Now sleeps the crimson petal Now sleeps the crimson petal

Gregory Spears’s Sleepers Awake mystifies and delights at Opera Philadelphia.

In the garden of Eden In the garden of Eden

Gregory Spears, whose newest opera Sleepers Awake opens this week at Opera Philadelphia, is reviving Romanticism

Purple pros Purple pros

On Friday, June 21st, Opera Parallèle – the Bay Area nomadic, contemporary opera company – together with the Presidio Theatre unveiled their final production of the season, the West Coast premiere of Gregory Spears and Greg Pierce’s Fellow Travelers, an adaptation of Thomas Mallon’s 2007 novel of the same name.

Havin’ a ball Havin’ a ball

Over the weekend, Opera Parallèle, San Francisco’s contemporary opera company, stayed true to their mission of “merging tradition and innovation to re-invent opera for a modern world” as they presented a world premiere double-bill cheekily titled Birds & Balls at SFJazz Center’s Miner Auditorium.

Exactly the kind of boy he had always wanted to be Exactly the kind of boy he had always wanted to be

UrbanArias’ recording of Paul’s Case is an antidote to the intellectual pretensions that regularly drag contemporary opera performance toward tediousness and boredom.

Thanks for scaring Thanks for scaring

I found Fellow Travelers intellectually and politically riveting, musically thrilling, and profoundly moving. It was a triumph. 

Purple hearts Purple hearts

Composer Gregory Spears is a unique example of this maxim that one must be “deeply rooted in tradition in order to innovate with integrity.”

Imagined possibilities Imagined possibilities

The opera Patience and Sarah is a fantastic example of radical creativity.

Cruise, control Cruise, control

Cincinnati Opera presented the world premiere Fellow Travelers Friday and I’m here to tell you that not only does the opera have legs, it has balls.