Opera news

The Dallas Opera debuts new Netflix-like subscription streaming service

Dallas Opera's 2019 production of The Magic Flute is available for streaming.

Photo courtesy of The Dallas Opera

Like most arts organizations, The Dallas Opera has been forced to rethink how it produces and presents works to audiences amid the COVID-19 pandemic. On April 26, it took a new step to bridge the gap between traditional concert hall and at-home entertainment with the launch of thedallasopera.TV, a new subscription streaming platform.

According to a release, the new website brings together new original opera films created specifically for a virtual audience with all of TDO's existing video content — "which ranges from full opera productions for audiences of all ages to musical conversations and original opera-themed sit-com style episodes to artist-hosted series that spotlight their interests and careers, educational series, and more."

“We are so thrilled that thedallasopera.TV is launching today,” says Ian Derrer, The Dallas Opera’s Kern Wildenthal General Director and CEO, in the release. “To watch this project go from idea to reality in less than a year has been amazing to see, and we’re so proud of the content that we have ready to offer our global audience. This platform truly helps redefine our company as a leader in digital content, as well as on the opera house stage. We are breaking new ground in the field while continuing to preserve the great traditions of live opera.”

Subscriptions to thedallasopera.TV cost far less than other streaming services you subscribe to and watch once or twice (raise your hand if you, too, purchased a year of Disney+ to watch Hamilton once) — $4.99 per month with a free seven-day trial. In addition, premium content — Originals — will be offered periodically by pay-per-view.

Content is made up of four categories: Originals, Stages, tdo network, and OperaKids — all available via an app for mobile devices (iOS and Android), on smart TVs via Fire TV and Roku, and on the website for desktop/laptop users.

Here's an overview of the content, as outlined in the release:

Two Originals available immediately: That Which We Love, a recital by acclaimed mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard, and Vanished, a three-part art film starring countertenor John Holiday and tenor Russell Thomas with music by Gluck, Monteverdi, and Janáček assembled into a new narrative.

A third original, The Heart of the Song, featuring conversation with and performances by tenors Javier Camarena, Rolando Villazón, and David Lomelí, will be released on May 25 for a limited time. (Rental fee is $11.99. Available May 25-31 only.)

Stages content is included with thedallasopera.TV subscriptions, and will feature “greatest hits” from The Dallas Opera, including full-length operas, concerts, recitals, and archival video streams and radio broadcasts. Streaming now are the company’s 2019 production of Mozart’s The Magic Flute; “The John Holiday Experience,” a recital by recent finalist on The Voice, recorded April 9 at the Winspear Opera House; a celebration of the first five years of The Dallas Opera Hart Institute for Women Conductors, and more.

TDO network, launched in February 2020, has amassed a viewership of nearly 157 million followers from 50 countries in the past year with its ever-evolving collection of whimsical, topical, and informative original content hosted by artists and social media influencers. Access to all tdo network content is included with thedallasopera.TV subscriptions.

OperaKids offers programming for children, as well as educational resources for parents and children, all produced by The Dallas Opera’s education department and included in the monthly subscription price. Two family operas are available now — Jack and the Beanstalk and Dr. Miracle — as is Kids Opera Boot CampTM, "an interactive look behind the scenes at the opera, where viewers can learn from a series of five video lessons what it takes to make an opera, how to make an opera set, and how to learn music like an opera singer."

Content on the platform can be streamed and viewed anywhere, 24/7/365.

“What we’ve learned over the course of the past year without live performances is that there is a thirst for quality online content, and we are so happy to lead the way in producing that for our eager fans around the world,” says David Lomelí, a tenor, TDO’s Artistic Consultant, and creative force behind the initiative, in the release. “Statistics show that viewers ages 18-34 and 34-45 are online for more than 10 hours each day, and our efforts to reach that demographic — through unique and creative offerings — have proven successful, growing in just a year from 2,000 unique views in March 2020 to more than 150 million unique views today on our Facebook channel.

"Our hope is that this streaming model will reach even more.”

opera

All Eyes on Them

Dallas alt hip-hop group wins prestigious Tiny Desk Contest by NPR

Cure for Paranoia/Facebook

As winners of the Tiny Desk Contest, Cure for Paranoia will record their own Tiny Desk concert and go on tour.

Few live recording studios or musical web series have the cultural sway of NPR's Tiny Desk, and a Dallas band is poised to make an impactful debut: Cure For Paranoia, an alternative hip-hop project by rapper Cameron McCloud and producers Tomahawk Jonez and Jay Analo, has won the high-stakes annual Tiny Desk Contest for 2026.

They'll record their official Tiny Desk show "soon," the announcement by NPR says.

Winning the concert also means Cure for Paranoia is going on tour. The only Texas stop will be at Emo's Austin on June 24.

Tiny Desk is known for platforming both niche and majorly successful artists — NPR posted a new Foo Fighters set on YouTube on May 13 — for stripped-down sets that are literally played behind former All Things Considered director Bob Boilen's old desk. (Fun fact for Texans: Tiny Desk was created because folk artist Laura Gibson was disappointed with the sound at her South by Southwest show in Austin in 2008, and she wanted a redo.)

Most artists who appear on Tiny Desk more than 15 years later are already well-known, at least in their specific circles. But the Tiny Desk Contest, which launched in 2015, helps a growing group of newer, unsigned artists get their foot in the door. Contestants record one video of them performing a single song behind a desk, and a jury of radio staff and musicians chooses their favorite.

In their audition video, Cure for Paranoia gathered 11 musicians around a truly tiny desk and in front of downtown Dallas' iconic gigantic eyeball sculpture. They played the song "No Brainer," a frenetic track that starts with clever boasts and becomes a criticism of racism in the United States.

McCloud, a pre-school teacher, is known independently of Cure for Paranoia for rapping to his social media following about politics and current events. Some of those lyrics made it into "No Brainer." He says he started the group because he found that music was more helpful than medication for coping with bipolar depression and paranoid schizophrenia.

Alex Marrero, host of the Austin-based KUTX show Horizontes, was one of the judges this year. He was impressed with the visuals in Cure for Paranoia's audition.

“When this popped up, I immediately felt something different," he wrote in a blurb for the announcement. "It just jumped out. The visuals were super cool and creative, BUT I could still totally envision them bringing the heat behind the Desk.”

Madison McFerrin, jazz vocalist and daughter of the famous singer Bobby McFerrin, was one of the musical judges.

"Cure For Paranoia’s energy is infectious, fresh and distinctly theirs — exactly what you want in a Contest winner!" she wrote.

McCloud's post on Instagram announcing the group's win has only been up for three hours at the time of this article's publication, and it already has more than 8,000 likes. The YouTube audition has garnered 74,000 views.

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