The Atlanta Opera: What is your vocal part, and how long have you sung with The Atlanta Opera Chorus? Chris Hawkins: I am a bass, and this year marks 30 years in The Atlanta Opera Chorus! I have participated in 85 productions with the chorus with this La traviata being the 76th mainstage production. TAO: Where did you grow up and how did you get into music? CH: I am a rare breed: I’m an Atlanta native and I’ve lived […]

By Noel Morris Eugene Onegin still surprises audiences for what it’s not: there’s no melodrama; it’s not exotic. It’s not a spectacle, nor is it action-packed. “How glad I am to be free of Egyptian princesses, pharaohs, poisonings, and stilted effects of all kinds,” the composer quipped. For Tchaikovsky, this was an opportunity to “convey through music everyday, simple, universally human emotions, far removed from anything tragic or theatrical.” By 1877, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was among the most celebrated composers […]

The Atlanta Opera: What is your vocal part, and how long have you sung with the Atlanta Opera Chorus? Christopher S. Connelly: I am a baritone. I have sung for 22 years, this is my 47th production. AO: Where did you grow up and how did you get into music? CSC: I grew up outside of Philadelphia. Our parish priest was from Ireland, and he would give me a dime every time I sang an Irish folk song for him. […]

By Noel Morris On Nov. 5, 1977, Patrick and Eddie Sonnier shot two teenagers in the head, three times each. Eddie was sentenced to life in prison; his older brother, Patrick, died in the electric chair. In 1982, in the months leading to his execution, Patrick began exchanging letters with Sister Helen Prejean of the Sisters of St. Joseph Medaille. She became his spiritual adviser and walked with him to his execution in what proved to be a transformative experience […]

  The Atlanta Opera: How long have you sung with The Atlanta Opera Chorus? Lynnette Anderson: I’ve sung in The Atlanta Opera Chorus as a mezzo-soprano/alto since 1985, been in more than 80 productions, and have been featured in small ensembles in some productions. AO: Where did you grow up and how did you get into music? Lynnette: I grew up near Wheeling, W. Va., about an hour from Pittsburgh. I can’t remember a time when I was not singing. […]

“The words of a survivor are like stars in the sky. They illuminate only a tiny piece of the past… No matter what is spoken of the night, there will always be more darkness than light.” These lyrics from Out of Darkness: Two Remain speak to the vast resonance of the Third Reich’s atrocities that wiped out millions of people. Significant political and ethnic groups were persecuted because of their race, religion or sexual orientation. They were subjected to horrific […]

Veteran Atlanta actor Tom Key was last seen at The Atlanta Opera as Pasha Selim in The Abduction from the Seraglio. As the Artistic Director of Theatrical Outfit, he helped to pave the way for a multidisciplinary collaboration on Out of Darkness: Two Remain, which fuses opera with theatre and dance, and will be performed at the 200-seat Balzer Theater at Herren’s/Theatrical Outfit in Downtown Atlanta. In Out of Darkness: Two Remain, Tom is Gad Beck, a gay German Jew who is […]

A note from composer Jake Heggie: The persecution of gays during the Holocaust is not a topic that is much recognized or discussed. So Mina Miller [of Seattle-based Music of Remembrance] decided to take it on in a powerful and meaningful way: through music. When she called and asked me to create a new chamber composition based on this subject, I was deeply moved, excited, and hugely challenged. How on Earth could we find a way to do honor and […]