Fifth Annual Opera News Awards Issue Is Published in November, with Salutes to the Five Honorees

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The fifth annual Opera News Awards are the cover story of the November 2009 issue of Opera News. Other feature articles in the new issue include an introduction to Janacek’s From the House of the Dead, just in time for the Met’s production on November 12; a profile of New York City Opera’s George Steel; and a tribute to the incomparable Hildegard Behrens. This month’s offerings from the Metropolitan Opera Guild include lectures on From the House of the Dead; “Puccini the Popular”; French, German and English opera style; and “French Connections”.

Honored for their distinguished achievement in and contribution to opera, this year’s Opera News Award recipients are Martina Arroyo, Joyce DiDonato, Gerald Finley, Philip Glass and Shirley Verrett. Each of these singular artists receives a tribute in the new issue of Opera News, written by one of its editors: Brian Kellow (Arroyo), Oussama Zahr (DiDonato), Louise T. Guinther (Finley), Adam Wasserman (Glass), and F. Paul Driscoll (Verrett). The awards ceremony, a popular gala event, will take place at New York’s Gotham Hall on Thursday, November 19. A starry line-up of performers – Stephanie Blythe, Danielle de Niese, Audra McDonald, Paul Simon and Deborah Voigt – will present the awards, and Thomas Hampson and Susan Graham return by popular demand as co-hosts. Tickets ranging in price from $450 - $850 are available from the Met Guild at 212-769-7009 or at www.metguild.org.

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