Bronx Opera Company

The Bronx Opera Company (BxO) announces auditions for

our 2026 productions of:

IDOMENEO

by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

full performances: February 12th, 14th & 15th

abridged student matinee: February 13th

and

ARIADNE AUF NAXOS

by Richard Strauss

full performances: May 7th, 9th & 10th

abridged student matinee: May 8th

All performances take place at the Lovinger Theatre at Lehman College, in The Bronx.

These productions will be presented in English (though portions of ARIADNE will be performed in German). No audition fee is charged, and a pianist will be provided. We plan to single-cast all principal roles in both productions.

In IDOMENEO:

Performers cast in principal roles will sing all three full performances, and will receive $500 total.

Performers cast as covers will sing chorus in the full performances, will sing the role they are covering at the abridged student matinee, and will receive $400 total.

Performers cast as part of the ensemble will receive $300 total.

In ARIADNE:

Performers cast in principal roles will sing all three full performances, and receive $500 total.

Some performers will perform a supporting role in the full performances, and cover a principal role. These performers will sing the role they're covering at the abridged student matinee, and will receive $500 total.

Some performers will cover a principal role and will not need to sing a supporting role. These performers will be on call for the full performances, and will sing the role they're covering at the abridged student matinee. These performers will receive $400 total.

Applications must be received by Sunday, September 14th at 11:59pm ET.

Incomplete or late applications will not be considered.

IDOMENEO will be conducted by Michael C. Haigler; ARIADNE will be conducted by Eric Kramer. Both productions will be directed by Benjamin Spierman.

For your information, the broad-strokes production schedule is as follows (some dates may change slightly):

IDOMENEO

Music rehearsals: between January 3rd and January 11th (although some chorus music work will take place between December 1st and 23rd).

Staging rehearsals: January 12th thru February 1st.

Sitzprobes, run-thrus, tech & dress rehearsals: February 2nd thru February 11th.

Performances: Thursday, February 12th @ 7:30pm; Friday, February 13th @ 11am (abridged student matinee, performed by covers); Saturday, February 14th @ 2:30pm; Sunday, February 15th @ 2:30pm.

ARIADNE AUF NAXOS

Music rehearsals: March 14 thru March 28th.

Staging rehearsals: April 6th thru April 26th.

Sitzprobes, run-thrus, tech & dress rehearsals: April 27th thru May 6th.

Performances: Thursday, May 7th @ 7:30pm; Friday, May 8th @ 11:00am (abridged student matinee, performed by covers); Saturday, May 9th @ 2:30pm; Sunday, May 10th @ 2:30pm.

Rehearsals will primarily take place in north Bronx locations, and will be scheduled after cast conflicts are known. Rehearsals will be on weekday evenings and weekends (with some rehearsals on weekday afternoons, pending availability).

Auditions for both productions will be held by invitation only, at the Lovinger Theatre at Lehman College, in The Bronx, on the evenings of

Monday, October 6th

Tuesday, October 7th

Wednesday, October 8th

To be considered for an audition, please submit your materials (résumé, headshot, and 2–3 links to audio or video recordings) via the following Google form, and answer all questions therein:

https://forms.gle/SLpbsLNzqtMDQqUk9

(PLEASE NOTE: a Gmail account is required to access this form. If this will be an issue for you, please email us at Bronxoperaauditions@gmail.com)

As the application form indicates, we’re looking for 2–3 recordings of arias or songs of your choice that show vocal skills similar to those of the role(s) for which you would like to be considered, at least one of which must be in English. Your English-language selection may be a song/aria in translation or a song/aria originally written in English; your English-language selection need not be from either opera. Please indicate which roles you are interested in, and whether you’re generally interested in being considered for IDOMENEO, for ARIADNE, or for both.

If you are out of town or otherwise unavailable to sing for us on any of the listed audition dates, but are interested in being considered for our productions, please tell us this in your answer to the final question on the application form.

We hope that you will pass this information along to others, even if these productions are not a fit for you or you are not able to participate. In addition, if you or anyone you know is interested in auditioning for the Bronx Opera Chorus (for IDOMENEO), please email BxO's Chorus Master Michael C. Haigler at bronxoperachorus@gmail.com.

Please note that members of the chorus will have the opportunity to cover principal roles.

Thank you for your interest in Bronx Opera! We look forward to receiving your materials.

-Team BxO

Roles:

IDOMENEO

Ilia - soprano

Idomeneo - tenor

Idamante - mezzo-soprano

Elettra - soprano

Arbace - tenor

There are other supporting roles for soprano, mezzo, tenor, baritone and bass.

ARIADNE AUF NAXOS

The Prima Donna / Ariadne - soprano

The Tenor / Bacchus - tenor

Zerbinetta - coloratura soprano

The Dance Master / Brighella - tenor

Harlequin - baritone

Scaramuccio - tenor

Truffaldino - bass

The Composer - mezzo

The Music Master - baritone

Naiad - soprano

Dryad - contralto

Echo - soprano

The Wigmaker - baritone

The Lackey - baritone

An Officer - tenor

Several of these roles (certainly the Wigmaker, Lackey and Officer) will include covering another role, as described above.