Aaron Copland News

On October 23 & 24, Persona, a new opera from composer Keeril Makan and adaptor / librettist / director Jay Scheib, will make its world premiere at National Sawdust. Commissioned by Beth Morrison Projects and National Sawdust, and adapted by Scheib from Ingmar Bergman's film of the same name, Persona is a provocative, highly cerebral, and artistically complex depiction of human frailty, cruelty and identity. These world premiere performances-which represent the first opera staged at National Sawdust-feature music direction by Evan Ziporyn and music by the ensemble Either/Or.

On October 23 & 24, Persona, a new opera from composer Keeril Makan and adaptor / librettist / director Jay Scheib, will make its world premiere at National Sawdust. Commissioned by Beth Morrison Projects and National Sawdust, and adapted by Scheib from Ingmar Bergman's film of the same name, Persona is a provocative, highly cerebral, and artistically complex depiction of human frailty, cruelty and identity. These world premiere performances—which represent the first opera staged at National Sawdust—feature music direction by Evan Ziporyn and music by the ensemble Either/Or.

Birdland Jazz Club has announced its lineup for October 19-25, featuring Tierney Sutton, Iris Williams, Birdland Jazz Party, and more. Scroll down for details!

Visionary director Julie Taymor will curate and host the first National Sawdust+ concert on Friday, November 6 at 7:30pm. MADE IN BROOKLYN, an evening inspired by that artistically fertile corner of New York City, will feature music by Brooklyn-born composers including the great George Gershwin and Oscar-winners Aaron Copland, John Corigliano and Elliot Goldenthal. The concert will feature the world concert premiere of Goldenthal's String Quartet No. 1 'The Stone Cutters' performed by Flux Quartet, the 'Chaconne' from Corigliano's Academy Award-winning score for The Red Violin, performed by Tim Fain & Stephen Gosling, and much more.

There may be no better way to chase the gloom of an unseasonably chilly and wind-whipped evening in NYC than to watch New York City Ballet's delightfully varied quintuple-bill entitled "Americana X Five". On October 2nd 2015, with Hurricane Joaquin's approach bringing on a gusty downpour, I was among the lucky dancegoers at the Koch Theater in Lincoln Center who enjoyed one of the best programs the company has offered in a long time. If you'll be in town through October 7th, don't miss the chance to see the works of four very different choreographers set to the equally wide-ranging works of a talented handful of American composers.

In Orchestra of St. Luke's 2015/2016 Chamber Music Series, Continental Connections, each program will showcase a pair of countries, highlighting contrasts in musical style and often revealing influences among native composers. First in the three-part series is a concert of music from France & Russia, October 18, 21, and 23, at The Morgan Library & Museum and Brooklyn Museum. St. Luke's Chamber Ensemble will perform works by Prokofiev, Debussy, Chausson, and Copland.

Toilet Fire: Rectums in the Rectory is Eliza Bent's ceremony and celebration of the one thing that unites us all: our need to go. Using the structure of an ancient religious ritual to talk about matters of digestion, philosophy, and faith, Toilet Fire written and performed by Bent, with direction by Kevin Laibson and music accompaniment by Alaina Ferris, explodes with song, story, audience participation, and unexpected textual twists.

Commissioned for the 100th Anniversary of the Abrons' Playhouse, SISTERS' FOLLIES: BETWEEN TWO WORLDS is a spooktacular musical extravaganza direct from the unlimited imagination of Basil Twist and stars the legendary Downtown icons Joey Arias (Arias With A Twist, Lincoln Center's AmericanSongbook) and Julie Atlas Muz (Beauty and the Beast).

Commissioned for the 100th Anniversary of the Abrons' Playhouse, SISTERS' FOLLIES: BETWEEN TWO WORLDS is a spooktacular musical extravaganza direct from the unlimited imagination of Basil Twist and stars the legendary Downtown icons Joey Arias (Arias With A Twist, Lincoln Center's AmericanSongbook) and Julie Atlas Muz (Beauty and the Beast).

Birdland Jazz Club has announced its schedule for October 5-11, 2015, featuring Karrin Allyson, Alexandra Silber, An Evening with Peter Aldridge & Laila Biali, and more!

-This season, the eighteen young professional musicians of Ensemble ACJW continue their two-year fellowship program with concerts at Carnegie Hall, The Juilliard School, Skidmore College, National Sawdust, and in community venues throughout New York City. In a particular season highlight, Ensemble ACJW leads a residency in Paris in cooperation with The Edmond de Rothschild Foundations from November 15-20 that will consist of workshops at local Paris schools led by the ACJW fellows as well as concerts at Theatre du Chatelet and Studio Bastille. The residency concert at Theatre du Chatelet on November 18 includes a performance of a work written for the group by Meredith Monk, the recent recipient of the United States National Medal of Arts. On November 19 Ensemble ACJW performs works by Boulez, Michael Jarrell, and Phillippe Leroux at Studio Bastille, conducted by Jean-Christophe Vervoitte, horn player with France's noted Ensemble intercontemporain. Ensemble ACJW then travels to Geneva, Switzerland on November 20 for a performance at the Abbaye de Bonmont.

Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts at Brooklyn College continues its 2015-16 season on Saturday, November 14, 2015 at 2pm with the return of three-time Amateur Night at the Apollo winners Black Violin.  Celebrating the September 18, 2015 release of their newest album, Stereotypes, this classically trained violin duo inspires young people to get fired up about classical music with their unique fusion of classical, hip-hop, jazz, blues, and R&B. Recommended for ages eight and up.  Tickets are $18 and can be purchased at BrooklynCenter.org or by calling the box office at 718-951-4500 (Tue-Sat, 1pm-6pm).

The Palisades Virtuosi flute, clarinet and piano trio presents Finding Our Voice – A Century of American Music, the first subscription concert of their 2015-2016 season on Friday, October 2 at 8:00 PM at the Fair Lawn Community Center, 10-10 20th Street in Fair Lawn, New Jersey. The evening will also include a pre-concert talk at 7:15 and reception following the performance.

New York City Ballet will open its 2015-16 Season at Lincoln Center tonight, September 22 with eight performances of Peter Martins' production of Tschaikovsky's Swan Lake, through Tuesday, September 29, to launch the Company's 2015 Fall Season, which will continue for four weeks through Sunday, October 18.

Birdland Jazz Club has announced its lineup for September 28 - October 4, 2015, including Nicholas Payton Trio, Anita Gillette, Jim Caruso's Cast Party, and more!

Since taking over the reins of The Louisville Orchestra in 2014, Music Director Teddy Abrams has taken the musicians out of Whitney Hall to venues all around the city. If the challenge for the venerable orchestra in recent, troubled years, has been to bring new patrons downtown to Main Street, Mr. Abrams' approach seems to have been: if the audience won't coe ton the orchestra, then take the orchestra to the audience.

Birdland Jazz Club has announced its lineup for September 21-27, 2015, including Coltrane Revisited, Christina Bianco, Ann Hampton Callaway with Christine Ebersole & Curtis Stigers, and more!

BUFFALO, NY - The Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra begins its 2015-16 season on Sept. 16. The season celebrates the 75th anniversary of Kleinhans Music Hall, with masterworks like Beethoven's Eroica Symphony and Elgar's Enigma Variations, guest artists including Jason Alexander andCeltic Woman, and innovative programming such as a three-day festival exploring Aaron Copland's artistic development and concerts blending rock and symphonic music.