iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Verismo • Classical Music PR @verismocomm.com · 09/04/2026

Big news: we're opening our first European office – in Amsterdam!! 🇳🇱 I'm moving there to lead it, bringing Verismo's style of classical music PR to both sides of the Atlantic. If you're a European artist, presenter, or org thinking about your transatlantic presence, I’d love to talk. More soon! 🤩

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Alex Ip 葉清霖 @alexip718.com · 04/02/2026

INBOX: Washington Post Ukraine Correspondent Lizzie Johnson announces that she has been laid off in the middle of a below-freezing war zone without power, heat, or running water.

lizzie johnson
@lizziejohnsonnn
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I was just laid off by The Washington Post in the middle of a warzone. I have no words. I'm devastated.
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lizzie johnson
@lizziejohnsonnn
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Jan 25
Waking up without power, heat, or running water. (Again.)

But the work here in Kyiv continues. Warming up in the car, writing in pencil — pen ink freezes — by headlamp.

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Anne Midgette @classicalbeat.bsky.social · 04/02/2026

The Washington Post has only a single arts critic left - everyone else got fired today, along with all three arts editors. (There are still a couple of excellent arts reporters.) I was so upset I dusted off my blog to have my say: annemidgette.com/blog/f/a-req...

annemidgette.com

A requiem for arts coverage

I used to say I wished that newspapers would treat their arts sections the way they treated their sports sections. What I meant was that sports sections offered a balanced mix of news stories, feature...

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Jamie Barton @jbartonmezzo.bsky.social · 03/02/2026

I am OVER THE MOON (damn near literally!!) that our recording of Jake Heggie’s Intelligence has won the 2026 Grammy for Best Opera Recording. Thank you to everyone who has listened, supported, and championed this project – and this mezzo!!! 💜💜💜 📸 Stacey Bode

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Verismo • Classical Music PR @verismocomm.com · 02/02/2026

Google has managed to utterly delight today. 😍🤩🥰 @jbartonmezzo.bsky.social

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LorennaCleary.bsky.social @lorennacleary.bsky.social · 23/01/2026

You don’t know your role yet maybe, but we are all finding out just what we have to offer. In Minneapolis, one man knew immediately what he could offer and said “Bring me your clothing”.

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Verismo • Classical Music PR @verismocomm.com · 01/12/2025

Nah, they’re there for you – give the people what they want! 🤓 Once you stop being authentically you, social becomes drainful for all involved. There are enough people performing cool, no need to be that guy.

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Verismo • Classical Music PR @verismocomm.com · 12/11/2025

If you’ll be there at the end of the month, I’d love to grab a coffee! Beth x

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Verismo • Classical Music PR @verismocomm.com · 02/11/2025

Argh!! Though tbf, you might’ve seen me and not realized it – I have a full shock of silver hair now! 🤓 Next time, I hope. xx

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Verismo • Classical Music PR @verismocomm.com · 02/11/2025

Absolute legends at the opening of ENO Dead Man Walking. What a night!! Christine Rice and Michael Mayes were absolutely astonishing. I love this work – and repping Jake Heggie, I’ve seen it at least a dozen times. This was something truly special. So grateful to have been at the Coli for this. 🥰

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Simon Leeson @simonleeson.bsky.social · 30/10/2025

Tonight's rehearsal of Dead Man Walking at ENO was outstanding. Such a powerful piece.

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Helen Jerome @helenjerome.bsky.social · 01/11/2025

🚨 Big Cultural Highlight Alert! ‘Dead Man Walking’ at ENO is emotionally and psychologically compelling and got a huge and well-deserved ovation on its first night! 👏🏽

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Nicola Kerr @nicolakerr.bsky.social · 02/11/2025

Dead Man Walking at ENO, a highlight of the London opera season. Exceptional cast and creatives deliver an extraordinary evening. Christine Rice and Michael Mayes stunning in lead roles with fabulous performances from Jacques Imbrailo, Madeleine Boreham and Sarah Connolly in supporting roles.

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David Benedict @eggsbened.bsky.social · 01/11/2025

Most contemporary operas fail not because of the music but because of dramatically limp librettos. But Dead Man Walking is a theatrical + musical triumph: total commitment by the ENO company. Jake Heggie does tremendous work with Terrence McNally’s first-rate libretto. Taut and terrific. Go!

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derek guy @dieworkwear.bsky.social · 01/11/2025

i hate that AI has now caused me to question the authenticity of cute animal videos online, which is my primary use of social media. i don't even know if this baby penguin actually wore a beret to go buy a tiny baguette in paris

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50 going on 15 @50goingon15.bsky.social · 01/11/2025

Excellent first night's performance of Jake Heggie's opera Dead Man Walking at ENO. And one of the great [sic] performances in this or any other house from Christine Rice, as Sister Helen Prejean.

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Simon Brackenborough @sbrackenborough.bsky.social · 01/11/2025

Dead Man Walking - a powerful and humane opera about an inhumane system. The lead performances from Michael Mayes and Christine Rice are particularly strong 👏 👏 👏

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Verismo • Classical Music PR @verismocomm.com · 17/10/2025

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to our gleeful, gorgeous, grounded, gutsy, gay-gasping, galaxy-gazing glamazon!! ✨ @jbartonmezzo.bsky.social 📸 Stacey Bode

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Verismo • Classical Music PR @verismocomm.com · 22/09/2025

Sensational opening night of the Met season – @themilesshow.bsky.social gave a truly EPIC performance as Sam Clay in The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay. Super proud to be on Team Mykkanen! 🤩

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Jamie Barton @jbartonmezzo.bsky.social · 19/09/2025

“Hey Sister!” Can’t get to San Francisco? Don’t miss the Dead Man Walking livestream this Saturday, Sept 20, at 7:30pm Pacific. Tickets are $25 and include a 48-hour on-demand period September 21-23. 🎟️ Tickets and details: sfopera.com/digital/livestream 📸 Cory Weaver / @sfopera.bsky.social

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Governor JB Pritzker @govpritzker.illinois.gov · 06/09/2025

The President of the United States is threatening to go to war with an American city. This is not a joke. This is not normal. Donald Trump isn't a strongman, he's a scared man. Illinois won’t be intimidated by a wannabe dictator.

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Verismo • Classical Music PR @verismocomm.com · 27/08/2025

There are probably surgeries that both need to happen quickly and aren’t wildly risky – hoping “routine” in this case just means “you don’t need to worry.”

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Verismo • Classical Music PR @verismocomm.com · 27/08/2025

“Emotionally lawless” is such a brilliant phrase – pocketing!

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amy brown 👻 @amybrown.xyz · 22/08/2025

this iconic advertising copywriter named Kathy Hepinstall Parks died over the weekend and I wanted to share something from her website I thought Bluesky would like

Why should I write better when a machine can do it for me?
Because actually no one can do it for you, because your voice is unique among all the people on earth. Siri never petted a horse's neck. Alexa has never been ghosted by the captain of the football team. But you have lived, your heart is beating, you have suffered, and you have something important to say. It's a human's job, to use words, and whatever job you give to a machine, that part of your brain goes dark. Maybe it's worth it when it comes to remembering phone numbers and directions, but when that part of your brain that uses words goes dark, that's a vast area that's very close to your soul. Don't let some internet platform convince you that what you have to say and create isn't worthwhile. Words are the echo of your soul. Honing that echo matters.

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Verismo • Classical Music PR @verismocomm.com · 05/08/2025

New site drop! Gene Scheer’s libretti light up the Met – and beyond – this season. ✨ You've heard his brilliant collabs with Jake Heggie, Joby Talbot, Jennifer Higdon, Tobias Picker – and now Mason Bates. Don't miss The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, opening the Met season! genescheer.com

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Verismo • Classical Music PR @verismocomm.com · 04/08/2025

ICYMI, @themilesshow.bsky.social is out here putting the *Miles* in Career Milestone – it’s his first cover story! 🙌 Major thanks to writer Hannah Edgar and editor Hattie Butterworth for this fabulous feature. Pick up the fall issue of Opera Now or visit verismopr.com/mmoncover to check it out!

Unseen person holding the Fall 2025 issue of Opera Now magazine with tenor Miles Mykkanen on the cover, with the headline "The star tenor giving back to American opera."

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Verismo • Classical Music PR @verismocomm.com · 30/07/2025

P.S. You can see Dead Man Walking this season in San Francisco, London, Boulder, and Perth – details at jakeheggie.com/season.

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Verismo • Classical Music PR @verismocomm.com · 30/07/2025

Huge thanks to the icons who shared their stories – Joyce DiDonato, Frederica von Stade, Susan Graham, Jamie Barton, Ryan McKinny, Michael Mayes, Leonard Foglia, Teddy Tahu Rhodes, Latonia Moore, Patrick Summers, Jake Heggie, and Sister Helen Prejean.

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Verismo • Classical Music PR @verismocomm.com · 30/07/2025

Opera Magazine’s 25th anniversary feature on Dead Man Walking is packed with insights, memories, and images of the artists who know it best. Nine pages of them, in fact! 🤯 What a way to honor the world’s most performed opera of the last 25 years. 🫶🏻

Opera Magazine feature sharing photos, memories, and insights from the cast and creators of Dead Man Walking, with the title ‘Dead Man Walking at 25 Years’.

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Amy @plitter.bsky.social · 27/07/2025

I am having so many feelings about this piece; writing and editing listings at Time Out was an incredible journalism boot camp, a wonderfully immersive way to learn about New York City culture, and simply the coolest job I ever had.

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Gabriel Kahane @gabrielkahane.bsky.social · 27/07/2025

In my debut for @theatlantic.com, I wrote about the disappearance of cultural listings from major New York media outlets, and what it portends for artists, audiences, institutions, and journalists. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

theatlantic.com

Why No One Knows What’s Happening Tonight

A love letter to music listings

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Verismo • Classical Music PR @verismocomm.com · 23/07/2025

Ah, my conservatory leaned toward Dead White Guys for that usage

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Verismo • Classical Music PR @verismocomm.com · 23/07/2025

I just heard someone refer to an old white guy as a stale pale male, and I may never be the same

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Verismo • Classical Music PR @verismocomm.com · 16/07/2025

Some valuable thoughts in this thread.

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valentine @dozygay.bsky.social · 28/06/2025

Hungary banned anything that “promotes homosexuality,” which means Pride. However, today over 500,000 people in Budapest told the government to fuck off. 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

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Jamie Barton @jbartonmezzo.bsky.social · 28/06/2025

We all deserve better than clickbait – especially when we’re trying to tell stories that actually matter. 💜

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The Royal Society of Musicians @rsmgb.bsky.social · 25/06/2025

In the latest TMDTA podcast Hattie and Becca chat with @jbartonmezzo.bsky.social about her experiences as a queer woman in America and discovering her ADHD. She also shares powerful insights into body positivity, her approach to music and the importance of using her platform. Link in our bio.

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Verismo • Classical Music PR @verismocomm.com · 26/06/2025

I try to stick with “Where’s your grownup?” Usually does the trick!

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Jamie Barton @jbartonmezzo.bsky.social · 20/06/2025

This July 4th, I’ll be celebrating a flag I can support wholeheartedly – join us at the Barbican for Classical Pride! 🏳️‍🌈 P.S. To get in the mood, check out some of the classically queer rep in this video, including the opera character I’m *convinced* is a pansexual icon. jamiebartonmezzo.com/cptix

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Adam Sternbergh @sternbergh.bsky.social · 05/06/2025

must be incredibly frustrating and disheartening to have federal funding that was promised to you for important work suddenly and arbitrarily ripped away

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Verismo • Classical Music PR @verismocomm.com · 17/05/2025

I could watch (and listen to!) this all day

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Lidiya Yankovskaya @lidiyaconductor.bsky.social · 07/05/2025

Thank you @washingtonpost.com for publishing my opinion. Now is not the time to silence ourselves. www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/05/07/trump-kennedy-center-boycott-yankovskaya P.S. I would never call it Trump’s Kennedy Center. But we don’t get to write our own headlines… 📸 Karli Cadel

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🎹 sharon su @doodlyroses.com · 30/04/2025

Anytime @song-of-lark.bsky.social posts anything about San Francisco Symphony drama I immediately drop everything to read it, how could I not with openers like this

Centering Patrons at the San Francisco Symphony
Sometimes my cat swallows several times in a row and starts licking her lips. I, having lived with her since 2012, understand that this is a sign to grab a roll of paper towels, because she is about to hork up a hairball.

In much the same way, when a major American orchestra launches a gauzy website under the guise of informing the public about a labor negotiation, I, having followed this industry since 2012, understand that this is a sign to grab a roll of paper towels, because said orchestra is about to hork up a hairball

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Verismo • Classical Music PR @verismocomm.com · 31/03/2025

Yes, I read the whole review. I'm disheartened that this is the state of cultural criticism. I chose to focus on the line that could inspire positive movement.

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Verismo • Classical Music PR @verismocomm.com · 31/03/2025

Today, in an opera review, I read: "A stage plus an elaborate set plus someone singing their inner turmoil in English equals musical theater, at least in my mind." If you can't fathom opera written in English – or this century – ffs, BROADEN YOUR MIND! You've so much incredible art to discover.

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