" Commanding bass Daniel Sumegi creates an imposing presence as King Heinrich, all the while colouring his vocal performance with seeds of doubt in the monarch’s rule as the King wavers in his investigation of the disappearance of the young Duke. " - Simon Parris, Man in Chair " Supporting roles are filled equally as outstandingly, with large, authoritative bass Daniel Sumegi in a balancing act of diplomacy and command as King Heinrich" - Australian Arts Review "Daniel Sumegi mostly seems to stand around looking noble as King Heinrich, but he matched it with noble singing" - TheAge.com "Daniel Sumegi exuded nobility as King Heinrich" - BackTrack "Sumegi – Opera Australia’s Wotan in next year’s Ring in Brisbane – brought his usual presence and volume to the king’s role, with its testing high passages." - Australian Book Review

"and Joshua Jeremiah’s powerful baritone, as Jupiter, suggested grand righteousness, while his actions indicated something quite different." – The Times Argus (Opera Company of Middlebury)

"The older Thompson (baritone Craig Irvin) is worn down, not only by the brutality of the years of imprisonment, but by what he finds when he returns home. Irvin’s character has been burnished vocally, displayed here by Irvin with a golden richness carefully twisted by powerful pangs of angst and disappointment. . . An aria from the older Thompson listing his irritations with the cultural changes in American life, was not just melodic, but strangely comic at a moment that was anything but light-hearted. . . Irvin sang it with a beautiful edge of lyricism" - Arts Knoxville

"All of that is the world we see. But we really came to hear. And the voices in this stellar cast do not disappoint. Most remarkable, I think, is soprano Susannah Biller as the Countess. Hers is a flexible talent: on this stage she has sung for us the lovely Adina in Elixir of Love, the royal fiancée in Richard the Lionheart, and the hunch-backed nymphomaniac maid Leni in Kafka's The Trial. In Figaro, she returns to nobility (which is her natural element). Her voice, throughout its range, shows a silvery-smooth beauty and such easy, effortless power! At the opening of Act 2-alone in her bedroom, surrounded by all that soft, rosy Fragonarderie-her aria pleading with the gods of love to return the Count's affections to her is stunningly lovely.” -Broadway World Read full review. “Star on the rise, Susannah Biller, who announced her arrival in 2014’s OTSL production of Elixir of Love, is excellent as the fierce Rosina.” -ReviewSTL.com Read full review. “The cast.....were well-chosen, particularly the women. The cast’s diction was almost uniformly excellent. Susannah Biller was a knockout as the Countess, providing an exemplar of Mozartean vocalism and bringing out every facet of this complex character. (And not every soprano could get away with that costume.)” - St Louis Post Dispatch Read full review. “Dewey is more a best friend than maid to soprano Susannah Biller’s Countess Rosina, and the two are a delightful vocal match. Though the women are of different classes, they treat each other as equals and the scene where the Countess dictates a letter to Susanna is a wonderfully controlled musical treat. Biller also has a show-stopping aria as she sings, longingly, for her husband to once again find his love for her. Though you don’t realize it in the moment, Biller’s effortless rendition lovingly establishes her ability to forgive her husband’s philandering.” -KDHX.org Read full review. “Several outstanding voices are in evidence in the performance, which also features accomplished acting by the stars. Susannah Biller puts her excellent soprano to good use as Countess Almaviva.” -Ladue News Read full review. “But it’s soprano Susannah Biller, who plays Almaviva’s wife, Rosina, who steals the show. When she first appears on stage the frantic action comes to a screeching halt, so languorous is her aria, so devastating her affect. You stop laughing and instead hold your breath. She is the tragedy in the middle of the comedy, the reminder that the foibles of men like her husband have a very real cost. Even with Biller’s powerhouse performance, you don’t linger on the tragedy. How could you? Everyone is around you is laughing out loud. (It’s remarkable how well the humor holds up 233 years later; perhaps we haven’t come such a long way, baby.) But as she sings, so beautiful and so desperately sad, you can’t help but be riveted. It’s Rosina, along with Figaro’s beloved Susanna (Monica Dewey), who sings “Canzonetta sull’aria” in the third act, and you might be familiar with this piece, too. In The Shawshank Redemption, it is this duet that Andy plays over the loud speakers, an act of defiance that brings the prisoners to a standstill and causes Red to remark, “I have no idea what those two Italian ladies were singing about. …. I like to think they were singing about something [so] beautiful it can’t be expressed in words and makes your heart ache because of it. I tell you, those voices soared. Higher and farther than anybody in a gray place dares to dream.” -Riverfront Times Read full review.

Lexicon Classics has announced its very first album “LAMENT.” The company noted that Sidney Outlaw and Warren Jones will be featured in the album which will be available physically and on all digital platforms beginning Jan. 28, 2022. The solo debut was a live recording, captured at the Brevard Music Center, and features works by Ricky Ian Gordon, Robert Owens, Dorothy Rudd Moore Harry T. Burleigh, and the words of Langston Hughes. This season Outlaw is set to perform at the Greensboro Opera, Pensacola Opera, and Florentine Opera in works by Rossini, Puccini, and Gerswhin.

" Young American Artist (YAA) at Glimmerglass Matthew Pearce, stepped in at the last minute to play Don José and was admirable. His singing of the “Flower Song” was both moving and beautiful. Throughout, he was particularly effective in conveying the way his love for Carmen basically destroyed his life. . . As the toreador Escamillo, baritone Richard Ollarsaba was handsome, agile, and sang with great style and assurance. . . energetically led by Glimmerglass music director Joseph Colaneri" – Ithaca Times

"Baritone Edward Parks was an expansive Marcello with a big, warm voice and stage presence to match." - Opera News

"Annie Rosen gave a vividly portrayed and animatedly sung take on the pants role of The Child, creating a poignant, remorseful transformation at the opera’s end." - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel "Mezzo-soprano Annie Rosen as The Child had good instincts for the character." - Shepherd Express

"Cuban-American soprano Elaine Alvarez also made her company debut as Elisabetta... Her voice gleamed with power, but she could also moderate that volume with subtlety, matching beautifully with Chacón-Cruz’s lighter sound in their Act I scene. That more plangent side of her tone gave poignancy to delicate arias, like “Non pianger mia compagna” in Act I. The tragic duet with Carlo at the opera’s conclusion ached with anguish. . . Mezzo-soprano Catherine Martin, remembered fondly from her time in WNO’s Cafritz Young Artists program, made a fiery Princess Eboli. She was flirtatious in her “Veil Song” and then just as venomous when she learned she was not loved by Carlos, unleashing a wave of sound in the striking Act II scene with Carlo and Rodrigo. Her Act III showpiece, “O don fatale,” featured blistering high notes of rage." - Washington Classical Review "Verdi’s Don Carlo requires six strong soloists for the roles of Carlo, Elisabetta, Philip, Rodrigo, Eboli, and Grand Inquisitor. MDLO’s six main soloists were stellar and buoyed by eight excellent supporting singers; all were excellent in singing and acting. . . Soprano Elaine Alvarez sang beautifully as Elisabetta. Her voice has a rare endearing quality, so effective at conveying the emotions of the troubled Queen. Mezzo-soprano Catherine Martin provided perhaps the only light-hearted moment of the opera with her Act I aria about mistaken identities, which was a delight. She further impressed with a beautiful and emotionally searing aria in Act III expressing her shame and regret over her actions." - OperaGene

Anew production presented by Victory Hall Opera explores a contemporary story of boy meets fat girl, boy loves fat girl — and then boy’s fat-phobic co-workers and a lifetime of societal conditioning and prejudice weigh in. “Fat Pig,” which will be performed at 8 p.m. Saturday and again Jan. 27 in the V. Earl Dickinson Building at Piedmont Virginia Community College, is based on Neil LaBute’s play. It features music by Matt Boehler and libretto by Miriam Gordon-Stewart, who also directs the production. -Daily Progress

"As Giulietta, Greek soprano Eleni Calenos sang with a strong sense of phrasing and verismo style, and she acted the role with compelling intensity. There was real chemistry between her and her Romeo, Matthew Vickers, whose beautifully produced lirico-spinto was a pleasure to hear. Both of these roles are strenuous, requiring great stamina and extremes of range" - Opera News

* Praised by Simon Cowell as “the best act of the series so far,” Riesen performs with Metaphysic AI as the voice of AGT judge Howie Mandel. * * Tenors Daniel Emmet, John Riesen and Patrick Dailey team up with AI technology wizards, Tom Graham and Chris Ume of Metaphysic, to perform “Nessun Dorma” on the LIVE semi-finals round of American’s Got Talent. * Los Angeles, CA (August 31, 2022) – Praised as “every inch the hero in stature and voice,” award-winning operatic tenor John Riesen stars on the semi-finals on America’s Got Talent, in an act with Metaphysic AI and fellow tenors Daniel Emmet and Patrick Dailey. A resident of Buffalo, NY and a Detroit, MI native, Riesen is consistently impressing audiences with his "impassioned...and vibrant" voice (Opera Today). Riesen’s growing career boasts a variety of roles in which he excels and includes significant work in opera, musical theatre, studio recording and concert. He has released two studio recording albums: What You'd Call a Dream (2019) and Christmas at Home (2020), and several singles that have reached over 1.75 million streams on Spotify and Apple Music. John is also the head of Spotify promotion and PR for Emitha LLC, building an ecosystem for classical and crossover singers around the world to be heard on streaming services. Upcoming, John will perform as Younger Thomson in Glory Denied with Knoxville Opera and Opera Roanoke and as Camille in the Merry Widow with Knoxville Opera. Additionally, he makes his Las Vegas Opera debut in his return to Evan L. Snyder's murder-mystery opera, A Capacity for Evil ,before making his role debut as the Duke of Manuta in Verdi’s Rigoletto with Intermountain Opera. In the 2021-2022 season, John returned to signature roles including Frederic in The Pirates of Penzance with Utah Opera, Rinuccio in Gianni Schicchi with On Site Opera, Chris in the world-premiere of Favorite Son by GRAMMY award winning song-writer Marcus Hummon with Nashville Opera, as well as performing in concerts around the United States. Other recent appearances for John include his Lincoln Center debut as Tony in the West Side Story Suite with the New York City Ballet; his Carnegie Hall debut as the tenor soloist in Handel’s Messiah with Musica Sacra; Rachmaninoff's Vespers with the New York Oratorio Society; the title role in Candide with Chautauqua Opera; Younger Thompson in Glory Denied with Berkshire Opera Festival, Opera Birmingham, and Des Moines Metro Opera; Adolfo Pirelli in Sweeney Todd with Michigan Opera Theater; Lensky in Eugene Onegin and Bill Calhoun in Kiss Me Kate with Intermountain Opera Bozeman; Prince Charmant in Cendrillon with the Opera Company of Middlebury; and Alfredo in La Traviata with Gulfshore Opera and Tri-Cities Opera. Riesen is privileged to have sung for several political figures, including President Barack Obama, President Jimmy Carter, Judge Stephanie Kulp Seymour, and Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. He has sung the national anthem at several collegiate, semi-professional, and professional athletic organizations including the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park and the Pensacola Ice Flyers. Before embarking upon his performance career, John avidly pursued athletics and attained Academic All-State and All-Region honors in baseball in the state of Michigan. His athletic career segued quickly into performance during college and has influenced his work ever since. For more about John, visit johnriesen.com , follow @johnriesen on Instagram, and listen to John Riesen on Spotify.