Andrew Lokay
Andrew Lokay began his career as an opera fan at the San Francisco Opera, where the first performance he saw was Madama Butterfly. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Stanford University with a Bachelor of Arts in international relations and French with honors in international security studies. He now lives in Washington, DC and is a frequent audience member for opera and theatre in the nation’s capital.
At Wolf Trap Opera, a season-closing Tosca is weighed down by an incoherent setting during Italy’s Anni di piombo.
Shakespeare Opera Theatre presented two American operas exploring themes of hypocrisy and deception — in a church!
Wolf Trap Opera presented a lovely Eugene Onegin with particularly noteworthy performances by Magdalena Kuźma and Daniel O’Hearn.
Bass-baritone Le Bu’s recital with Vocal Arts DC highlighted his linguistic and timbral versatility.
Soprano Amanda Forsythe as Ilia and tenor David Portillo in the titular role were highlights of Washington Concert Opera’s robust Idomeneo.
Mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton’s rendition of Jake Heggie‘s “Winged Victory: We’re Through,” vividly captures the song’s humor and energy.
Washington National Opera offered a searing production of Robert Ward’s opera The Crucible, directed by WNO Artistic Director Francesca Zambello, as the second installment in the company’s next chapter.
In its first production since departing the Kennedy Center, the Washington National Opera presents a new adaptation of “King of Ragtime” Scott Joplin’s opera Treemonisha.
Washington Concert Opera returned to its roots with a delightful performance of Georges Bizet’s Les Pêcheurs de perles.
Baritone Quinn Kelsey’s recital of English-language art songs in partnership with pianist Craig Ketter was a worthy celebration of Vocal Arts DC’s 35th-anniversary season.
Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer’s Grammy-winning Intelligence makes a largely successful East Coast debut at Virginia Opera.
America’s own Faust gets a compelling operatic treatment, courtesy of DC’s IN Series
Washington National Opera’s holiday presentation of The Little Prince, based on the classic French novella by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, showcased the company’s Cafritz Young Artists
Washington Concert Opera began its 39th season last month with Christoph Willibald Gluck’s late masterpiece Iphigénie en Tauride.
Washington National Opera presented a well-sung and humorous Marriage of Figaro, buoyed by clever direction and a strong cast, particularly Rosa Feola’s Countess and Joélle Harvey’s Susanna.
The women were the highlights of Washington National Opera’s militaristic Aïda
Wolf Trap Opera concluded its 2025 summer season last month with a production of Carmen that was vocally strong, though not entirely dramatically satisfying, amid challenging weather.
Wolf Trap Opera’s stirring production of Dialogues des Carmélites was a welcome respite from a brutally hot and humid DC summer.
Wolf Trap Opera kicked off its summer season with an inventive production of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro inspired by Pablo Picasso that showcased up-and-coming singers.
An innovative score and fluid production by Denyce Graves-Montgomery are highlights of Virginia Opera’s production of Loving v. Virginia
IN Series concluded its exploration of the works of Claudio Monteverdi with a production of the composer’s final opera, L’incoronazione di Poppea, performed with the addition of Indian music and dance.
Annapolis Opera presented a celebration of Leonard Bernstein’s reflections on love, relationships, and marriage, pairing a fully staged production of Trouble in Tahiti with a collection of songs from other Bernstein compositions.
An 1887 French grand opera by a Black American composer receives its world premiere with Opera Lafayette and OperaCréole next week and is raising questions about the potential of “restorative justice” in the operatic canon.
The court of Mantua has run away to join the circus; Washington, DC and Baltimore’s experimental opera company, IN Series, transformed Giuseppe Verdi’s Rigoletto in a new production set under the big top this winter.
Tell us: Filth or dementia?
Hasten thee to feed another quarter of conversation for The Talk of the Town!
×
Sign up for Parterre’s free newsletter.
Exclusive opera reviews, commentary, and top reads
delivered to your email weekly…ish.