniest walk-on.

Patricia Racette's title role is not only brilliantly sung, but indelibly well-acted," raved The Washington Post. " This is great music drama…. You will never forget it.”  Wrote The Washington Times, "WNO deserves praise [and] support for enhancing its repertoire.  This production has ... everything going for it, especially a top-notch cast of magnificent singers."

Don't miss the production the Post calls "a masterpiece of music theater." Tickets are still available.  Call 202.295.2400 or 800.US.OPERA to purchase.  Click here for more informatiion.

Photos by Karin Cooper for Washington National Opera

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WNO to Present First Holiday Family Opera, Hansel and Gretel, in December 2007

A new holiday tradition begins this winter as Washington national Opera brings Engelbert Humperdinck's captivating opera Hansel and Gretel to the historic Lincoln Theatre in four performances from December 7 to 9, 2007.  David Gately directs the production, starring the Domingo-Cafritz Young Artists with the Washington National Opera Orchestra.  A holiday classic since its 1893 premiere in Weimar, Germany, Hansel and Gretel is the perfect chance to experience the joy of opera with the entire family.

Tickets $25-$50.  Subscribers and priority patrons have the first chance to purchase tickets.  Call WNO Audience Services at 202.295.2400 or 800.US.OPERA for information.  Tickets will go on sale to the general public in late summer 2007.

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Cast Your Vote in WNO's Macbeth Cocktail Contest

This month, visit the participating restaurants below, sample each unique Macbeth Mixer, and vote on your favorite!  Your vote enters you to win a pair of tickets to Macbeth and dinner at the winning restaurant.   E-mail vote@dc-opera.org with your favorite by May 17.

The Contestants:

NOTE: Must be 21 to participate. Washington National Opera does not condone or encourage underage alcohol consumption.  Please drink responsibly.

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Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program Presents Encore Performance of Zarzuela!

Join the Domingo-Cafritz Young Artists for their last public performance of the season.  On Sunday, May 6, at 2:00 p.m., the Young Artists will reprise their performance of scenes from popular zarzuela at the Mexican Cultural Institute. This fully costumed and staged performance will feature authentic zarzuela costumes from Spain, coordinated by Jennifer Tardiff.

The Mexican Cultural Institute is located at 2829 16th Street NW, near Columbia Heights Metro station. The performance is free and open to the public.  No reservations needed.

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"A Smashing Success": WNO's Die Walküre Opens to Critical Acclaim

WNO's "American Ring" opened on Saturday, March 24, to critical and audience acclaim.  "A smashing success.  The singing...was simply spectacular, world-class on every level," raved The Washington Post.  "[Domingo and Kampe are] a glorious teaming: exactly what an operatic love duet should be."  The Washington Times agreed: "By all measures,

WNO's production is a world-class, Met-beating Walküre.... Each soloist possesses the range, nuance, and sheer lung power that are an absolute necessity for successfully navigating Wagner's dense musical thicket.  And the company's youthful Valkyries... are simply the best ever."

Don't miss your chance to see the production The Associated Press called "as stirring a performance as you're likely to encounter anywhere."  All performances are sold out.  Call 202.295.2400 or 800.US.OPERA to check last minute availability.  Click here for more informatiion.

Photos by Karin Cooper for Washington National Opera

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Patricia Racette ~ "The Flip Side":  The Opera Soprano Performs at The Birchmere

The critically acclaimed and internationally known opera soprano will perform at The Birchmere on Tuesday, April 17, featuring a creative mix of standards, Broadway, and more.  Audiences have been captivated by Ms. Racette's convincing style and effortless transition to this genre.  WIth only a piano, bass, and silky voice, the evening will demonstrate the "flip side" of her incredible talent.

Tickets are $28 and are available through Ticketmaster at 202.397.SEAT (7328), 410.547.SEAT (7328), 703.573.SEAT (7328), or Ticketmaster.com.

Doors open at 6:00 p.m.  Performance begins at 7:30 p.m.   Food will be available for purchase.  Attire is casual; jeans are appropriate.  The Birchmere is located at 3701 Mt. Vernon Avenue, Alexandria, VA, 22305.  Free parking is available. 

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Jenufa wins Laurence Olivier Award

On February 18, 2007, English National Opera’s Jenufa, co-produced with Washington National Opera and Houston Grand Opera, was awarded the 2007 Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Opera Production. The Laurence Olivier Awards, presented by the Society of London Theatre, are the most prestigious theater awards in the United Kingdom.  

Washington National Opera stages the critically acclaimed production of Jenufa in its Washington premiere on May 5, 2007, with an incomparable international cast starring Patricia Racette in the title role, Catherine Malfitano as Kostelnicka Buryjovka, Kim Begley as Laca Klemen, Raymond Very as Števa Buryja, and Judith Christin as Grandmother Buryjovka. Renowned Czech maestro Jirí Belohlávek, the incoming Chief Conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, will conduct Janácek’s evocative score. Seven performances, sung in Czech, will run from May 5 to 24, 2007. Jenufa is Washington National Opera’s second mounting of a Janácek work, following The Cunning Little Vixen in 1993.

For more information, view the complete press release.

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WNO Continues Partnership with Goethe-Institut for Ring Programming

The Goethe-Institut will become Washington’s destination for Ring cycle education in conjunction with the continuation of WNO’s American Ring cycle. A special Ring exhibition will run from March 8-23 (Monday through Thursday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.), featuring costumes, images, and video clips of WNO’s 2006 production of Das Rheingold, as well as elements of the upcoming presentation of Die Walküre, the second in the four-part opera epic.  Admission is free.

Additional events:

For more information, please call 202.289.1200 or visit www.goethe.de/washington.

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"The Year of the Woman in Opera" Continues

WNO’s partnership with the National Museum of Women in the Arts continues this spring with the second and third events celebrating “The Year of the Woman in Opera.” 

Francesca Zambello will speak on March 25.

Presented in conjunction with WNO’s production of Die Walküre, “Brünnhilde and the Tough Ladies of Opera” (Sunday, March 25) features Ring cycle director Francesca Zambello in a discussion of women’s roles is Wagnerian opera from the perspective of a female arts professional.  The event will include a performance by artists from WNO's main stage production.

The final event, “Lady Macbeth-Through the Eyes of Verdi and Shakespeare” (Sunday, April 29), will be part of the 2007 citywide Shakespeare in Washington festival. 

All events take place in the Performance Hall at the National Museum of Women in the Arts on Sunday afternoons at 2:00 p.m.  General admission is $10 per person.  Tickets may be purchased in advance through WNO Audience Services at 202.295.2400 or 800.US.OPERA.

For more information, view the complete press release.

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Domingo-Cafritz Young Artists to Present Mozart's Così fan tutte

WNO's Domingo-Cafritz Young Artists will present Mozart's Così fan tutte on February 9, 11, 14, and 16.  Mozart's timeless and profound comedy about the fickleness of love will be set in the present day and presented in an intimate performance space at WNO's Opera Studio in Takoma Park.  Conceived, directed, conducted, and performed entirely by members of the Young Artist Program, the opera will be sung in Italian with English supertitles and accompanied by an ensemble from the WNO Orchestra.

All tickets $20.  Call 202.295.2400 or 800.US.OPERA to purchase. 

The Washington National Opera Studio is located at 6925 Willow Street, NW, 3rd Floor, Washington, D.C. Free parking is available! The Studio is a short walk from the Takoma Park Metro Station on the Red Line.

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Maestro Plácido Domingo Announces WNO's 2007-2008 Season

WASHINGTON, D.C.—January 10, 2007—In a national press conference held in the U.S. Library of Congress, Maestro Plácido Domingo, General Director of Washington National Opera, today unveiled the repertory, singers, conductors, and directors for Washington National Opera’s 2007–2008 season that will run from September 12, 2007 through May 27, 2008.

The 2007-2008 season includes: Puccini's La Bohème, Mozart's Don Giovanni, Bolcom's A View from the Bridge, Wagner's The Flying Dutchman (Der fliegende Holländer), Verdi's Rigoletto, Handel's Tamerlano, and Strauss's Elektra.  

For more information, view the complete press release.

Click here to view the complete cast list..

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WNO to Present Simulcast of Puccini's Madama Butterfly on the National Mall

Washington National Opera will present a special big-screen simulcast performance of Puccini’s Madama Butterfly on the National Mall on Sunday, November 12 at 2:00 p.m.  WNO will transmit the performance of Butterfly live from the Kennedy Center stage to a huge 18' x 32' LED video screen located near the U.S. Capitol.   The simulcast is expected to draw one of the nation’s largest known opera audiences and is part of WNO’s continuing commitment to broadcast one opera on the Mall each year, following the company’s groundbreaking simulcast of Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess in November 2005, which attracted over 13,000 attendees. 

WNO's 2005 Simulcast of Porgy and Bess

Thousands are expected to gather for the spectacular performance of Puccini’s legendary opera, highlighted by such melodies as “Un bel dì,” the “Flower Duet,” and the “Humming Chorus,” and featuring an outstanding cast led by internationally renowned singers Tatiana Borodina and Arturo Chacón-Cruz.  The free performance is a gift from the Trustees and other WNO underwriters to the citizens of Washington, D.C.  No tickets are necessary.

Last year’s wildly successful simulcast of Porgy and Bess drew a crowd of 13,000 people of all ages to the Mall and met with resounding praise from the Washington community.  The 2005 simulcast of Porgy and Bess marked the first time a live performance had ever been transmitted to the Mall. Combined with the live audience in the Kennedy Center Opera House, the over 15,000 total viewers made up the largest single audience in WNO’s 50 year history.

For more information, view the complete press release.

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WNO Offers Special "Welcome to Opera" Concert

WNO opens its doors with an exciting concert on Saturday, October 14 at 4:00 p.m., a gift to the city of Washington at a special, $25 ticket price.   Featuring selections by Mozart and Puccini, two of opera's most popular and prolific composers, the concert is perfect for first time opera-goers and opera aficionados alike.  Plácido Domingo will conduct the concert at the Kennedy Center Opera House as singers from WNO's upcoming production of Puccini's Madama Butterfly, including mezzo-soprano Elizabeth Batton, tenor Arturo Chácon-Cruz, and baritone Scott Hendricks, as well as members of the Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program, perform with the Washington National Opera Orchestra.

For more information, view the complete press release.

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WNO and AFI Silver Present William Friedkin and The French Connection

In a unique collaborative event, AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center (AFI Silver) and Washington National Opera will present a special screening of Friedkin’s gritty 1971 crime drama The French Connection.  Mr. Friedkin, who will direct WNO's production of Bartók's Duke Bluebeard's Castle and Puccini's Gianni Schicchi this fall, will lead a film discussion prior to the screening, hosted by local author and producer, George Pelecanos.  The event is set for Sunday, September 10, 3:00 p.m. at

AFI Silver Theatre in Silver Spring, Maryland.  

William Friedkin’s brilliant, fast-paced, brutally-realistic thriller was his commercial break-through. The true story about a 1962 narcotics seizure—the largest of all time—was filmed in an innovative semi-documentary style that conveys the story with very few words. The film features an unsympathetic protagonist— the vulgar, maniacal, and sadistic Jimmy “Popeye” Doyle (Gene Hackman) as an undercover narcotics cop who toes the thin line between fighting crime and committing crimes himself.  The film received eight Academy Award nominations and won in five categories: Best Picture, Best Director (William Friedkin), Best Actor (Hackman), Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Editing. It ranks 70th on AFI's list of the 100 Greatest American Movies.

Tickets for the September 10 screening may be reserved through AFI Silver online or in person at the box office. Visit www.AFI.com/Silver for details.

For more information, view the complete press release.

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