Events

On Sunday, November 16, the Opera News Awards will be given for the fourth consecutive year – this time before the holiday season and in a new venue – at the venerable Plaza Hotel’s exquisite ballroom, newly restored to its former glory. Co-hosts Susan Graham and Thomas Hampson will introduce a bevy of special guests who in turn will hand the awards to this year’s honorees: Met “debutante” John Adams, whose opera Doctor Atomic bows on the great stage at Lincoln Center on October 13; sopranos Natalie Dessay and Renée Fleming; legendary mezzo Marilyn Horne; and distinguished baritone Sherrill Milnes. As in previous years, glamorous guests will hand over the coveted statuettes: Plácido Domingo, Alan Gilbert, Garrison Keillor, James Levine and Marian Seldes have signed on to do the honors for 2008. Since the Metropolitan Opera Guild’s introduction of these awards in 2005, the event has become one of the highlights of New York’s social season as well as the opera season.

Ms. Graham and Mr. Hampson also grace the cover of the November issue of Opera News, in which the cover story is the five Opera News Awards winners, who are each saluted with exclusive photographs and biographies.