Dan Kempson & Sidney Outlaw nominated for Grammy Award

Dan Kempson and Naxos' L'Orestie d'Eschyle

Darius Milhaud's trilogy L'Orestie d'Eschyle on the Naxos label has been nominated for Best Opera Recording by the GRAMMY Awards. The recording features two singing who have appeared regularly on this site, Dan Kempson in the critical role of Orestes and Sidney Outlaw sang Apollo. The recording features the University of Michigan Choirs and Symphony Orchestra and required 350 musicians.

Part of the great French musical tradition and a member of Les Six, Darius Milhaud was an important avant-garde figure in early 20th-century Paris. The Oresteia of Aeschylus trilogy arose from his lifelong interest in Greek mythology and drama, inspired by the expressive, syncopated rhythms of Paul Claudel’s poetic texts. The trilogy consists of Agamemnon, Op. 14, Les choephores, Op. 24 and Les eumenides, Op. 41.

Sidney Outlaw

In addition to innovative rhythmic elements, the trilogy exhibits complex harmonic techniques, particularly polytonality, which Milhaud believed gave him more varied ways of expressing sweetness in addition to violence.

The 57th Annual GRAMMY Awards telecast will be held on Sunday, Feb. 8, 2015.

Dan Kempson will be singing the role of Stanley in Previn's A Streetcar Named Desire for Townsend Opera on February 15 and with Fresno Grand Opera on February 15.  Sidney Outlaw will perform Handel's Messiah with the Oratorio Society of New York City at Carnegie Hall on Saturday, December 20th.

Make sure to order your 2015 Barihunks Charity Calendar and enjoy 19 of operas hottest me throughout the year.

Keith Phares reprises Elmer Gantry with Tulsa Opera

Keith Phares in Tulsa Opera's promotional material for Elmer Gantry

Keith Phares in going to reprise his role as Elmer Gantry in Robert Aldridge's opera about the womanizing, hypocritical religious figure who attains great heights before being exposed and disgraced. The opera will play for two nights at the Tulsa Opera on February 28 and March 2. Tickets are available online.

Also in the show is Casey Yeargin as the Revival Worker. We recently featured him for his dramatic BariChunk to BariHunk transformation, which has been extremely popular and inspirational with readers.

Keith Phares sings, "When you hear the truth do you know it?"

Keith Phares sings,"Of course, I mean nothing to her"/"She is the sign to me"

Keith Phares in Elmer Gantry

Phares performed the role with the Nashville Opera in 2008 and in his debut with the Florentine Opera in 2010. The latter performance was recorded live and released on Naxos records and named Opera News' top opera recording of 2011.

Phares recently scored a huge critical success in Gregory Spears' chamber opera Paul's Case with the PROTOTYPE festival in New York City.