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Valerie Coleman’s Umoja – the Swahili word for ‘unity’ – opens tonight’s concert. Originally composed as a simple song for women’s choir, the orchestral version brings an expansion and sophistication to the short and sweet melody, dancing and weaving throughout the instrument families.

Chineke! Orchestra: Arabic Symphony

Southbank Centre

The poet Hoffmann thinking of his beloved Stella, struggles with a writer’s block. His Muse, in disguise, is determined to steer Hoffmann away from his unhappy love and back to art. Hoffmann begins recounting the stories of three women he once loved: Olympia, Antonia, and Giulietta. In her staging, director Lotte de Beer creates a dialogue between Hoffmann and the Muse, a confrontation between art and the artist. Jacques Offenbach’s name remains synonymous with operetta, but at the end of his life, he worked on his most ambitious masterpiece: the fantastic opera Les contes d’Hoffmann.

Hoffmanns tales

Volksoper Wien

Ariadne auf Naxos

Teatro dell'Opera di Roma

French soprano Axelle Fanyo makes her Boston debut with a captivating program showcasing the vocal brilliance and emotional depth that have defined her rising career on opera and recital stages. Praised for her extraordinary expressiveness, Fanyo “does not only embody a character, she tells us the story. She clearly cultivates the art of communication, which gives her singing another dimension” (Forum Opéra).

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Axelle Fanyo, soprano & Julius Drake, piano

Longy School of Music of Bard College

Vivo Performing Arts | Axelle Fanyo, soprano & Julius Drake, piano

One of the most promising singers of her generation, French soprano Axelle Fanyo has been praised by Renée Fleming for her “charismatic, beautiful voice [of] real star quality.” In her PCMS debut program with the “unfailingly eloquent and supportive” pianist Julius Drake (The Telegraph), Fanyo explores the master and apprentice relationship between two pioneering European composers, Arnold Schoenberg and Olivier Messaien, and their American protegés, John Cage and William Bolcom.

Actor

Axelle Fanyo

Events

Past events

Oct 11, 2026

Chineke! Orchestra: Arabic Symphony · Southbank Centre

Jun 5, 2026

Hoffmanns tales · Volksoper Wien

Future and recently performed repertoire

Singer in Shéhérazade by Ravel

Celebrity Series of Boston

Singer in Umoja by Coleman

Southbank Centre

Primadonna (Ariadne) in Ariadne auf Naxos by Strauss

Teatro dell'Opera di Roma

Singer in Poèmes pour Mi by Messiaen

Celebrity Series of Boston

Singer in Songs of Travel by Williams

Celebrity Series of Boston

Singer in Trois Mélodies by Messiaen

Celebrity Series of Boston

Antonia in Hoffmanns tales by Offenbach

Volksoper Wien

About

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