Palm Beach Opera said last week it is expanding its Young Artist program to add more singers, three days of auditions in New York, and a staged production next season featuring the young musicians.
In order to put the expansion into effect, the West Palm Beach-based opera company has canceled this year’s vocal competition, which had been scheduled for April.
“We realized that four of the most prominent schools in the Northeast were either holding their spring opera productions or were in final rehearsals … which would have kept many of the most talented young artists from entering the competition,” general director Daniel Biaggi said in a prepared statement.
Under the plan announced Dec. 30, there will be eight to 10 Young Artists each season (there are currently seven), and the program will have its own pianist. In addition to the staged production – Benjamin Britten’s The Turn of the Screw, done in tandem with Lynn University’s Conservatory of Music — there will be a series of master classes open to the public.
Auditions for the 2012-13 season have been set for Jan. 26-28 in New York. (Singers looking to participate can visit this link on the Palm Beach Opera website.)
This year’s Young Artists are presenting three abridged workshop operatic performances as part of the company’s Opera in One Hour series. The first opera is Handel’s Semele, which takes the stage at the Harriet Himmel Theater at CityPlace on Friday at 8 p.m., with an encore performance at 7 p.m. Sunday at the Arts Garage in Delray Beach.
Aaron Copland’s The Tender Land will be presented Friday, Feb. 3, at the Harriet Himmel Theater, and on Friday, March 2, the group will present Florencia en el Amazonas, written in 1996 for Houston Grand Opera by Mexican composer Daniel Catán, who died suddenly last April.
The company’s next production consists of two gala concerts for its 50th anniversary celebration, set for Jan. 20 and 22 at the Kravis Center. The concerts will be hosted by baritone Sherill Milnes, with guest singers including Ruth Ann Swenson, Denyce Graves and Brandon Jovanovich. For more information, call 833-7888 or visit www.pbopera.org.
Maltzes, Robinson to receive 2012 Muse Awards
A philanthropic couple and the former artistic director of the Palm Beach Symphony are among the recipients of the 2o12 Muse Awards, which are given annually by the Palm Beach County Cultural Council to recognize individuals and groups that contribute to arts and culture in the county.
Individual recipients this year are Milton and Tamar Maltz, patrons of the Maltz Jupiter Theatre (Outstanding Civic Leader); Ray Robinson, retired chief of the Palm Beach Symphony (Outstanding Cultural Leader); Stephen Backhus, outreach manager for the Milagro Center in Delray Beach (Outstanding Arts Educator); artist Carol Prusa (Herbert Ubertalli Award for Visual Arts); and Andrew Kato, artistic director of the Maltz Jupiter Theatre (Council’s Choice Award).
Organizational recipients are the Bon Festival at the Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens (Outstanding Art or Cultural Program of the Year); the Boca Raton Museum of Art (Outstanding Art or Cultural Program of the Year, budget over $50o,ooo); andthe Palm Beach Poetry Festival (Outstanding Art or Cultural Program of the Year, budget under $50o,ooo).
The awards, which were announced Dec. 13, will be presented in a ceremony Feb. 9 in the Cohen Pavilion at the Kravis Center. Tickets for the gala dinner and show are $300; proceeds go to benefit the council’s arts education programs.
For more information, call 472-3340 or visit www.palmbeachculture.com/museawards2012.
Seraphic Fire gets two Grammy nominations
Seraphic Fire has been nominated for two Grammy Awards, a first-time achievement for the Miami-based choir that this season is celebrating its 10th anniversary.
Released in August, the group’s recording of the London version of Brahms’ German Requiem is in the running for Best Choral Performance, and A Seraphic Fire Christmas, an album of holiday music, is nominated for Best Small Ensemble Performance.
Peter Rutenberg, producer for Seraphic Fire, is also vying for Classical Producer of the Year award, in part for his work on the German Requiem album.
Seraphic Fire was founded at the Church of the Epiphany in South Miami in 2002. The group performs at a number of venues throughout South Florida, including Coral Gables, Miami Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Miami and Boca Raton.
Seraphic Fire was honored with a John S. and James L. Knight Foundation grant to aid in the formation of their Firebird Chamber Orchestra, which debuted in 2008. This month, it will present a 10th-anniversary concert of music from its history, and in February, three performances of the Mass in B minor of J.S. Bach.
Subscriber benefits and discounts are available for fans looking to attend three or more programs. For a full lineup, tickets or to learn more about Seraphic Fire, visit www.SeraphicFire.org or call 888-544-FIRE.
— compiled by Katherine Concepcion and Greg Stepanich