POSTPONED
- “Ever since those days I had been haunted by impressions of that strange world of more than a hundred years ago; the plundering of ships lured on to the rocks by the falsification or extinction of the coast lights; the relentless murder of their crews; and with it all the ingrained religiosity of the Celtic population of that barren promontory.” – Ethel Smythe
- Click to listen
The Wreckers, March 2020 by Ethel Smyth
Island City Opera proudly announces four performances of “The Wreckers“, by Dame Ethel Smyth, March 20 through 28, 2020
Opera in the Park Free Singing Lessons Ages 7+ Sign-up via eMail
Join us for an afternoon of fun, sun, and song with great music and performances by stars of Alameda’s own, Island City Opera. Free singing Lesson ages 7 and up.
Opera for Everyone!
You are invited to join Island City Opera for an afternoon of great live performances and exciting news.
“From heartfelt arias to swooning duets and thrillingly rambunctious chorus work (Act 2 at Bulliers pulled out a knockout display from the Island City Opera Chorus), La Rondine, despite its sometimes exhausting restlessness, can charm indeed. Great work Island City Opera!” – Opera Chaser
Cast of La Rondine
La Rondine stars Eileen Meredith, Liz Russ, Alex Boyer, Sergio Gonzalez and Anders Froehlich.
Puccini, Modernism & La Rondine by William 'Rock' Hill
Giacomo Puccini as a modernist; influenced by the Viennese School in tonality and by Debussy in harmony and orchestration?
A Night to Shine! June 11, 2018
You are invited to spend an evening in celebration and song with Island City Opera, Monday, June 11, 6:30PM, at Angelas, 1640 Park St, Alameda.
“Try as you might, there’s just no withstanding the emotional pull of “Little Women,” composer-librettist Mark Adamo’s 1998 operatic adaptation of the Louisa May Alcott classic…And really, why try to resist?
Island City’s splendid production, thoughtfully staged by director Igor Vieira and conducted by Dana Sadava with a firm but fluid hand, matches the openness of its material point for point.” – Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle
Opera Beyond the Usual – Little Women Edition
Navigating unfamiliar plots; Little Women edition
Maestra Dana Sadava, Lyrical & Modern
Meet Maestra Dana Sadava and hear her insights into lyrical and modern elements of Adamo’s American masterpiece in this brief video interview.
Opera in a Yankee Key by Michael Stevens, Ph.D
Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women as an opera? How did it occur to composer and librettist Mark Adamo that this would make an opera?
Wide Awake in L Sonnambula
“Island City Opera is connected to it’s community in a way that big institutions aren’t… I’ve never seen an ensemble with such comedic timing… Eileen Meredith displayed a confident handle on Amina’s virtuosic coloratura… Sergio Gonzalez at his best in plaintive passages… Aimee Puentes a firecracker, cross between Sofia Loren and Lucille Ball.” Joe Cadagan, San Francisco Classical Voice.
Cast of La Sonnambula
The illustrious cast of La Sonnambula
Writing & Rewriting La Sonnambula by Steven Kahn
“There is no writing—just rewriting”. Composer Vincenzo Bellini and librettist Felice Romani found this to be abundantly so.
Vincenzo Bellini’s Place of Honor in Opera by William 'Rock' Hill
Vincenzo Bellini’s place of honor in opera history.
Rimsky-Korsakov US Premiere
“…a wonderfully concentrated dose of Rimsky-Korsakov’s rich harmonic language and theatrical suavity… the chief allure is the ripeness of his orchestral imagination…a wealth of harmonic modes…Alex Boyer a chillingly muscular and venomous account of the title role…” – Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle
Island City Opera Reveals Two Sides of Rimsky-Korsakov Nicholas Jones, San Francisco Classical Voice
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov one-acts — Mozart & Salieri and Kashchey, the Immortal — are radically different.
Salieri & Mozart Co-Composers?
Mozart and Salieri ‘lost’ composition played in Prague
Lidiya Yankovskaya Conducts Rimsky-Korsakov
Russian-born conductor Lidiya Yankovskaya leads Island City Opera’s Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov operas “Mozart and Salieri” and “Kashchey the Immortal” (a North American premiere).
Massenet’s Don Quixote Bows at Island City Opera Charlise Tiee, San Francisco Classical Voice
Massenet’s opera shows the would-be knight errant at his most tender and whimsical. – Charlise Tiee, San Francisco Classical Voice
Review: ‘Don Quichotte’ adds French twist to Quixote legend Sam Hurwitt, San Jose Mercury News
“…Buffy Baggott is a wonderfully animated, coquettish Dulcinee…Bass-baritone William Pickersgill brings a somber, stoic dignity to the role of Don Quichotte that makes him seem deeply touching and not at all foolish…” – Sam Hurwitt, San Jose Mercury News
Don Quichotte Director’s Notes by Igor Vieira, Stage Director
I discovered Massenet’s Don Quichotte listening to Samuel Ramey sing both Quichotte and Sancho…a revelatory experience that has haunted me for 20 years.
Bojan Knezevic stars in Don Pasquale
“It’s physically demanding, too. You have to always be pushing to the max. For me, that’s a constant, beautiful challenge.” – Georgia Rowe, San Jose Mercury News
Yefim Maizel directs L’heure espagnole and La dame de Monte Carlo
Yefim Maizel directs a comic gem, L’heure espagnole, by Maurice Ravel, September 25th, 2016, 3PM.
Julia Hunt-Nielsen stars in La dame de Monte Carlo
Julia Hunt Nielsen in Francis Poulenc’s one-woman lyric tragedy for soprano; a kaleidoscope of emotions, a woman, betrayed, finds refuge in the elation of gambling.
Bradley Kynard as the ‘Muleteer’ in L’heure espagnole
Bradley Kynard stars as Ramiro in Maurice Ravel’s hilarious L’heure espagnole; a farce about a lusty Spanish wife juggling lovers while her husband is preoccupied with clockwork mechanisms. Hilarity ensues!
Engaging Rigoletto for Island City Opera
“Island City Opera opened its second season with a beautifully sung Rigoletto last weekend.” – Charlise Tiee, San Francisco Classical Voice
‘La Boheme’ is beautifully rendered
“Should you decide to indulge yourself in a performance of Island City Opera’s “La Boheme,” be sure to bring along a supply of tissues — you’ll need them.” – Enterprise-Record
"Island City Opera Proves Its Worth"
Presents two one-act operas, ‘Il Tabarro’ (The Cloak) a tragedy by Puccini, and Rossini’s comic ‘Il Signor Bruschino’.“
