Music Theatre Wales wins Outstanding Achievement in Opera award, beating off opera's big hitters. Music Theatre Wales has won a prestigious Theatre Award UK for its production of Mark-Anthony Turnage's opera, Greek, currently on tour. Michael McCarthy's visceral production of Mark-Anthony Turnage's precocious first opera a raunchy re-write of the Oedipus myth set in the East End received the award for Outstanding Achievement in Opera, where it faced formidable competition from two of opera's big hitters Opera North and Canadian baritone Gerald Finley for his performance in Wagner's Meistersinger at Glyndebourne. To read more please click on the link below. http://www.musictheatrewales.org.uk read more

Guild have announced the 31 May 2011 as the official release date for the new disc of Balfe songs recorded for piano and voice by Richard Bonynge and Sally Silver. read more

Wallace's opera "Lurline" released in June 2010 on Naxos, conducted by Richard Bonynge and starring Sally Silver in the title role, was nominated for Critics' Choice in the December issue of Gramophone. According to critic Andrew Lamb Sally Silver "thrills" as Lurline. read more

London, UK - Ms Sally Silver will be performing in two very different oratorio's this month in London -  Mendelssohn's 'Elijah' with the  Highgate Choral Society   on Saturday November 13th at 7:30 and Carl Orff's 'Carmina Burana' with the  North London Chorus on Saturday November 27th at 7:30 pm. For Mendelssohn's Elijah, Ronald Corp will conduct the New London Orchestra and the Highgate Choral Society Choir. Sally Silver will perform the soprano part with Catherine Hopper (mezzo), Andrew Tortise (tenor), Mark Stone (baritone) and Jason Panagiotopoulos  (treble). “No work of mine ever went so admirably the first time of execution, or was received with such enthusiasm by both musicians and audience, as this oratorio.” So wrote Mendelssohn to his brother immediately after the first performance, in Birmingham. The drama and musical excitement of Elijah are as vivid today as they were in 1846. The concert is at All Hallows’ Church, Gospel Oak, NW3 2LA. Tickets start at £13.00. Book tickets through Les Aldrich Music Shop 020 8883 5631 or Dots Music Shop 020 7482 5424 or Book here online . Ms Silver will perform a second oratorio, Carl Orff's 'Carmina Burana', with the North London Chorus on Saturday November 27th at 7:30 pm at St James Church, Muswell Hill, London. The work will be performed in an arrangement for 2 pianos and percussion. Sally Silver will ..... read more

Charlotte, NC - Ms Sally Silver performed a series of songs by composer William Balfe today, to launch the production and acquisition of NPR's World of Opera by Classical Public Radio station, WDAV. Bruce Murray, Artistic Administrator & Dean of the Brevard Music Center, Brevard NC, accompanied Ms Silver on the piano. These songs were selected from her soon to be released recital disk of Balfe songs, accompanied by Richard Bonynge. read more

Weimar, Germany - Soprano Sally Silver makes her debut performance with the Staatskapelle Weimar in a concert entitled "Beside Herself. Madness Arias"   as part of the Pèlerinages Kunstfest Weimar , conducted by Maestro  Stefan Solyom on September 10, 2010. On Wednesday September 8, two days before the concert, Ms Silver was contacted by the organizers of the Pèlerinages Arts Festival in Weimar. Another soprano who was booked for the concert, was unable to perform, leaving the music director just 2 days to find a world-class soprano who could deliver a demanding coloratura repertoire, at very short notice. Ever the consummate professional, always at the top of her game and in fine voice, Ms Silver never flinched for a moment, in spite of the last minute request and almost no time for rehearsal. The program : Liszt: Hamlet Symphonic Poem No. 10; Mozart: Don Giovanni,'s recitative and aria from Donna Anna; Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor Overture, Arias “Wahnsinnsarie”, and “Il dolce suono"; Saint Saens' Danse Macabre;  Bellini's I Puritani, “O rendete mi ,Qui la voce and Vien d..iletto” ; Adés' Dances from "Powder her face"; and "Sonnambula", aria of Amina by Bellini. Reviews of this performance read more

Sally Silver's new recording of Wallace's opera ' Lurline' has been ranked at #11 on Gramophone's Chart   and is also receiving favorable reviews . Blogger / Classical CD reviewer, Kurt Gänzl, wrote of the recording: "The two principal soloists both give a magnificent ‘Pyne and Harrison’ performance. Sally Silver sings Lurline with beautiful tone and limpid clarity, invests her melancholy and unshowy Grand scena with warmth and feeling, makes a gem of the showpiece ‘Flow on, oh, silver Rhine’, powers out the ‘Night winds’ as if it were ‘Tacea la notte’, and tosses off the coloratura bits of the show’s finale with unperturbed abandon. " read more

London, UK - Soprano Sally Silver is to give her first performances of an opera by Handel next season. She will make both her baroque repertoire debut and her role debut, when she sings Angelica in Handel’s Orlando in a new production at Scottish Opera in their 2010/11 season. Conducted by award-winning Handel expert Paul Goodwin, and directed by Harry Fehr, performances will take place in Glasgow and Edinburgh in February and March 2011. Orlando is widely regarded as one of Handel’s greatest works and although it received its premiere in London in 1733, it is rarely performed in the UK.  Sally’s performances of Orlando at Scottish Opera will mark her third engagement with the company, where her singing has been warmly received by both audiences and critics alike. Her debut there was in the title role of John Doyle’s production of Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor in 2007 where she sang to great acclaim. It was during this run that Sally made the headlines for stoically singing the final two acts from a wheelchair, after a leg injury on stage mid-performance left her unable to walk. In the 2008 season, Sally sang in Scottish Opera’s concert performance of Bellini’s I Puritani, again to great acclaim. Sally appears in Orlando with Tim Mead, as Orlando, Andrew Radley as Medoro, Claire Booth as Dorinda and Andreas Wolf as Zoroastro and the production is designed by Yannis Thavoris. Performances at ..... read more

London, UK -  June 1st sees the release of Richard Bonynge’s latest addition to his complete opera recording collection. Lurline, by William Vincent Wallace , was composed between 1847-1848 premiering at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in 1860. The following decade it was performed in Dublin, the U.S. and Sydney before disappearing from the repertoire in the first decade of the 20th Century. Richard Bonynge’s says of the piece, “Today we can listen with fresh ears. Wallace was undoubtedly influenced by Weber and Mendelssohn and even to a lesser degree by Meyerbeer and Wagner. The piece flows well and is a treasure chest of wonderful melody.” Produced by Victorian Opera Northwest in Manchester U.K., and distributed on the Naxos label, the recording stars 4 Australian artists included in the international cast. Starring: South African-born soprano Sally Silver as Lurline, New Zealand born tenor Keith Lewis, JSS Winner Fiona Janes, David Soar, Donald Maxwell, Roderick Earle, Bernadette Cullen and Paul Ferris. Conducted by Richard Bonynge, this recording is dedicated to the late Australian soprano Deborah Riedel, who was to sing the role of Ghiva. read more

London, UK - Acclaimed British Composer, Naresh Sohal , has invited soprano Sally Silver to perform at his 70th Birthday celebration, at Wigmore Hall on July 17, 2010.  She will perform a piece that Sohal composed especially for her called 'Three Songs from Gitanjali' (for soprano, string quartet and tabla). The Dante String Quartet and Tabla player, Nafees Irfan will perform this work with Ms Silver. To hear a live excerpt of  'Songs from Gitanjali' click here She will also be performing the rarely heard Villa-Lobos' 'Suite for voice and violin' with violinist  Krysia Osostowicz. This concert is a celebration of unique voice in western classical music. The performers include the Dante Quartet , violinist Krysia Osostowicz , soprano Sally Silver and tabla maestro Nafees Irfan. Naresh Sohal  recently enjoyed much acclaim for his performance with Maestro Zubin Mehta and the Israel Philharmonic in the World Première of his sensational composition -  'The Divine Song' Naresh Sohal was born in Punjab, India, in 1939, and settled in the UK in 1962. His career is an extraordinary one by any standards. He has written extensively for orchestra and chamber ensembles, achieving international acclaim along the way. Program: * Sohal String Quartet No. 3 (World Première) * Debussy String Quartet in G minor Op. 10 * Villa-Lobos Suite for voice and violin * Sohal Three Songs from ..... read more