Francois Girard

Betsey Perlmutter has been appointed as the Vice President of Schirmer Theatrical, a part of Wise Music Group.

Thomas Guggeis, the young German conductor making his Met debut, is Kapellmeister at the Staatsoper Berlin and the designated Generalmusikdirektor of the Oper Frankfurt; pretty impressive for one who has yet to hit his 30th birthday!   His Met debut was justly anticipated, as across Europe he is known as something of a Wagner and Strauss specialist.   His performance was well-paced and well-colored and energetic.  The score provides for enormous surges of energy and power, and the orchestra was certainly up to the task, but Guggeis’ rendition while quite good, was perhaps a tad lacking in thrills – the magnificent Wagner bombast was a little timid and the quieter passages were lovely but just a bit bland.   With time and more experience with this orchestra, one can safely expect some exceptional performances in the future.

Check out photos and video from rehearsals of the U.S. premiere of Yasushi Inoue’s The Hunting Gun, starring Miki Nakatani & Mikhail Baryshnikov.

The Met’s new production of Richard Wagner’s LOHENGRIN showcases startlingly good singing from tenor Piotr Beczala in the title role, supported ably and nobly by soprano Tamara Wilson’s Elsa, bass-baritone Evgeny Nikitin’s Telramund and bass Gunther Groissbock’s King Heinrich. And soprano Christine Goerke’s evil Ortrud nearly steals the show. With the Met’s orchestra and chorus in glorious form, led by music director Yannick Nezet-Seguin in the pit, the performance made you want to scream and yell for more.

Glenn Gould, the iconic Canadian classical pianist, writer, composer, conductor and broadcaster, would have celebrated his 90th birthday on Sunday, September 25th, 2022.  To commemorate this milestone anniversary, The Glenn Gould Foundation has programmed GlennGould@90, a series of free events starting September 17th honouring Canada's futuristic musical maverick. 

Feinstein's/54 Below presents Sing Street's Musicians in The Wrong Gig. Join Gian Perez, Jakeim Hart, Sam Poon and Anthony Genovesi, from Sing Street on Broadway, in a one night only rock concert experience.

The Met had a wonderfully conducted performance of Wagner's DER FLIENGENDE HOLLANDER with a marvelous singer in the title role. Unfortunately, that was in 2017, when the Met's Music Director Yannick Nezet-Seguin was on the podium and Michael Volle was the forceful Hollander. This time around, when Francois Girard's new Expressionist production had its premiere the other night, with Valery Gergiev at the helm and Evgeny Nikitin as the Dutchman, things did not go so smoothly.

Three-time Oscar winner, Howard Shore, will be Tom Needham's exclusive guest this Thursday at 6 pm on WUSB's THE SOUNDS OF FILM. He will be talking about his new score for Francois Girard's THE SONG OF NAMES.

Acclaimed French-Canadian director, Francois Girard, joins Tom Needham on WUSB's THE SOUNDS OF FILM this Thursday at 6 pm in order to discuss his new film, THE SONG OF NAMES, based on the novel by Norman Lebrecht.

The Santa Barbara Symphony, under the baton of guest conductor Carolyn Kuan, will perform John Corigliano's Academy Award-winning score for The Red Violin, accompanied by Francois Girard's engrossing film in its entirety, at the Granada Theatre on Saturday, June 16, and Sunday, June 17. Also featuring Canadian violinist Lara St. John as soloist, the concerts will take place at 8 pm on June 16 and at 3 pm on June 17. Originally scheduled for January 20 and 21, these concerts were postponed on account of the catastrophic debris flows in Montecito earlier that month. Tickets purchased for the originally scheduled concerts will be honored at these performances. Tickets can be purchased at www.granadasb.org or by calling 805-899-2222. Prices start at $29.

National Sawdust Tracks announced today the release of celebrated contemporary classical guitarist ?Gyan Riley?'s latest solo album, "?Sprig?."

Academy Award-nominated actor, painter, poet, and musician Viggo Mortensen (United States/Denmark) will chair the international jury panel for the twelfth Glenn Gould Prize which includes tattoo and makeup artist, musician, entrepreneur and television personality Kat Von D (United States); Academy and Grammy Award-winning director of film, opera and theatre, and accomplished screenwriter Francois Girard (Canada); singer and actress Ute Lemper (Germany); writer and former Chief Justice The Right Honourable Beverly McLachlin (Canada); painter Naeemeh Naeemaei (Iran); acclaimed soprano Sondra Radvanovsky (Canada/United States); Academy Award-winning composer and conductor Howard Shore, OC (Canada); kora virtuoso and composer Foday Musa Suso (Gambia/United States); and award-winning composer and Chairman of the China Musicians' Association Professor Ye Xiaogang (China).

Richard Wagner's last opera, PARSIFAL, is a tough nut to crack. With its highly religious overtones, lack of action and incredible length (it ran about 5 hours 40 minutes the other night), it's not exactly a 'light night' at the opera--even if for those of us who consider opera to be a 'light night'. Still, with the right cast and conductor, it can be transcendent. The Met's new revival came pretty close to getting us there.

 Schirmer Theatrical is proud to announce the world premiere of Francois Girard's acclaimed film, The Red Violin, screened with live orchestra, featuring John Corigliano's Oscar-winning score. Internationally acclaimed violinist Lara St. John will appear as soloist with Dina Gilbert, Assistant Conductor of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, at the Festival de Lanaudiere in Montreal on July 23rd, 2016.

On Monday, June 27 at 7:30 p.m. at Don't Tell Mama, several young past and present performers from Broadway joined forces in a benefit cabaret to raise money and show support for the victims, survivors and those suffering as a result of the mass shooting in Orlando this month. The benefit was entitled Broadway Kids for Orlando: All You Need is Love. One hundred percent of the proceeds are being donated to the GLBT Center of Central Florida, and all 49 victims of The Pulse Nightclub shooting were honored in the program. BroadwayWorld has photos and footage from the show below!

Local actors seeking to brush up their skills or acquire new ones will have a unique opportunity this spring at Long Wharf Theatre's Studio School to work with some of the American theatre's most innovative artists.

According to Deadline, actor and comedian Eddie Izzard, THE FIRM's Josh Lucas, GLEE's Kevin McHale and IN TREATMENT's Debra Winger have all boarded the upcoming movie BOYCHOIR.

John Corigliano, the celebrated Oscar-, Pulitzer-, and Grammy-winner and one of the most honored and often-performed American composers of the last quarter-century, who has worked with everyone from Leonard Bernstein and Yo-Yo Ma to film directors Ken Russell and Francois Girard. Plus the Music from Copland House ensemble with acclaimed soprano Amy Burton.

John Corigliano, the celebrated Oscar-, Pulitzer-, and Grammy-winner and one of the most honored and often-performed American composers of the last quarter-century, who has worked with everyone from Leonard Bernstein and Yo-Yo Ma to film directors Ken Russell and Francois Girard. Plus the Music from Copland House ensemble with acclaimed soprano Amy Burton.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the Oscar winner has signed on to join Alfred Molina and Kathy Bates in the film, set to be directed by Francois Girard, and featuring an original script by Ben Ripley.