Absolute legends at the opening of ENO Dead Man Walking. What a night!! Christine Rice and Michael Mayes were absolutely astonishing. I love this work – and repping Jake Heggie, I’ve seen it at least a dozen times. This was something truly special. So grateful to have been at the Coli for this. 🥰

Tonight's rehearsal of Dead Man Walking at ENO was outstanding. Such a powerful piece.

🚨 Big Cultural Highlight Alert! ‘Dead Man Walking’ at ENO is emotionally and psychologically compelling and got a huge and well-deserved ovation on its first night! 👏🏽

Dead Man Walking at ENO, a highlight of the London opera season. Exceptional cast and creatives deliver an extraordinary evening. Christine Rice and Michael Mayes stunning in lead roles with fabulous performances from Jacques Imbrailo, Madeleine Boreham and Sarah Connolly in supporting roles.

Most contemporary operas fail not because of the music but because of dramatically limp librettos. But Dead Man Walking is a theatrical + musical triumph: total commitment by the ENO company. Jake Heggie does tremendous work with Terrence McNally’s first-rate libretto. Taut and terrific. Go!

i hate that AI has now caused me to question the authenticity of cute animal videos online, which is my primary use of social media. i don't even know if this baby penguin actually wore a beret to go buy a tiny baguette in paris

Excellent first night's performance of Jake Heggie's opera Dead Man Walking at ENO. And one of the great [sic] performances in this or any other house from Christine Rice, as Sister Helen Prejean.

Dead Man Walking - a powerful and humane opera about an inhumane system. The lead performances from Michael Mayes and Christine Rice are particularly strong 👏 👏 👏

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to our gleeful, gorgeous, grounded, gutsy, gay-gasping, galaxy-gazing glamazon!! ✨ @jbartonmezzo.bsky.social 📸 Stacey Bode

Sensational opening night of the Met season – @themilesshow.bsky.social gave a truly EPIC performance as Sam Clay in The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay. Super proud to be on Team Mykkanen! 🤩

“Hey Sister!” Can’t get to San Francisco? Don’t miss the Dead Man Walking livestream this Saturday, Sept 20, at 7:30pm Pacific. Tickets are $25 and include a 48-hour on-demand period September 21-23. 🎟️ Tickets and details: sfopera.com/digital/livestream 📸 Cory Weaver / @sfopera.bsky.social

The President of the United States is threatening to go to war with an American city. This is not a joke. This is not normal. Donald Trump isn't a strongman, he's a scared man. Illinois won’t be intimidated by a wannabe dictator.

this iconic advertising copywriter named Kathy Hepinstall Parks died over the weekend and I wanted to share something from her website I thought Bluesky would like

New site drop! Gene Scheer’s libretti light up the Met – and beyond – this season. ✨ You've heard his brilliant collabs with Jake Heggie, Joby Talbot, Jennifer Higdon, Tobias Picker – and now Mason Bates. Don't miss The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, opening the Met season! genescheer.com

ICYMI, @themilesshow.bsky.social is out here putting the *Miles* in Career Milestone – it’s his first cover story! 🙌 Major thanks to writer Hannah Edgar and editor Hattie Butterworth for this fabulous feature. Pick up the fall issue of Opera Now or visit verismopr.com/mmoncover to check it out!

Opera Magazine’s 25th anniversary feature on Dead Man Walking is packed with insights, memories, and images of the artists who know it best. Nine pages of them, in fact! 🤯 What a way to honor the world’s most performed opera of the last 25 years. 🫶🏻

I am having so many feelings about this piece; writing and editing listings at Time Out was an incredible journalism boot camp, a wonderfully immersive way to learn about New York City culture, and simply the coolest job I ever had.

In my debut for @theatlantic.com, I wrote about the disappearance of cultural listings from major New York media outlets, and what it portends for artists, audiences, institutions, and journalists. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

I just heard someone refer to an old white guy as a stale pale male, and I may never be the same

Some valuable thoughts in this thread.

Hungary banned anything that “promotes homosexuality,” which means Pride. However, today over 500,000 people in Budapest told the government to fuck off. 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

We all deserve better than clickbait – especially when we’re trying to tell stories that actually matter. 💜

In the latest TMDTA podcast Hattie and Becca chat with @jbartonmezzo.bsky.social about her experiences as a queer woman in America and discovering her ADHD. She also shares powerful insights into body positivity, her approach to music and the importance of using her platform. Link in our bio.

This July 4th, I’ll be celebrating a flag I can support wholeheartedly – join us at the Barbican for Classical Pride! 🏳️‍🌈 P.S. To get in the mood, check out some of the classically queer rep in this video, including the opera character I’m *convinced* is a pansexual icon. jamiebartonmezzo.com/cptix

must be incredibly frustrating and disheartening to have federal funding that was promised to you for important work suddenly and arbitrarily ripped away

I could watch (and listen to!) this all day

Thank you @washingtonpost.com for publishing my opinion. Now is not the time to silence ourselves. www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/05/07/trump-kennedy-center-boycott-yankovskaya P.S. I would never call it Trump’s Kennedy Center. But we don’t get to write our own headlines… 📸 Karli Cadel

Anytime @song-of-lark.bsky.social posts anything about San Francisco Symphony drama I immediately drop everything to read it, how could I not with openers like this

Today, in an opera review, I read: "A stage plus an elaborate set plus someone singing their inner turmoil in English equals musical theater, at least in my mind." If you can't fathom opera written in English – or this century – ffs, BROADEN YOUR MIND! You've so much incredible art to discover.

Ah yes, a cheeky little story about a bad news girl and the poor sod who murders her. Femicide is so funny! 😒

After a fabulous week of Moby at the Met and Jake Heggie’s Opera Hall of Fame induction, we’re off to Amsterdam for a world premiere at Dutch National Opera. Very excited for our first time at this house!

Moby opens at the Met tonight and this trailer is 🔥🔥🔥

Another interesting pairing for today: Met + Metal! Aka a Metropolitan Opera Moby-Dick event with Jake Heggie, the metal band Mastadon, and Tamar-kali. David T. Little is hosting. A whole vibe.

This morning: dress rehearsal of Moby-Dick at the Met. Tonight: Death Becomes Her on Broadway. Honestly kind of a perfect pairing. Balance!

Love this!!

*This* is the humor and fun that I'm always hoping to see in classical music coverage. Major thanks to @thestranger.com's Meg van Huygen for this preview of Seattle Opera's Magic Flute! 'Exquisite, Riveting, and Weird as Hell... Weird-ass Wolfgang would definitely approve.'

So there’s good news and then there’s HOLY CRAP PINCH ME news, y’know? I get to share some of the latter today!

Off to New York for a quartet concert, saxophonist photoshoot, and four client/journo meetings – all in <26 hours. Happy Monday, everyone! 🤓

Thanks so much to Seattle Times, KING5 NBC Morning News, KNKX, New Day, and Seattle Gay News for covering Art from Ashes. Monday’s concert for the 80th anniversary of the Auschwitz liberation is officially sold out! 😍 Very proud to help these important stories find their audiences.

After back-to-back NYC premieres, now en route to Seattle to wrangle TV segments for Art from Ashes, a Music of Remembrance concert honoring the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. And since we live for a twofer, also popping into the Seattle Opera office for a quick strategy sesh! 🤓

Without Mel Brooks hiring Lynch to make THE ELEPHANT MAN — on the strength of ERASERHEAD alone — he is very likely just a guy who made a weird film at AFI. That whole filmography you love doesn’t happen. We all need sponsors and mentors and patrons. We need people who believe in us.

Was lucky enough to see a preview performance of Joel Thompson’s new chamber work On Mars at CMS last night. Very cool piece. If you’re in Atlanta, Boston, NYC, or DC, def try to catch the tour this month!

Songs for Murdered Sisters sold out Carnegie Hall tonight. So freaking proud of the whole team. 😭 Huge thanks to Financial Times, Globe & Mail, Playbill, WHYY, and The New Yorker for covering this project!

This week we’re in NYC for a long-awaited Margaret Atwood & Jake Heggie premiere at Carnegie and a private preview concert by Jamie Barton. Honestly, what a life. 🤩

We’ve repped Songs for Murdered Sisters – a Margaret Atwood + Jake Heggie collab confronting gender-based violence – since 2020. Next week at Carnegie Hall, we’ll *finally* get to hear it live in the U.S. orchestral premiere with Joshua Hopkins and Philly Orchestra. www.ft.com/content/b662...

Happy Pawlidays one and all!

Quick report from the Last Biz Trip of 2024 <clang clang> FWSO’s Heggie premiere was legit powerful – about Earth realizing she’s in a toxic relationship with humans. Gorgeous libretto by Anita Amirrezvani, very special voice in Key’mon Murrah, evocative dance by Urban Bush Women. Def recommend!

Super casual Palais Garnier 👀

Hey @bsky.app! My name's Jamie, and I'm a world traveling opera singer who would love to connect with people who love classical music, cats, drag, and any number of nerdtastic subjects (current obsession: astrophysics!) 😊 Drop a line and say hi!

🍑🍑🍑 Opening The Rake’s Progress at Paris Opera this weekend!! 📸 Guergana Damianova