In this column, we explore singers to watch, celebrate new albums, and note new resources for singers and other industry changes.
Do We Really Want Opera for All?
When Opera Philadelphia’s General Director and President Anthony Roth Costanzo announced the company’s initiative to offer “set your own ticket prices, starting at $11,” it looked to be a way to revolutionize how tickets to the opera are sold. Patrons could buy any seat, for any opera, paying what they wanted.
It seemed right in line with the company’s mission of “embracing innovation and developing opera for the 21st century.” The day before the announcement, the company sold 20 tickets. After launching their program, they sold 2,200 tickets, approximately 30% of their entire season. The company not only saw an uptick in sales but found that two thirds of purchases were from first-time buyers.
Many praised the company for their efforts, but a group of “opera insiders” noted that while this was a wonderful community gesture, ticket prices are not the major barrier, citing that Americans will spend $300 dollars a ticket for a Broadway show. The online debate of what’s really keeping people from the opera houses ranged from “people not wanting to spend money for an opera when they don’t know the story, the artists, or the company” to a general sadness about the decline of interest in opera in general.
As a person who has worked as a singer and on the administrative side of two opera companies, I recognize that the major conundrum is that those of us in the field have been tasked with preserving the works of composers we cherish. We fell in love with the art form because of thrilling singers performing in the original language in lush productions.
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For many years, that model worked—but as costs have mounted and interest has waned, opera companies, and the industry as a whole, must evolve. What that evolution looks like is based on many factors: city size, artistic offerings, donor fatigue, demographics, education and, as we’ve been learning over the past few years, how these works we love and adore play to a modern audience.
While what Opera Philadelphia is doing might not work for every opera company, the desire to remove real and perceived barriers without sacrificing the quality that we’ve all come to love should be the goal of not only opera companies but every nonprofit performing arts organization. So, I say, Bravo! to Opera Philadelphia and other companies like them, that are working to create a company that is an invaluable part of their community.
Aubrey Bergauer
“The Steve Jobs of Classical Music”
If you haven’t heard of entrepreneur Aubrey Bergauer, then perhaps you’ve been spending too much time trying to decipher the TikTok algorithm. Known for her “results-driven, customer-centric, data-obsessed pursuit of changing the narrative for the performing arts,” Bergauer is former chief executive of the California Symphony. This podcaster, speaker, and author of the book Run It Like a Business specializes in helping arts organizations to transform and grow their audience and donor base through an individually detailed, analysis-based program.
Some of her success stories include the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, the Bumbershoot Music & Arts Festival, and the Seattle Opera. She offers courses for organizations, the Run It Like a Business Academy, as well as the Changing the Narrative community.
With a list of past clients that include Boston Lyric Opera, LA Opera, and Lyric Opera of Chicago, Aubrey has become one of the strongest voices in what Southwest Airlines Magazine (December 2019) calls “redefining the classical concert experience.”
Five Singers to Watch in 2025
Tenor David Walton, known for his “elegant, lyric tenor with striking Italianate color” (NJArts.net, June 19, 2024), spends the 2024–25 season as Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia with Madison Opera and Minnesota Opera. He also joins California’s Livermore Valley Opera as Don Ottavio in their production of Don Giovanni. His orchestral appearances include Handel’s The Messiah with the Columbus Symphony Orchestra, Bach’s Christmas Oratorio with the Winona Symphony, and soloist in both Bach’s BWV 159 Cantata and Mozart’s Mass in C Minor with the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra. Walton also takes on the title role in Bernstein’s Candide in semi-staged performances with the South Florida Symphony Orchestra.
After critically acclaimed turns as the title role in Lucia di Lammermoor with Sarasota Opera and Giorgetta in On Site Opera’s site-specific production of Il tabarro, soprano Ashley Milanese will spend the season singing Puccini, Leoncavallo, and Verdi. Hailed for being a “superb actress and singer,” she joins Houston’s Opera in the Heights as Mimi in La bohème and returns to Sarasota Opera as Nedda in Pagliacci. Milanese also joins the roster of the Met to cover Gilda in their production of Rigoletto.
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Praised for her “velvety voice,” mezzo-soprano Zoie Reams excels in traditional as well as contemporary repertoire. She can be seen as Maddalena in Rigoletto and as the Mother in Jeanine Tesori/Tazewell Thompson’s Blue at Lyric Opera of Chicago. She will return to the Met to cover Charmain in John Adams’ Antony and Cleopatra. Reams can also be heard as the alto soloist in Handel’s Messiah with the Washington National Cathedral.
Known for her “mellifluous, creamy phrasing” and billed as a “new music diva,” soprano Lucy Shelton is at the forefront of 20th and 21st century music having premiered over one hundred new works. Her extensive discography includes the works of Elliott Carter, Oliver Knussen, Alberto Ginastera, and Ruth Crawford Seeger. This season Shelton performs the role of Lili in the world premiere of Laura Kaminsky/David Cote’s new opera, Lucidity, debuting with both On Site Opera and Seattle Opera. Her season also includes performances as The Teacher in Kaija Saariaho’s Innocence with the Dutch National Opera and Australia’s Adelaide Festival. The opera will be her debut at the Met in a future season.
Baritone Blake Denson, praised for his “roaring baritone” and “striking upper register,” will join Florida’s New World Symphony as the Mother in Kurt Weill’s Seven Deadly Sins. The role of Monterone will be his calling card at the Opéra National de Paris, LA Opera, and in his return to the Met, where Denson made his debut last season as Yamadori in Madama Butterfly and Pastor/Kaboom in Fire Shut Up in My Bones.
