It's far from being one of his best-known operas, yet Donizetti's Pia de' Tolomei, after Dante's Divine Comedy, has a memorable performance history. Pia now sees its American premiere. We spoke with its conductor, Lidiya Yankovskaya about performing rare works, and her respect for the singers she conducts.
Read MoreWithin 40 minutes of the first rehearsal, I wrote on my score, “Never lose this woman’s number.”
Read More"The musical field gains a great deal when our artistic leaders are from diverse backgrounds. Art is a reflection of the world around us. If only a small slice of humanity participates in the art-making, we – as creators in an uber-collaborative process – cannot fully express our world, and, in this way, are significantly less effective in reaching our audiences."
Read MoreAny art is an expression of the world around us, and our world has changed dramatically. One of the things I love most about opera is the way it brings together individuals of all backgrounds and fields in the creation of a single work. This particular work, an opera that describes the unsympathetic, cold reality of the immigration process, was relevant when it was written in 1949, and has unfortunately become even more relevant today. However, as I watched the diverse cast, the crew moving the set pieces, and the international production team, I felt optimistic.
Read MoreYankovskaya is bright, talented, experienced and bursting with ideas.
Read More“The problem is that in the world of classical music, everyone is afraid of risk. Money is always not enough, everyone relies on charitable donations, and therefore the administration prefers not to experiment and, following customary traditions, chooses male conductors. The hardest thing is to get a chance to show yourself.”
Read More“I was sad, in a way, to find out when I got this position – and we didn’t know this until we did some research – that I was the only female music director of a major opera company in this country. But I think it’s starting to change, and there are so many amazing women doing work out there, conducting and directing, and doing behind the scenes work leading companies.”
Read More“If I could come up with an ideal position for myself, I would come up with just this one. Chicago Opera Theater in all respects is perfectly suited to what interests me – namely, modern, unusual and rare operas.”
Read MoreLidiya Yankovskaya, the newly named music director of Chicago Opera Theater, has built an imposing reputation in opera and new music. Her schedule includes symphonic and opera assignments across the country. Here she chats with OPERA America President/CEO Marc A. Scorca about her life and career, and the challenge of developing new audiences for opera.
Read MoreThe Russian-born conductor comes to Chicago bearing an extensive East Coast resume.
Read More“Lidiya represents the future of opera,” noted COT Board Vice President Susan Irion. “She is as skilled with operas of the past as she is with works of living composers, and often collaborates with other arts and community groups to create productions highly relevant to her audiences.
Read MoreConductor Lidiya Yankovskaya chats with Classical WETA's Nicole Lacroix about how musical styles illustrate comic or macabre action in two modern mini-masterpieces.
Read More“It’s my way of giving back,” she said. “To me, as a musician, there’s only so much I can do to help this and other issues today, and I don’t have millions of dollars that I can donate to some organization to make an impact. But I can do something like this.”
Read MoreThe European refugee crisis put a spotlight on the plight of displaced people. One U.S. organization is focusing that gaze through music – and it’s a mission it takes very personally.
Read MoreIf there were a futures market for classical music, the touts would be pushing Lidiya Yankovskaya.
Read MoreAt the project’s second-ever show, around 60 people were in the church pews while more than 81,000 people watched the livestream.
Read MoreBeing anti-art means being anti-diversity. In threatening to slash our country’s meager support for artistic expression, our current leaders demonstrate once again their preference for uniformity and conformity. Refugee Orchestra Project celebrates diversity and multiculturalism—two of the most powerful attributes of our nation—through our artistry.
Read MoreAn opera about a transgender man moving from Afghanistan to the United States premiering in Boston this weekend could be perceived as a political statement, a critique of the government, a call to action. Composer Leo Hurley and librettist Charles Osborne could have conceived the idea for the opera while flipping through The New York Times the last month. But this opera’s story doesn’t begin on the front page of The Times, and that’s not really what this story is about.
Read MoreWith all the current news about refugees driven by conflict, hardship, or climate change, it’s only timely to have the makings of a refugee orchestra. But as it turns out, in classical music, refugee performers and composers are practically a tradition.
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