Brandon opera house hosts star-studded concert ‘Too Big for the Barn’

A one-night-only gala with Opera Vermont favorites comes to the Barn Opera House in Brandon on Saturday, Sept. 19.

You don’t have to go to New York City to find great opera.

13 high schoolers from around Vermont, including Addison County, will perform the “24 Italian Hits” in the culminating performance for Opera Company of Middlebury’s Youth Opera.

Experience Wagner’s “Tristan und Isolde” live from the Met, starring Lise Davidsen, on the big screen at Town Hall Theater.

Opera Vermont celebrates the “Dean of African American Composers” William Grant Still with the inaugural performance of “A Bayou Legend,” Nov. 14 and 15 in Randolph.

A two-week exploration of Bernstein is coming our way Sept. 24-Oct. 5, thanks to Opera Company of Middlebury.

Enjoy the opera as performed by students from Vergennes, Middlebury and Mount Abraham union high schools in a pair of performances this weekend at the Mount Abe auditorium.

On Nov. 15 and 16, the world premiere of “Truman and Nancy,” a captivating and poignant one-act opera by renowned New York City composer William Zeffiro, will take the stage at the Barn Opera House in Brandon.

Young singers from the Opera Company of Middlebury’s Youth Opera Company will present free concerts at senior residences and community centers around the state.

Gymnasts and ballerinas can go world-class in their teens, but an opera singer is a different kind of athlete. According to Sarah Cullins, Opera Company of Middlebury (OCM) director of Young Artist Programs, it’s all about the vocal cords. 

It begins the way all rom-coms do: Two single people “meet cute.” Picking flowers on a mountainside in the Tyrolean Alps, Marie topples off a cliff, but has the good luck to fall safely into the arms of Tonio, a local peasant.

On Wednesday, Jan. 31, catch the next Live in HD METOpera broadcast. “Carmen” will show on the big screen at the Town Hall Theater in Middlebury, at 11 a.m.

The Opera Company of Middlebury is introducing Filippo Ciabatti as its resident music director.

Going forward, the program will now be known as the Youth Opera Company of OCM.

Standouts among this superflux of gods and action are Jupiter, lustily sung by the redoubtable Joshua Jeremiah, who also brings his assured vocalism and physicality to the role, commanding, as Jupiter should, the stage and attention.