Jamie Barton: A Queer Opera Icon

Jamie Barton. Photo by BreeAnne Clowdus

Get to know the woman dubbed "Opera's Nose-Studded Rock Star" by The New York Times. Jamie Barton performs in Seattle Opera's Songs of Summer series at 7 p.m., June 18 with pianist Jonathan Easter. To watch, head to Seattle Opera's Facebook, YouTube, or website; the video will be available to view for two weeks after the premiere date.  

Critically acclaimed by virtually every major outlet covering classical music, American opera singer Jamie Barton is increasingly recognized for how she uses her powerful instrument offstage—lifting up women, queer people, and other marginalized communities. Her lively social media presence on Instagram and Twitter serves as a hub for conversations about body positivity, diet culture, LGBTQ+ rights, and other social justice issues.

Following the recent deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor, Barton took to her Instagram to record a video, where she said: "My white fragility can take a backseat right now, and so can all of my little cute posts. We owe it to the Black people in this country, to Indigenous people, to so many people who are not white, to pay attention, to have the conversation. This has to happen. Remember: Black Lives Matter."

Jamie has recently brought her perspective to The Guilty Feminist, Slate, Studio 360, Front Row Live, The Times, Observer | The Guardian, San Francisco Chronicle, and cover stories in Classical Music Magazine and BBC Music Magazine. She was named 2020 Personality of the Year at the BBC Music Magazine Awards.

Seattle Opera launches ‘Songs of Summer’

From left: Angel Blue, Jamie Barton, and John Moore. Photos by Michelle Dudley, Faye Fox, and Sunny Martini.  

For Seattle Opera, the show must go on—online, that is! This summer, Jamie Barton, Angel Blue, John Moore and others will perform in a brand-new recital series available on social media and Seattle Opera's website. 

Not even a global pandemic can shut down the power of music. In the face of COVID-19, Seattle Opera and other arts groups are finding creative new ways to perform. This week, Seattle Opera announced its new recital series, Songs of Summer, which will bring beloved singers to a new stage—your phone, tablet, or computer screen. Beginning weekly on May 28, recitals will be available to stream on Seattle Opera’s website, Facebook, and YouTube.

“Opera companies need to be flexible, adaptive and of course very creative if we’re going to get through this uncertain time,” said General Director Christina Scheppelmann. “At some point we will return to McCaw Hall. In the meantime, opera can still bring us joy, comfort, and touching moments of humanity—even though we cannot be together to enjoy these moments.”

The concert series kicks off on May 28 with international star Angel Blue, who performs a mix of opera and spirituals in a 30-minute program with pianist Jay Rozendaal. Many will recognize Blue from the viral HiHo Kids video, “Kids Meet an Opera Singer.” Prior to the cancellation of Seattle Opera’s May La bohème, the American soprano had been scheduled to sing Mimì.

Tenors, Sopranos, Naughty Druids—oh my!

5 things happening in the opera world...

World premiere 
Monday night, December 7, will be a big night at Lyric Opera of Chicago: it’s the world premiere of Bel Canto, the new opera by Jimmy López (above), with a libretto by Nilo Cruz based on the popular novel by Ann Patchett. The high-powered cast features Seattle Opera’s beloved Andrew Stenson as the young translator, Gen, held hostage in a palace in Lima, Peru (home of William Burden, who plays the Peruvian vice-president) with a Japanese mogul, the American opera singer he loves, and a band of guerrillas (among them countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo, our Oberon in Midsummer Night’s Dream a few years ago). Fond wishes for a great opening to Director Kevin Newbury, who makes his Seattle Opera debut in February with Mary Stuart, and Lighting Designer Duane Schuler, who comes home to Seattle to light The Marriage of Figaro in a few weeks.

Upcoming Seattle Diva
Meanwhile, in Zurich, soprano Serena Farnocchia, who makes her Seattle Opera debut as Mary Stuart in February, opens her run of performances of Rossini’s curious opera Il viaggio a Reims on Sunday. Rossini wrote this opera for a once-in-a-lifetime occasion in 1825 starring fourteen of the world’s greatest singers. Anticipating that it would never be performed again, he adapted much of the music to his delightful French comedy of 1828, Le comte Ory. Here she is (above) singing in a rather interesting looking Butterfly. 

Colin, center, in Opera Atelier's Armide. Bruce Zinger photo.

Dashing Dutchman tenor 
Meanwhile, Canadian tenor Colin Ainsworth—coming to Seattle next May to sing the Steersman in The Flying Dutchman—just had a remarkable experience singing Renaud, the hero of Lully’s Armide, at the Château de Versailles. This rarely-performed tragédie lyrique is about as far as you can get from Wagner; Mr. Ainsworth is a versatile singer and cut a dashing figure as the chivalric hero Renaud (see above).

 

Spooky Midsummer 
Elsewhere in Swizterland, the Grand Théâtre de Genève has just closed their first-ever production of Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which left critics reaching for superlatives. Slovenian soprano Bernarda Bobro, who makes her Seattle debut as Countess Almaviva in our upcoming Marriage of Figaro, earned raves as the Fairy Queen Tytania; among the mortals who got trapped in her enchanted forest was Mary Feminear (Helena), who sang Semele at Seattle Opera last spring. Get a taste of the show with this trailer.

Russell Thomas and Jamie Barton in LA Opera's Norma (left) and then in Seattle Opera's Nabucco. 

Opera buddies portray naughty druids 
Closer to home, there’s only a couple more performances of Norma at Los Angeles Opera, with a set designed by Neil Patel, who makes his Seattle Opera debut in Feburary with Mary Stuart. (The tireless Duane Schuler lit the production.) The illicit lovers of LA Opera’s Norma are Russell Thomas and Jamie Barton, who most recently romanced each other in Seattle as Ismaele and Fenena in Nabucco. (Before that, they played mother and son in Cincinnati’s Il trovatore!)