The New York City Opera will present the annual Pride in the Park concert on Friday, June 17, 2022 at 7 p.m. as part of the Bryant Park Picnic Performances presented by Bank of America.

The one-night-only show is accompanied by live music, with a varied program of opera and musical theater selections performed by Glenn Seven Allen, Chelsea Bonagura, Lauren Hoffmeier, Brian James Myer, Peter Kendall Clark, Melanie Long, Jessica Tyler Wright and Jordan Weatherston Pitts, as well as the LaGuardia High School Choir, with Jeanne Cascio, director.

Additionally, Daria Hrabova Capasso and Oleksandra Hrabova will sing Ukrainian tribute songs with musical direction by Kathryn Olander. Admission is on a first come, first served basis. Performances are designed to be enjoyed casually – no tickets required – with plenty of seating available and free picnic blankets for audience members to borrow. For more information, visit bryantpark.org/picnics.

“‘The People’s Opera’ is thrilled to return to our summer home in Bryant Park, where we can continue our mission of providing free performances to New York City audiences,” said Michael Capasso, General Manager of New York City Opera.

The series of free live performances continues with La traviata and Lucia di Lammermoor. Each performance features the City Opera’s brightest stars along with members of the City Opera Orchestra and will begin at 7 p.m. on the Bryant Park Stage.

Attendees can bring their own food or purchase from on-site food and drink vendors near the lawn. At most performances, attendees can purchase food from a rotating list of local New York vendors organized by Hester Street Fair. Vaccinations and COVID-19 masks are not currently required, but Bryant Park will continue to monitor and follow updated New York City and New York State COVID-19 guidelines throughout the year. was so necessary.

For anyone unable to attend in person, free live streams of the performances will be available nationwide via the Bryant Park website and social media platforms.

New York City Opera was dubbed “The People’s Opera” by Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia when it was founded in 1943. More than 75 years later, City Opera continues its historic mission to inspire audiences with innovative and captivating opera on theatrically, to nurture the work of promising Americans. artists, and build new audiences through affordable ticket prices and extensive outreach and education programs. Picnic shows continue the tradition of opera in Bryant Park.

The 2022 picnic season is made possible through the generous support of Bank of America. “Bank of America has been a longtime supporter of the arts because we believe that a thriving arts and cultural community benefits both society and the economy,” said José Tavarez, President of Bank of America New York. City. “So we’re thrilled to once again sponsor Picnic Performances and combine our commitment to the arts with our partnership with Bryant Park. Together, we’re helping New York’s iconic cultural scene thrive, while promoting green spaces and providing a Free access to live New York City Music, Dance and Theater.”

Upcoming performance details:

The traviata

August 12, 2022 at 7 p.m.

A shortened adaptation of the Verdi classic that inspired Moulin Rouge, with instantly recognizable tunes featured in Pretty Woman. Soprano Ekaterina Siurina and acclaimed tenor Charles Castronovo performed with Michael Chioldi, baritone and star of Rigoletto last summer (a role he recently performed at the Metropolitan Opera for a series of critically acclaimed performances), with the musical director of the City Opera Maestro Constantine Orbelian at the bar.

Lucia of Lammermoor

September 2, 2022 at 7 p.m.

Think Romeo and Juliet, but in Scotland. Donizetti’s brilliant score is the pinnacle of drama and the pinnacle of Bel Canto style in this abridged version featuring world-renowned soprano Sarah Coburn and captivating tenor Nathan Granner, and conducted by Constantine Orbelian.

Since its founding in 1943 by Mayor Fiorello La Guardia as “The People’s Opera”, the New York City Opera (NYCO) has been an essential part of the city’s cultural life. Over its history, New York City Opera has launched the careers of dozens of major artists and has presented engaging productions of traditional and unusual operas alongside commissions and regional premieres. The result was an American-only opera company of international stature.

For more than seven decades, the New York City Opera has maintained a distinct identity, adhering to its unique mission: affordable ticket prices, devotion to American works, performances in English, promotion of up-and-coming American singers, and seasons of accessible, vibrant and compelling productions aimed at introducing new audiences to the art form. Stars who launched their careers at New York City Opera include Plácido Domingo, Catherine Malfitano, Sherrill Milnes, Samuel Ramey, Beverly Sills, Tatiana Troyanos, Carol Vaness and Shirley Verrett, among dozens of other great artists. The New York City Opera has a long history of inclusion and diversity. It was the first major opera company to feature African-American singers in lead roles (Todd Duncan as Tonio in Pagliacci, 1945; Camilla Williams in the title role in Madama Butterfly, 1946); the first to produce a new work by an African-American composer (William Grant Still, Troubled Island, 1949); and the first to have an African-American conductor lead his orchestra (Everett Lee, 1955).

A revitalized City Opera reopened in January 2016 with Tosca, the opera which originally launched the company in 1944. Outstanding productions in the four years since have included: the world premieres of Iain Bell and Mark Campbell’s Stonewall, which NYCO commissioned and developed, legendary director Harold Prince’s new production of Bernstein’s Candide; Puccini’s beloved Fanciulla del West; and the New York premiere of Daniel Catán’s Florencia en el Amazonas – the first in his Ópera en Español series.

Later productions of Ópera en Español include the New York premiere of the world’s first mariachi opera, Cruzar la Cara de la Luna by José “Pepe” Martinez, Los Elementos by Literes and María de Buenos Aires by Piazzolla. In addition to the world premiere of Stonewall, productions from NYCO’s Pride Initiative, which produces LGBTQ-themed work each June during Pride Month, include the New York premiere of Péter Eötvös’s Angels in America and the premiere from Charles Wuorinen’s Brokeback Mountain.

The New York City Opera has featured talents such as Anna Caterina Antonacci and Aprile Millo in concert, as well as its own 75th anniversary concert at Bryant Park, one of many concerts and stagings it presents each year in part of Park’s The Summer Show Series. City Opera’s acclaimed summer series at Bryant Park offers free performances to thousands of New Yorkers and visitors each year.

The New York City Opera continues its legacy with performances on the main stage at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Rose Theater and with revitalized outreach and education programs at venues around the city, designed to welcome and inspire a new generation of audiences. of opera. City Opera’s acclaimed summer series at Bryant Park offers free performances to thousands of New Yorkers and visitors each year.