Kennedy Center opera house may be renamed for Melania Trump
A House Appropriations subcommittee voted to change the name of the Kennedy Center opera house after the First Lady Melania Trump.
- Detroit’s Music Hall will launch a new Classic Opera Series, its first in more than 30 years.
- The series premieres on Feb. 28, 2026, with a concert production of Puccini’s ‘Turandot’.
- The performance will star renowned opera singers Christine Goerke, Limmie Pulliam, and Latonia Moore.
- This production will feature a new, world-premiere orchestration and include local talent like the Detroit Youth Choir.
A new opera series is forming in Detroit amid the rapidly growing divide between contemporary and traditional opera lovers, and is throwing down the gauntlet for old-school opera with a classic favorite and an all-star cast.
Detroit’s Music Hall Center for the Performing Arts on Friday, Oct. 24, announced the launch of its new Classic Opera Series, which will premiere Feb. 28, 2026, with a one-night-only concert production of “Turandot,” starring three of the world’s preeminent operatic talents: Limmie Pulliam, Latonia Moore, and Detroit resident Christine Goerke.
Puccini’s 1926 tale of love, passion, power, determination and triumph of the human spirit in the face of challenges will, in this performance, include the famed aria “Nessun Dorma” and will feature a newly commissioned, 40-piece reduction of the original arrangements by David Karp, making it a world premiere orchestration.
“We do just about everything under the sun here,” said Music Hall President and Artistic Director Vince Paul, “but we haven’t done (much) opera in 30 years, since Michigan Opera Theatre (MOT) was here. David DiChiera was one of those who saved the Music Hall from the wrecking ball in 1972 and created MOT here, and it ran until at least 1985. In July, some philanthropists who are opera lovers, out of the sky blue, reached out and asked if they could meet with me. I said, ‘Of course, come on down,’ and they came and met with me, and they said, ‘We want you to do traditional opera again.’
“If you want to do classic operas, I can’t think of any better person than Christine Goerke. So we met and started talking, and we were just a smash hit together. We speak the same language and share the same enthusiasm, and we could really envision doing traditional presentations that people enjoy so much and have enjoyed for hundreds of years. It’s not a genre that’s broken. And I felt like we were coming, full circle, back to David in the ‘70s and ‘80s. I was really close with David, especially in the last two years before his passing, because he was wandering over here a lot and he was nostalgic about it. He always loved this hall.”
Goerke, who will sing the part of Turandot and also serves as artistic consultant, didn’t expect this surprise to fall into her lap.
“I said I’d be happy to have a conversation, though I wasn’t really sure where it was leading. And I went to the meeting with these philanthropists and Vince, and he said to me, ‘It seems to me that people in this town are really starved for grand opera. Want to give it to them?’ ”
A timeline was quickly laid out, and Goerke went to work.
“The philanthropists involved were absolutely insistent that we get moving as soon as possible,” said Goerke. “So I rolled up my sleeves and said, ‘OK, let’s see what I can do.’ With the way everything is so difficult right now, financially for the arts, with tourism down, all of these things — I can’t tell you how hopeful it is and how wonderful it is for everyone involved to be excited. The birth of something new right now is out of the ordinary. I am incredibly proud of what we have put together, and I’m so excited to bring it to the city.”
Goerke and Paul realized they had a matter of weeks to connect the dots and pull a major show together. Goerke immediately reached out to Pulliam, whose viral videos have introduced millions around the world to opera for the first time and made him a wildly in-demand star.
“When I realized we were going to have to put something together quickly,” Goerke said, “the first thing I thought of was ‘Turandot.’ Limmie and I had done this together in concert twice last season. And — aside from the fact that I adore the man, and he has a throat of gold, and he is one of the most thrilling performers on the stage today — I thought, ‘Go big or go home,’ and see if he’s available. So I went straight to him and asked him if this is something he might consider, and he happened to be free. We lucked out, and I am beyond excited because it’s his Detroit debut.
“I called all my friends to see what they might be able to do. I am so excited that the minute I picked up the phone, people were willing to jump on board. And to have Latonia Moore also as part of this cast, singing Liu … I mean, this is going to be gangbusters.”
Some of the city’s arts legends are also involved, with one making his first foray into opera.
“We put out feelers to a musical icon of this city,” said Goerke, “and Alvin Waddles agreed to sing the Emperor for us. I’m over the moon about it. I have such insane respect for that man; he is just a god of a musician. And the fact that he is willing to sort of dip his toes into something new and be a part of this creation makes me so happy, because he is of this city; he is of music.
“We have gone out of our way to make sure that we are inviting some of the wonderful local artists to join us. Suzanne Acton is going to be conducting for us. Talk about being part of the musical community and the operatic community in this city for decades … that’s Suzanne. And, we have the Detroit Youth Choir joining us, and Monika Essen as our designer.”
Paul is particularly proud to have pulled Waddles into the fold.
“I know Alvin really well,” said Paul. “In fact, I think I might have been the one who pulled him into the secular world with our production of ‘Ain’t Misbehavin’ around 20 years ago down in the jazz café. We’ve done a bunch of gigs together, and he’s really loved it. So I called up Alvin right away and I was like, ‘Hey, what do you think about singing the Emperor?’ He said, ‘Well, give me a moment to go to the basement and pull the score …’ — of course he has the score in his basement! He called me back a week later and said, ‘I’m in.’ ”
Paul gushed with praise for Goerke and her involvement in the project.
“I’m honored, really, to be working with the great Christine Goerke,” he said. “She’s worldwide, but she lives here. But ain’t that just like Detroit? We have all these global talents that live amongst us, and they go out on tour and they’re rock stars, but when they come home, they’re just Detroiters.
“I gotta hand it to her, she really pulled this off.”
Both Paul and Goerke emphasized that the technical aspects of the production will be first-rate.
“We are using every bit of Music Hall for this,” Goerke said. “There’s going to be amazing lighting. We are using floor-to-ceiling LED panels for this. People will feel very close to what’s happening; it will feel very immediate. Everything (in the venue) feels close to the stage, and everybody will feel like they are really a part of what’s happening. I can’t wait for that experience for everybody, especially folks who have never seen an opera before.”
Paul said the production will be completely acoustic, with no microphones.
“The acoustics of the Music Hall are amazing,” he said. “Even for those not necessarily into opera, this will be a great experience because it’s just full Puccini, in your face. It’s almost like a rock show. There are so many performers onstage, and it’s really that focus on what the music can do to you if I remove all the other stuff and just give you full frontal Puccini.
“You don’t have to love opera. You will when you walk out.”
More information will be available soon at musichall.org.
Contact Free Press arts and culture reporter Duante Beddingfield at [email protected].
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