Plastic Flowers - in Czech

Czech Premiere of Plastic Flowers: an opera by João MacDowell

Posted Posted in Brazilian Opera, contemporary opera, Performance Art

The Music Faculty at JAMU (Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts) proudly presents the Czech premiere of “Plastic Flowers,” an opera by Brazilian composer João MacDowell. Translated into Czech by Tomas Studeny, this emotionally charged opera promises to entrance audiences with its profound exploration of love, longing, and the complexities of human existence in a world of simulacra.

Ema Mitrovic - mezzo

Opera Composition – The Mezzo Voice – Fall 2024

Posted Posted in Brazilian Opera, contemporary opera, New Music, New Songs, Performance Art, Song, Songwriters

Professor: João MacDowell Mezzo-Soprano: Ema Mitrović The International Brazilian Opera Institute offers a contemporary opera composition course. The class will focus on: Students should develop skills in melodic writing, text editing for voice, harmonic development, rhythmic frame, large and expansive form, notation standards, software strategies for organization of large scores, techniques for remote recording and […]

Opera Composition Workshop in Brazil – The Whale Songs

Posted Posted in Brazilian Opera, Brazilian Symphonic Music, Concert, contemporary opera, New Music, New Songs, Song, Songwriters

The International Brazilian Opera Institute is offering a contemporary opera composition course workshop in partnership with the Cultural Institute Casa Nobre at Guarda do Embaú, Santa Catarina. Enjoy an immersive course with access to state-of-the-art grand pianos while waking up to the sound of whale songs—a unique experience in one of Brazil’s most beautiful natural environments. […]

Acropolis! Interactive Neighborhood Walking Tour of Morningside Heights

Posted Posted in contemporary opera, Performance Art, Uncategorized

Saturday, March 23, 12-3pm (rain date 3/24) Start: Riverside Drive & W111th Street, 12pm End: Amsterdam Avenue & W111th Street, 3pm Join us after the tour for a community forum, live music, and beverages REGISTRATION: Here Morningside Heights community and student groups are collaborating to produce Acropolis!, a unique walking tour of their neighborhood aimed […]

Seeding New Operas – Online Recital 2023

Posted Posted in Brazilian Opera, contemporary opera, New Music, New Songs, Performance Art

Over the last term, four new composers successfully completed the first stage in the opera composition workshop under mentorship by IBOC’s Artistic Director João MacDowell. The requirements for the work include: 1 – Pitching an idea for a work that can be engaging and meaningful to a contemporary opera company. 2 – Developing a dramatic […]

Florencia en el Amazonas at the Met – a review of the reviews

Posted Posted in Brazilian Opera, contemporary opera, New Music

by João MacDowell After reading the US reviews of the Met premiere of Florencia en el Amazonas, I feel compelled to write a review of the reviews. When Anglo-Saxon critics experience Latin American works, they often display their lack of knowledge about the history and context of the development of Latin American culture and the […]

Nov 28: Florencia en el Amazonas and The Seventh Seal – Recital and talk

Posted Posted in Brazilian Opera, Concert, contemporary opera, New Music

Florencia en el Amazonas and The Seventh Seal Join us for a conversation and performance of selections from Daniel Catán’s opera alongside music by João MacDowell. NOVEMBER 28, 2023 7 to 8:30 pm ETAMERICAS SOCIETY 680 Park Avenue New York Overview On November 28, the Americas Society will host this free event in person. Please register […]

Panel: Opera as a Driver of Economic Growth

Posted Posted in African-American, Brazilian Jazz, Brazilian Opera, Brazilian Symphonic Music, contemporary opera, Indigenous music, New Music, Performance Art

Peter Gelb, Maria Manetti Shrem General Manager of the Metropolitan Opera House; Flavia Furtado, Executive Director of the Amazonas Opera Festival at Teatro Amazonas; and Andrea Puente-Catán, Director of Development at Ballet Hispánico (and the widow and legacy caregiver of Mexican opera composer Daniel Catán), and Tony Shivers, Director of Government Affairs at Opera America will come together to discuss the positive impacts of opera in their respective cities.

Composition Immersion in Brazil

Posted Posted in Brazilian Jazz, Brazilian Opera, Brazilian Symphonic Music, Concert, contemporary opera, Indigenous music, New Music, New Songs, Performance Art, Songwriters

The International Brazilian Opera Institute offers a contemporary opera composition course workshop in partnership with the Cultural Institute Casa Nobre at Guarda do Embaú, Santa Catarina.  Enjoy an immersive course with access to state-of-the-art grand pianos while waking up to the ocean’s sound and the whales’ songs. A life-changing experience in one of the most […]