Coach Maciariello shares his journey from growing up in New York and being the Albany Times Union Player of the Year in 1996, to becoming a the Head Coach at his alma mater [Siena]. He started his college basketball career at New Hampshire before transferring to Siena College where he redshirted under Coach Paul Hewitt and playing for Coach Louis O…

[@ 4 min] We go Inside the Huddle with Vanessa Becerra. The Peruvian and Mexican American soprano is set to make her Chicago Opera Theater debut in the title role of Ferdinando Paer’s Leonora. She joins OBS for a frank conversation about how she distinguished herself as an artist and how her Latina identity opened up new opportunities. [@ 37 min] P…

[@ 4 min] It’s time to retire George's number. That’s right, it’s his final episode after nine years as a cohost on the OBS. The team say their goodbyes and reminisce about the good times (and a few of the bad...)[@ 25 min] Then… It’s a 'Free Throw' from Javier Camarena who is set to make his Lyric Opera of Chicago debut as the Duke in "Rigoletto".…

Coach Davis shares his journey from growing up in New Hampshire to amassing a 486-313 record as college basketball coach.Davis moved to North Carolina in high school and went on to play college basketball at Warren Wilson College - where he would eventually be enshrined into their hall of fame. After graduating from Warren Wilson he got his start c…

[@ 4 min] It's a post-Labor Day weekend double header, as we go 'Inside the Huddle' with composer Missy Mazzoli, as she preps to open "The Listeners" at Opera Philadelphia...[@ 33 min] ...and then, for the first time ever, we host a designer on the OBS: it's lighting designer Christine Binder...Set your clocks! Season Ten of the OBS starts on Thurs…

[@ 5 min] Next month, our Friends of the Show Opera Philadelphia will present the North American premiere of Missy Mazzoli and Royce Vavrek’s "The Listeners". We go 'Inside the Huddle' with the opera’s star, soprano Nicole Heaston...[@ 30 min] Then, in the final inning of OBS Season 9, we peek into 'Listener Mailbag'... [@ 40 min] Plus, in the ‘Two…

The DNC wreaks havoc on Chicago, and the OBS is not immune! Enjoy these spectacular 'Free Throws' from the OBS archives, with the likes of Isabel Leonard, Lise Davidsen, Julien Prégardien, Enrique Mazzola, Rolando Villazón, and Jonathan Cohen. We're back with an all-new episode next week...GET YOUR VOICE HEARDoperaboxscore.comfacebook.com/obschi1@o…

[@ 6 min] The 2024 Summer Olympics are in the books and the 2024 Santa Fe Opera season is winding down. We’ll recap our favorite moments of the games, and go 'Inside the Huddle' with soprano Liv Redpath and conductor Roberto Kalb...[@ 1 hour 9 min] Plus, in the ‘Two Minute Drill’… The Yuval Sharon 'Ring' Cycle is announced, as the Lepage “Machine” …

[@ 3 min] It's an ‘Inside the Huddle’ double play! First, we welcome Roger Pines, one of Operaland’s most accomplished dramaturgs…[@ 21 min] ...and then we speak with baritone Zachary Nelson, currently stealing scenes as Faninal in the Santa Fe Opera production of "Der Rosenkavalier"...[@ 29 min] Plus, in the ‘Two Minute Drill’… Break out the glows…

[@ 3 min] Our team has Olympic fever! We’ll break down the best of operatic performances from the Paris Opening Ceremonies, as well as iconic past showings from previous Olympiads… Yeah, that’s right, we’re taking it wayyy back to Barcelona…[@ 38 min] In the ‘Two Minute Drill’… He may have been the one to throw The Punch, but it looks like John Eli…

Coach Will Turgeon shares his journey from growing up the son of a highly successful college coach [Mark Turgeon] to becoming an Assistant Coach at Eastern Washington University under Coach Dan Munson.Will Turgeon played two seasons at Catholic University (DIII) before having to end his playing career due to injuries. He ended up becoming a Graduat…

[@ 11 min] We go ‘Inside the Huddle’ with author Garth Greenwell whose acclaimed debut novel is to be produced as an opera with music by David T. Little and starring Karim Sulayman...[@ 3 min] But first, since we’re talking about books, if you're not the type of person who sits down to read, maybe you’d rather experience an opera version. We’ve got…

[@ 5 min] We go 'Inside the Huddle' with Karen Slack, the lirico-spinto soprano who rose to prominence in prima donna roles like Butterfly, Tosca, and Aida, but more and more is in demand as a galvanizing voice for African-American artists working in opera and classical music...[@ 33 min] In the 'Listener Mailbag'... It's a scouting report on emerg…

[@ 4 min] Alright, this week we go Inside the Huddle with Greer Grimsley. The American bass-baritone returns to Santa Fe Opera for Gregory Spears and Tracy K. Smith’s "The Righteous," which receives its world premiere on July 13![@ 33 min] Then…speaking of July 13, this Saturday is the 100th birthday anniversary of Carlo Bergonzi. Musicologist Brad…

[@ 5 min] This week…we are halfway through the Major League Baseball season! Which means it's time for us to swap some Trading Cards: American Composer Edition. And there are so many! Copland! Gershwin! Floyd!...(slowing) uh…Dominick Argento… (stammering) uh … Philip Glass? Plus, George sends us another postcard from abroad! What iconic Italian ope…

Coach Dylan Rigol shares his journey from growing up in New England to becoming the Director of Video at Oregon State. Dylan attended High Point University and was a Student Manager under Coach Tubby Smith and then GG Smith after he took over as Head Coach. Coach Wayne Tinkle hired Dylan to serve as a Graduate Assistant as well as the Director of V…

[@ 3 min] This week…Beyonce might have the most Grammys, but number two ain’t bad, especially if it comes with an OBS Hall of Fame nomination. Find out what Hungarian conductor has made the cut for our most prestigious award…[@ 42 min] Then…a field report from Julius Caesar at the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, starring friends of the show Emily Pog…

[@ 5 min] Alright, this week…we go inside the huddle with Mané Galoyan. The Armenian soprano, an alumna of Houston Grand Opera studio and prizewinner at Operalia, is set to make her Santa Fe Opera debut next month as Violetta in La Traviata. We’ll find out how her ‘Murican training prepared her to sing in the big 'Murican houses.[@ 31 min] The stat…

[@ 4 min] This Sunday is Father’s Day, but unfortunately, George Cederquist is out of town, so our good dad role model can’t help us out this week. We’ll cover some bad dads in opera to learn what NOT to celebrate this weekend… [@ 29 min] A free throw from tenor Julian Prégardien, son of tenor Christoph Pregardien, who describes what its like havin…

[@ 3 min] It’s an Opera Theater double-header! First we go ‘Inside the Huddle’ with tenor Paul Groves who is set to sing the title role in Philip Glass’ "Galileo Galilei", the OG science-denial show (before everyone was doing it...)[@ 27 min] Listen for the final field report from PJ as the Met’s current season wraps…[@ 32 min] Then, Andrew Jorgens…

Coach Matt Ridge shares his journey from being a standout basketball player at Ledford High School to playing on the University of North Carolina JV team, to becoming one of the winningest NJCAA basketball coaches in the country. After sustaining an injury in high school his recruitment was derailed and that led him to UNC and trying out for the JV…

[@ 4 min and 39 min] We climb into the Wayback Machine for two ‘Inside the Huddle’ segments (taped in back-to-back weeks, no less) from August 2023...[@ 29 min] And then… The ‘Listener Mailbag’ overflows with new listeners and old friends...GET YOUR VOICE HEARDoperaboxscore.comfacebook.com/obschi1@operaboxscoreIG operaboxscore…

[@ 2 min] The second ever World Opera Forum is set to kick off early next month in Los Angeles. To preview this global gathering, (this United Nations of Opera, if you will), we go ‘Inside the Huddle’ with an American delegate, Houston Grand Opera general director and CEO Khori Dastoor...[@ 37 min] Plus, in the ‘Two Minute Drill’… the Royal news co…

[@ 2 min] FOS Francesca Zambello and composer Christopher Tin recently changed the ending of "Turandot" at the Kennedy Center. We’re taking a page from their book to see what problematic productions might also be in need of a refreshed finale...[@ 20 min] And then... PJ files two ecstatic field reports from the Met: one is a rock concert and the ot…

[@ 4 min] This week, 'Hometown Team' Chicago Opera Theater announced its new season. Lawrence Edelson joins us to unpack the first full season he programmed as the company’s recently appointed General Director...[@ 38 min] Plus, in the ‘Two Minute Drill’… We have the latest Royal news. Not Kate and William, or Meghan and Harry; it’s the newly-named…

[@ 4 min] We go ‘Inside the Huddle’ with the newly-minted general director of Opera Philadelphia: it’s the return of Friend of the Show Anthony Roth Costanzo, reaping the benefits of the OBS bump...[@ 27 min] We dip into the ‘Listener Mailbag’ on your reactions to our recent interview with Extinction Rebellion and the results of our Sweet Sixteen S…

[@ 2 min] The opera world says goodbye to the legendary Sir Andrew Davis...[@ 25 min] We go 'Inside the Huddle' with John Mark Rozendaal, a musician and Extinction Rebellion activist who disrupted the Met’s “Tannhäuser” last winter... [@ 47 min] In the ‘Two Minute Drill’: all aboard the Caballé Express...!GET YOUR VOICE HEARDoperaboxscore.comfacebo…

Coach Tysor "Ty" Anderson shares his journey from growing up in a basketball family to becoming a successful college basketball coach in his own right.Ty Anderson's grandfather was a legendary coach and a Naismith Hall of Famer [Charles "Lefty" Driesell] and his uncle is Chuck Driesell. Coach Anderson has blazed his own trail after being a PWO and …

[@ 5 min] Harry Bicket, music director of Santa Fe Opera, takes a ‘Free Throw’ on being pigeonholed as an Early Music specialist. This summer, Maestro Bicket conducts "Don Giovanni"; we ask him to weigh in on his favorite act of a Mozart opera…[@ 19 min] In 'Chalk Talk'... It’s all very well for us to bust a bracket finding the Best School of Music…

[@ 3 min] The Final Four bracket for the Best School for Singing is here. Will a top seed prevail...?[@ 26 min] In 'Listener Mailbag,' PJ and Donald give us a preview of “La Rondine” at the Met, which features the house debut of Friend of the Show Emily Pogorelc...[@ 31 min] In the ‘Two Minute Drill,’ we ignore opera completely and talk about the C…

[@ 4 min] It’s the East and West regions of the Best School of Music bracket. Who will join IU and UNT in the Final Four?[@ 25 min] We go 'Inside the Huddle' with baritone Reginald Smith Jr. with the 2021 Cardiff Singer of the World contestant wrapping up his MVP season at Lyric Opera of Chicago as star of Terence Blanchard’s "Champion" and Amonasr…

[@ 3 min] March Madness is here! In 'Chalk Talk', we work through a bracket of our own to pick the top school of music in the country…[@ 26 min] Baritone Lucas Meachem returns to OBS to take a 'Free Throw' on developing young voices and how to decide on where one should get their undergraduate degree if they want to make it to the pros…[@ 37 min] I…

Coach Randy Phillips shares his journey from growing up in Jackson, Mississippi to playing basketball at the professional level, and now coaching NCAA Division I basketball at UNCG. He started off his college career at East Central Community College before transferring to Radford where he played for Coach Mike Jones. Phillips and future NBA player …

[@ 4 min] We go 'Inside the Huddle' with Hera Hyesang Park. The South Korean soprano’s sophomore album was just released and she tells us about how she was photographed for the album cover...[@ 29 min] Plus, in the ‘Two Minute Drill’… Swifties got the "Eras" tour and the Beehive got the "Renaissance" tour. Lookout, opera fans: Kathleen Battle is ba…

[@ 3 min] We go 'Inside the Huddle' with an icon of American opera, early music… and cabaret? It’s soprano Sylvia McNair...[@ 28 min] In the ‘Two Minute Drill’, we unpack Lyric Opera of Chicago’s hot-off-the-presses '24-'25 season announcement, and catch you up on the latest open letters to Arts Council England...GET YOUR VOICE HEARDoperaboxscore.c…

We kick off Women’s History Month with a replay of three our of favorite interviews with female artists...[@ 2 min] Francesca Zambello shares her philosophy on how to make an opera company an attractive place to work...[@ 27 min] Kathryn Lewek talks about singing the Queen of the Night...[@ 69 min] Isabel Leonard takes the OBS's first ever 'Free Th…

Coach Ethan Kahn shares his journey from growing up in Arizona to becoming a Student Assistant at the NCAA DI level, and eventually becoming an Assistant Coach at Bemidji State University (NCAA DII). Kahn served as a Student Assistant at Northern Arizona from 2017 until 2021 and moved across the country to become a Graduate Assistant in North Carol…

[@ 3 min] 2024 being a leap year not only means it’s an Olympiad, but also a Rossini birthday year. To celebrate his 56th (!) birthday, we’ll do some 'Spring Training' on the bel canto master’s career highlights...[@ 33 min] Maestro Enrique Mazzola takes a 'Free Throw' on the aria “Celeste Aida”, which he considers to be a written in the bel canto …

[@ 2 min] Ashlee couldn’t get an interview with Kermit the Frog, but she does have a segment all about the intersection between the Muppets and opera! (Hot take: all the cool opera singers hang with Miss Piggy...)[@ 24min] In the ‘Two Minute Drill’… Like the finale to "Dialogues of the Carmelites", ENO musicians get their redundancy notices and sin…

[@ 3 min] We go ‘Inside the Huddle’ with children’s book author Carolyn Sloan whose new picture book “Welcome to the Opera”, much to our surprise, does NOT use the story of Lady MacBeth of Mtsensk to introduce opera to the newest audiences...[@ 20 min] Then… We notch six more items from our Callas100 countdown, take a peek in the 'Listener Mailbag'…

[@ 2 min] The Met has now staged two operas, in working-class middle America, to “mixed” reviews. Were these bold artistic choices a bid to shake up elite opera audiences, or did someone in the props department just have access to a trailer...? [@ 23 min] Then, countertenor Reginald Mobley takes a 'Free Throw' on being a prominent Black artist in E…

[@ 5 min] We go 'Inside the Huddle' with composer Melissa Dunphy to excavate 250 years of Philadelphia history, discovering broken pottery, the music of ghosts, and why cricket isn’t actually a boring sport…[@ 29 min] Plus, PJ files a field report from Carnegie Hall’s "Song Studio" in the 'Listener Mailbag'...[@ 31 min] In the 'Two Minute Drill'… y…

Coach Jarren "JD" Dyson shares his journey from being a DIII student athlete at Emory & Henry (now NCAA DII) to becoming a D1 Assistant Coach Dyson served under Coach John Krikorian at Christopher Newport University and helped lead the CNU to back-to-back conference championships and a run to the program's first-ever Final Four appearance in 2016. …

[@ 4 min] Can’t wait to find out who’ll win the AFC and NFC conferences? In 'Chalk Talk', we pick the Super Bowl contenders with our patented opera prediction method… [@ 24 min] Jonathan Cohen takes a 'Free Throw' on the different national approaches of performance practice in early music. The cellist, harpsichordist, and conductor nerds out with O…

[@ 5 min] Tenor Jack Swanson goes ‘Inside the Huddle’. The young American bel canto specialist has already debuted at the Rossini Festival in Pesaro, and won Oliver’s heart as Almaviva at Santa Fe Opera Festival. Now he's in Chicago set to make his house debut in another signature Rossini part: Prince Ramiro in "Cinderella"...[@ 39 min] And then… J…

[@ 5 min] We go ‘Inside the Huddle’ with Briana Hunter. The American mezzo-soprano is accomplished stage actress and a champion of new works, making her a stage director’s dream...[@ 32 min] In the ‘Two Minute Drill’… a Gilbert & Sullivan manuscript has been missing for over a century. If you know where it is, please return it to its rightful owner…

Happy New Year from the OBS Team! We'll be back with an all-new episode on Thursday, January 11, 2024...Please enjoy this replay of three of our favorite interviews from 2023: OperaDelaware's Kerriann Otaño [@ 3 min], and stage directors Marcus Shields [@ 24 min] and David Alden [@ 55 min]...GET YOUR VOICE HEARDoperaboxscore.comfacebook.com/obschi1…

Coach Billy Bales shares his journey from growing up in Elizabethton Tennessee to becoming a coach at the NCAA DI level.Bales played college basketball at Lenoir-Rhyne under three different head coaches (John Lentz, Ryan Odom, and Everick Sullivan). In 2016 he led the Bears to the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA DII Tournament. He remained at Lenoir-Rhyn…

Coach Steven Asher shares his journey from growing up in Maryland and playing Club Basketball at JMU, to becoming a NCAA DI women's basketball coach at Indiana Purdue Fort Wayne. After graduating from James Madison University he accepted a Graduate Assistant position at the University of Maryland under Coach Mark Turgeon. While at Maryland he was a…

It’s a full house for our last new episode of 2023! We wrap things up with the best and worst from Operaland over the past year, including trends, performances, and passings, plus we vote for the inaugural OBS Person of the Year…Oleh Opera Box Score