Megan makes her directorial debut as the BJU Opera Workshop presents a pastiche of English Baroque opera scenes, titled “Baroquen Hearts.” This pastiche, woven together by Dr. Stapleton, highlights the “b’roquen” hearts of 17th Century England’s most famous mythological divas: Dido, Galatea, and Venus, with Cupid at the helm of mischief. Performed in BJU’s beautiful War Memorial Chapel, this echoing space, surrounded by Benjamin West’s magnificent Rococo paintings (1738-1820), makes an ideal setting for an audience to dwell in the Baroque world.

The director will also step in as performer, filling in for the role of Galatea due to some unfortunate health issues that forced the original Galatea to withdraw from the role. The cast wishes this colleague a swift and full recovery.

Catch the livestream of “Baroquen Hearts” at 6pm Eastern, 7pm Central, by viewing the following link:

https://bju.hosted.panopto.com/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=007f08d4-9cc8-4f6f-931e-addc012de12d

The recording will also remain available at the above link following the performance.

Andrew Huish leads the BJU Chorale in Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass, with Megan resonating the soprano solos, including the dynamic and vigorous opening Kyrie!

Location: War Memorial Chapel
Times: 5:30pm and 7:00pm

Catch the recording at <music.bju.edu/live>.

Dr. Stapleton makes a guest appearance with BJU’s saxophone ensemble in a unique performance of Handel’s “Lascia ch’io pianga,” part of the joint concert presented by BJU’s saxophone studio and flute studio at 5:30pm on October 27th in War Memorial Chapel.

Megan joins Grammy award-winning conductor Richard Kaufman as he returns for the Annual BJU Homecoming Concert to conduct the University Symphony Orchestra and Chorus in a wide-ranging program of music from the pen of Hollywood composer Lee Holdridge, including the world premiere of Fantasy Chorale: A Journey of Joy and Hope, commissioned especially for this performance. Megan will sing the beautiful aria, “I am Home,” from Holdridge’s Concierto Para Mendez.

Location: Founder’s Memorial Amphitorium, Bob Jones University
Time: 7:30 EST

Renowned tenor Tony Boutte presents a brand new full-length opera, comprised of music from the most well-known anthology in classical singing, 24 Italian Songs and Arias. This new opera will be workshopped by Megan, Tony, and their colleagues in early August.

Photo from another baroque opera production: Charpentier’s Orphee aux Enfers, with The Boston Early Music Festival

Megan Stapleton joins pianist Paul English at Bush Intercontinental Airport, offering an afternoon of live music through the Houston Airports performing arts program, “Harmony in the Air.”
Time: 12:00 pm to 3:00 pm
Place: The Terminal Art Collector Gallery, in Terminal A.

Megan joins her friends at The Houston G&S Society for an evening of tomfoolery as the gang steps into each other's shoes! Could Mabel finally get her chance to rule the seven seas??? For it is, it IS a glorious thing to be a pirate king!

www.gilbertandsullivan.org

Megan joins The Baytown Symphony Orchestra in a concert of Broadway songs on Saturday, March 6th. Stay tuned for further details!

Update: Unfortunately, this concert has been cancelled due to various circumstances relating to Covid safety, combined with complications from the recent Texas snowstorms.

This spring, Megan will serve as Resident Teaching Artist at McNeese State University, providing students in the Department of Voice with supplemental voice lessons, master classes, and lectures. Lecture topics will include Musician Identity, Building Strong Voices, Vocal Health and Longevity, Straw Phonation, Career Strategy, and other discussions regarding performing arts health and vocal pedagogy. 

For their traditional Thanksgiving weekend feast, the Boston Early Music Festival opens a treasure trove of video archives for the first time to share FREE streaming broadcasts of two productions inspired by the Orpheus legend from our GRAMMY Award-winning Chamber Opera Series! Please tune in on November 29, 2020 at 3pm to watch a double-bill featuring Charpentier’s La Descente d’Orphée aux Enfers.

Playing the role of Daphne/Guyot, this was Megan’s first professional opera production back in 2011. She reprised the role with BEMF when they revived the production in 2013. It remains one of her most treasured memories.

These broadcasts will be freely available for a limited time on YouTube – subscribe to BEMF’s YouTube channel today! Be sure to watch for additional new videos, including documentaries on the making of each production, video lectures, and a 30-minute excerpt from BEMF’s 2017 fully staged production of Campra’s Le Carnaval de Venise, featuring an Orpheus-themed “opera-within-an-opera” attended by the characters of the larger story.

After a three-year hiatus, Houston's smallest baroque chamber ensemble is returning for a new season. With a fresh feel, HB's mission is to invite audiences into an intimate and transformative experience of the senses. The ensemble plans to release a recorded musical offering this fall, to help tide over the listening community as we all await the pandemic's end. Then, be on the lookout next spring as Houston Baroque hosts its first live performances since 2017.