Wagner as a Bridge: Singing Beyond Boundaries

Katherine Goforth will showcase her powerful, award-winning tenor voice in concert this spring!

Katherine is the first winner of the True Voice Competition for transgender and non-binary singers. Katherine is undeterred by historical barriers in the performing arts and is finding new ways to show up authentically on stage, in the rehearsal room, and as a creative artist.

FREE for BWS members. Nonmembers may purchase tickets here for $35. Student tickets are $10.

Katherine is the recipient of Washington National Opera’s inaugural True Voice Award for transgender and non-binary singers and the Career Advancement Award from the fourth Dallas Symphony Orchestra Women in Classical Music Symposium. She won critical acclaim as part of the cast that premiered Philip Venables and Ted Huffman’s The Faggots and Their Friends Between Revolutions at the Manchester International Festival, Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, and Bregenzer Festspiele. Based in Portland, OR, she has appeared extensively as a soloist with Pacific Northwest-based arts organizations, including Portland Opera, Bozeman Symphony, Walla Walla Symphony, Yakima Symphony, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Opera Bend, Opera Theater Oregon, Sound Salon (formerly Byron Schenkman and Friends), Artists Repertory Theatre, Fuse Theatre Ensemble, and Pink Martini.

Katherine was most recently part of the team that developed and produced Nu Nah-Hup: Sacajawea’s Story, a collaboration with Rose Ann Abrahamson, Sacajawea’s familial descendant, Hovia Edwards, Native American flutist, and Justin Ralls, composer and artistic director of Opera Theater Oregon, starring mezzo-soprano Marion Newman and baritone Richard Zeller. She has written for Opera Canada, and spoken at Boston Conservatory, Whitman College, and Renegade Opera.

Katherine was a member of the International Opera Studio of Oper Köln, received her Bachelor’s degree from St. Olaf College, her Master’s degree from the Juilliard School, and attended the Franz-Schubert-Institut, Britten Pears Young Artist Programme, Heidelberger Frühling Liedakademie, Georg Solti Accademia, and Boston Wagner Institute.

Saul Lilienstein explores new dimensions in Wagner’s final masterwork, Parsifal. This lecture will be held online via Zoom; we will send a registration link via email.

FREE FOR MEMBERS - must RSVP via email. Non-members may purchase tickets here for $10 admission.

A former student of Leonard Bernstein, Saul Lilienstein holds B.A. and M.S. degrees in music from Queens College, NY. He has served as Director of the Handel Choir of Baltimore and the Harford Choral Society and, for many years, as Artistic Director and Conductor of Maryland’s Harford Opera Theatre and then of Operetta Renaissance in Baltimore. In 2005, the Wagner Society of Washington, DC bestowed the Society’s Award for “uncommon contributions” upon Lilienstein, who is honored to join past recipients Placido Domingo, Thomas Stewart, Evelyn Lear, and Heinz Fricke.

Kip Cranna presents “Wagner in his youth: How Beethoven and Bellini won his heart.” This will be a free lecture at the Copley Square (Central) branch of the Boston Public Library, held in the Commonwealth Salon. Free and open to the public, no tickets are required.

Clifford (Kip) Cranna, Dramaturg (Scholar in Residence) Emeritus of San Francisco Opera, served on the staff for over forty years and was Director of Music Administration for over thirty years. In 2008 he was awarded the San Francisco Opera Medal, the company’s highest honor, and in 2012 he received the Bernard Osher Cultural Award for distinguished efforts to bring excellence to a cultural institution. In 2014 he received the Star of Excellence Award for outstanding service to the programs of the San Francisco Opera Guild.

He holds a Ph.D. in musicology from Stanford University. For thirty years he was Program Editor and Lecturer for the Carmel Bach Festival.  He has taught at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, lectures, and writes frequently on music.

Dr. Cranna currently teaches at the Fromm Institute at the University of San Francisco and the Osher Lifelong Learning Institutes at UC Berkeley, San Francisco State University, and Dominican University.

Wendy Bryn Harmer is a young dramatic soprano from Northern California, best known for her roles in Der Ring des Nibelungen.

She will sing in a recital at Rabb Hall at the Copley Square (Central) branch of the Boston Public Library. The concert will be free and open to everyone, BWS members and the public. No tickets necessary.

In the 2023-24 season, she sings her first performances of Brünnhilde in Die Walküre with Atlanta Opera. She also returns to the Metropolitan Opera as Kitty Hart in the new production of Dead Man Walking and sings Ravel’s Shéhérazade with the Utah Symphony. Last season, she returned to Utah Opera for further performances of Senta and sang Sieglinde in Die Walküre in concert with Michigan Opera Theater in addition to returning to the Metropolitan Opera roster for its productions of Lohengrin and Der fliegende Höllander.

Sought-after in German repertoire, she has also recently excelled as Chrysothemis in Elektra with the Metropolitan Opera, Leonore in Fidelio with Opera Omaha and Boston Baroque, the title role of Ariadne auf Naxos with Palm Beach Opera, and Eglantine in von Weber’s rarely-performed Euryanthe at the Bard Music Festival. She previously joined Seattle Opera as well as the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Montreal Symphony Orchestra, and the Boston Symphony Orchestra at the Tanglewood Music Festival for operas the Ring Cycle. Her countless performances within the epic work encompass the roles of Sieglinde, Gerhilde, and Orltinde in Die Walküre; Freia in Das Rheingold; and Gutrune and Third Norn in Götterdämmerung.

“Erica describes the disasters and near catastrophes that occurred while performing Wagner at the Met. Erica presents an exploration of her experience with a special focus on the difficulties in his Lohengrin.”

This discussion will be held online over Zoom; we will set up an RSVP link closer to the event.

Violinist turned author Erica Miner now has a multi-faceted career as an award-winning author, screenwriter, journalist, and lecturer. A native of Detroit, she studied violin with Boston Symphony Orchestra concertmaster Joseph Silverstein at Boston University where she graduated cum laude; the New England Conservatory of Music; and the Tanglewood Music Center, summer home of the Boston Symphony, where she performed with such celebrated conductors as Leonard Bernstein and Erich Leinsdorf. Erica went on to perform with the prestigious Metropolitan Opera Company for 21 years, where she worked closely with renowned maestro James Levine.

Join us in celebrating the culmination of the BWI students’ hard work this summer! This will be an all-Wagner concert featuring each student performing memorized, fully-staged Wagner scenes.

Overseen and coached by Jane Eaglen, directed and staged by Danielle Wright, with the orchestral Brett Hodgdon and Robert Mollicone accompanying singers on piano.

The event will be from 4-6pm in Seully Hall at Boston Conservatory at Berklee, who are our gracious hosts for the Institute.

FREE to Boston Wagner Society members and Students with valid ID.

$20 to all others, payable in advance on our website, or at the door.

Boston Wagner Institute will announce more events soon, so join the Boston Wagner Society to take advantage of unlimited free access to all BWI and BWS events!

Helen Greenwald is a musicologist, cellist, and translator. Her scholarly interests center on vocal music of the 18th–20th centuries, and her work has appeared in a myriad of renowned published journals. She is the convenor and editor of the Oxford Handbook of Opera (Oxford University Press, 2014), a volume of fifty essays by an international array of scholars.

Dr. Greenwald will be discussing the complexities of performing Wagner in today’s world. Can we reconcile the man or even separate him from his art?

Greenwald also writes regularly for the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Opera at Covent Garden, and the Metropolitan Opera. She was Visiting Professor of Music at the University of Chicago in 2008. She currently is a professor of musicology at New England Conservatory. Her current project is a book on Verdi's Rigoletto for Oxford University Press.

The event will be 2-4pm at Boston Conservatory at Berklee, Room 406 (Opera Studio at 8 Fenway). We appreciate them as are our gracious hosts for the Institute.

FREE to Boston Wagner Society members and Students with valid ID.

$10 to all others payable in advance on our website or at the door.

Boston Wagner Institute will announce more events soon, so join the Boston Wagner Society to take advantage of unlimited free access to all BWI and BWS events!

International Wagnerian Mark Delavan will work with the young singers of the Boston Wagner Institute.

The event will be from 2-4pm in Houston Hall at Boston Conservatory at Berklee, who are our gracious hosts for the Institute.

FREE to Boston Wagner Society members and Students with valid ID.

$20 to all others, payable in advance on our website, or at the door.

Boston Wagner Institute will announce more events soon, so join the Boston Wagner Society to take advantage of unlimited free access to all BWI and BWS events!

International and local Wagnerian Renée Tatum will work with the young singers of the Boston Wagner Institute.

The event will be from 2-4pm in Houston Hall at Boston Conservatory at Berklee, who are our gracious hosts for the Institute.

FREE to Boston Wagner Society members and Students with valid ID.

$20 to all others, payable in advance on our website, or at the door.

Boston Wagner Institute will announce more events soon, so join the Boston Wagner Society to take advantage of unlimited free access to all BWI and BWS events!

Internationally-recognized Wagnerian, founder of BWI, and Boston Wagner Society President Jane Eaglen will work with the students of the Boston Wagner Institute in a public masterclass.

The event will be from 2-4pm in Houston Hall at Boston Conservatory at Berklee, who are our gracious hosts for the Institute.

FREE to Boston Wagner Society members and Students with valid ID.

$20 to all others, payable in advance on our website, or at the door.

Boston Wagner Institute will announce more events soon, so join the Boston Wagner Society to take advantage of unlimited free access to all BWI and BWS events!

Carole Krusemark is a vocal pathologist/singing voice specialist at the Center for Laryngeal Surgery and Voice Rehabilitation at the Massachusetts General Hospital and adjunct faculty at the Massachusetts General Hospital Institute of Health Professions. She will talk about care of the voice and how to ensure one has a long and healthy singing career. This will be an informative discussion for musicians and music appreciators just as much as vocalists.

Current clinical focus includes rehabilitation of the speaking and singing voice and the impact of trauma on the professional and emerging vocalist. She has worked in a variety of settings, including hospitals, out-patient clinics, schools, and military treatment facilities, with clients across the lifespan. As a vocalist and former singing voice teacher, she brings her understanding of voice terminology and technique to her work with vocalists, while her medical speech pathology background informs her understanding of vocal function.

The event will be from 2-4pm in Houston Hall at Boston Conservatory at Berklee, who are our gracious hosts for the Institute.

FREE to Boston Wagner Society members and Students with valid ID.

$10 to all others payable in advance on our website or at the door.

Boston Wagner Institute will announce more events soon, so join the Boston Wagner Society to take advantage of unlimited free access to all BWI and BWS events!

Internationally-recognized Wagnerian Ben Heppner will work with the young singers of the Boston Wagner Institute.

The event will be from 2-4pm in Houston Hall at Boston Conservatory at Berklee, who are our gracious hosts for the Institute.

FREE to Boston Wagner Society members and Students with valid ID.

$20 to all others, payable in advance on our website, or at the door.

Boston Wagner Institute will announce more events soon, so join the Boston Wagner Society to take advantage of unlimited free access to all BWI and BWS events!

In collaboration with Boston Opera On Tap, BWS and BWI shall present music, merriment, & merlot with young dramatic voices and budding Wagnerian singers from around the world in your favorite local pub! This evening is a program of singers involved with Boston Wagner Institute, whether as BWI students, staff, or volunteers of BWS.

Join us with an ale and an aria!

$12 in advance. $16 at the door.
Enter the code Valhalla for $10 tickets!

Doors are at 5:30pm. Showtime is 6pm.

Dinner and drinks are available at all tables.

(NO REFUNDS OR EXCHANGES)

More info and tickets can be purchased here!

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Opera lovers may think of Wagner’s Isolde and Puccini’s Turandot as living in different operatic universes. But the truth—long hidden—is that Puccini was a devoted Wagnerian and emulated the German maestro throughout his career.

The antagonistic cultural milieu that pitted Verdi against Wagner (and, by extension, Italy against Germany) into which Puccini stepped at the start of his career has been well documented. Verdi, a national hero of the Italian Risorgimento, saw his competition with Wagner in patriotic terms: in Autumn 1892 Verdi wrote, “the public wants Italian music and not imitations or travesties of German music. We need other stuff than ‘the Music of the Future.’” Since Puccini’s mentor was Giulio Ricordi, Verdi’s publisher and champion, and an anti-Wagnerian—at least until his firm acquired the Italian rights to the Wagner operas—the younger composer kept his affinities disguised.

This talk traces the many ways that Puccini “secretly” showed his admiration for Wagner, from his earliest opera to his last, Turandot, which was left unfinished at his death. On one “deathbed“ sketch that Puccini intended for the finale of that opera, he wrote “poi Tristano” – or “then Tristan.” We will see how he could have used a theme from Tristan und Isolde at that point.

Introduced by Jane Eaglen, an all-Wagner program featuring excerpts from Die Walküre, Tannhaüser, and art songs including his Wesendonck Lieder!

FREE to all! No ticket required.

Featuring artists:

Brett Hodgdon, piano

Mark Tempesta, tenor

Tara Jamshidian, soprano

Allyson Bennett, soprano

Katerina Skafidas, soprano

Calandra Damouras, soprano

Alexandra Wiebe, soprano

Join Boston Wagner Society president Jane Eaglen in a one-on- one dialogue with Amber Wagner!

FREE for members! RSVP by email at info@bostonwagnersociety.org

$10 Non-Members.

SPECIAL STUDENT DISCOUNT! Students free with valid institution ID. No purchase ahead necessary.

Order online here, or pay cash or check at the door.

Join us as we experience the lovely Wagnerian mezzo-soprano, Renée Tatum in recital at Boston Public Library’s Rabb Hall. She has been up and coming for a long time, now a dazzling star in the opera world, and is bringing in the next generation of Wagnerian singers. She will also have a brief Q&A with our president, Jane Eaglen.

All are welcome, and the concert is FREE to attend regardless of membership.

Did we mention… Renée Tatum… in concert… for FREE??

Save the date!

Maine is a small state, yet it can claim connections with several of the great Wagnerian divas of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Ms. Schwind will discuss the four most famous prima donnas who had ties to Maine: Annie Louise Cary, Lillian Nordica, Emma Eames, and Olive Fremstad. Each had a wide repertoire, but among them, they performed thirteen different Wagnerian roles. The divas were born in succeeding decades, from the 1840s to the 1870s, so their experiences offer an interesting look at Wagner's operas over time. Each singer was fiercely independent and was driven and dedicated to her art.

In her illustrated presentation, Arlene Schwind will explore their fascinating lives and careers with a focus on their Wagnerian performances-- and what contemporary critics had to say about them.

This is a Zoom event and registration is free. Register HERE!

Join us as we hear our President Jane Eaglen coach young dramatic singers on Wagnerian scenes.

This workshop will be streamed LIVE and available for in-person guests via RSVP ONLY. REGISTER HERE!

Registration deadline: June 16

NEC’s COVID security and safety protocols require registration of all guests for this event, with proof of vaccination by JUNE 15. No day-of entry, unless with valid NEC student, faculty, or alumni ID.

This event is free, we just kindly ask for donations for future educational programming for young Wagnerians!

For more info on BWI programming or audition information for future programs, email bwi@bostonwagnersociety.org for updates.

We recently experienced Stephanie Blythe in conversation with Jane Eaglen on Wagner, the opera business, and singing altogether!

The live-stream of this is available for viewing on-demand for free on our Facebook, if you missed this informative and lively chat!

$15 for nonmembers. FREE for members!

Opera Maine presents in Boston in anticipation of their July 2022 performance of The Flying Dutchman!

Artistic Director Dona D. Vaughn, Maestro Israel Gursky, set designer German Cardenas-Alaminos, and costume designer Millie Hiibel will share some of their plans for Maine’s first presentation of a Wagner opera, The Flying Dutchman. Soprano Maureen Brabec, who covers the role of Senta will perform, with Noriko Yasuda at the piano.

This event is free and open to all and will be live-streamed on our Boston Wagner Facebook.
It can also be viewed later on-demand via the same link.

The Commonwealth Salon is accessible from the Boylston St. entrance of the Boston Public Library.

Former violinist at the Metropolitan Opera, writer, and reviewer Erica Miner presents “Berlioz and Wagner.”

Wagner openly admired Berlioz and made frequent references to him in his writings. Berlioz, however, was much more reticent about Wagner. They did attend each other’s performances, exchanged letters, and met on more than one occasion. Erica discusses the fascinating relationship between these two eccentric masters.

Register Here

Tundi builds a Ring for New England: Live on Zoom

Zoom discussion with music from the conductor, Hugh Keelan, and Brünnhilde, Jenna Rae.

Zoom links will be sent.

Rabb Hall, Boston Public Library

William Berger, Metropolitan Opera Radio host and commentator will talk about his most recent book, with a foreword by mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton.

This will be live-streamed and available to watch on YouTube later via this link.

A chat with Jane Eaglen, a preeminent Brünnhilde (and Isolde!) in conversation with us over a Zoom Q&A.

Special Online Concert with Renowned Heldentenor Stefan Vinke, Soprano Sabine Vinke, and Pianist/Conductor Rainer Armbrust.

Online concert dedicated to Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

With soprano Jenna Rae and pianist Hugh Keelan.

Excerpts of Brūnnhilde, including the Immolation Scene.

Tickets $12