Andrew Davis News

Earlier today, TSO Music Director Peter Oundjian announced the 2014/2015 season of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO), the Orchestra's 93rd season. The 2014/2015 season also marks the beginning of the Maestro's second decade on the podium with the TSO.

Anthony Freud, general director of Lyric Opera of Chicago, announced today that the company will present a new production of Richard Wagner's monumental four-opera masterpiece, Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung) starting in 2016-17.

Conductor Robin Ticciati returns to Walt Disney Concert Hall to lead the Los Angeles Philharmonic in the first weekend of Emanuel Ax's Brahms Project, Friday, January 17, at 8 pm, as well as Saturday and Sunday, January 18 and 19, at 2 pm. All three performances feature Ligeti's rarely heard Melodien and Ax playing Brahms' monumental First Piano Concerto. Schumann's Symphony No. 1, 'Spring' will be played Saturday and Sunday.

The 2014 Festival will take place from 17 May to 24 August 2014 and includes three new productions: Strauss' Der Rosenkavalier, Mozart's La Finta Giardiniera, Verdi's La Traviata and revivals of Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin, Mozart's Don Giovanni and Handel's Rinaldo.

Lyric Opera of Chicago and composer Jimmy Lopez are the recipients of the Prince Charitable Trusts 2013 Prince Prize for Commissioning New Original Work - the first time ever the Prince Prize has been awarded for an opera commission. The $75,000 award ($25,000 of which goes to the composer) was awarded for the opera Bel Canto, which is based on the best-selling Ann Pachett novel of the same name. The opera will receive its world premiere at Lyric in December of 2015 and will star renowned soprano Danielle de Niese in the central role. The libretto is by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Nilo Cruz. Bel Canto will be directed by Kevin Newbury and conducted by Lyric Opera music director Sir Andrew Davis.

Utah Opera presents a unique, cabaret-style theater experience featuring some of opera's best known arias in Kathleen Cahill's, irreverent Fatal Song onstage at Rose Wagner Theatre.

Only the greatest opera companies in the world have the resources and orchestral forces to mount the massive and complex masterpieces of Richard Wagner. This month Lyric Opera of Chicago is doing just that with a new production of the German composer's final masterpiece, Parsifal.

Only the greatest opera companies in the world have the resources and orchestral forces to mount the massive and complex masterpieces of Richard Wagner. In November Lyric Opera of Chicago will do just that with a new production of the German composer's final masterpiece, Parsifal.

Anthony Freud, general director of Lyric Opera of Chicago, announced today that the acclaimed American director Kevin Newbury will direct the world-premiere production of Bel Canto during the company's 2015-16 season. Newbury replaces Stephen Wadsworth.

Utah Opera presents a unique, cabaret-style theater experience featuring some of opera's best known arias in Kathleen Cahill's, irreverent Fatal Song onstage at Rose Wagner Theatre.

This winter The 5th Avenue Theatre presents a singing and dancing spectacular not to be missed: Lionel Bart's beloved classic, Oliver!, the holiday treat that will have audiences saying "Please sir, I want some more." The iconic musical returns to the celebrated 5th Avenue stage for the first time in 20 years, and will feature stunning costumes, dazzling sets, and a massive local cast of 66 (including 36 youngsters), singing and dancing their way through the streets and alleys of Victorian London. Based on the classic Charles Dickens novel, Oliver! is filled with memorable tunes including "Who Will Buy?", "I'd Do Anything," and "As Long As He Needs Me." Oliver! features direction by David Armstrong and will starDavid Pichette as Fagin, Grayson Smith as the Artful Dodger, Hans Altwies as Bill Sikes, and Merideth Kaye Clark as Nancy. Oliver Twist will be played by Jack Fleischmann and Mark Jeffrey James Weber at alternating performances.

November sees Thomas Hampson - a recent inductee into the Gramophone Hall of Fame - return to Lyric Opera of Chicago to help celebrate the Wagner bicentennial, singing Amfortas in the company's new production of Parsifal (Nov 9-29). Wagner's conflicted ruler is one of the baritone's signature roles, and earlier this month he joined Christoph Eschenbach and the National Symphony for a concert rendition of the opera's final act. The results, according to the Washington Times, were a 'revelation.' Awarding the concert full marks, the review singled out Hampson's performance as 'genuinely electrifying, yet moving at the same time.' Similarly, while impressed by the concert as a whole, the Washington Post nonetheless felt that 'it was Thomas Hampson's Amfortas who showed everyone how it is done. ... He effectively carried the end of the evening.' The Washington Times spoke for many in concluding: 'We can confidently assure Lyric Opera patrons that their Amfortas will not disappoint.'

With Music Director Peter Oundjian's tenth season in full swing, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra kicks off November on Halloween with Carl Orff's incredibly popular Carmina Burana! The month continues with pianist Emanuel Ax performing Brahms's Piano Concerto No. 2 and the return of Sir Andrew Davis conducting a programme of Beethoven and Richard Strauss.

Ehrenkranz Artistic Director Jane Moss today announced the roster for Lincoln Center's fourth multidisciplinary White Light Festival, today October 24 through November 23, 2013.

OPERATHON 2013, Lyric Opera of Chicago's annual live-radio marathon fundraiser on 98.7WFMT, celebrated its 34th anniversary by raising $501,036 during its 16-hour broadcast on Saturday, October 19, exceeding the $500,000 goal.

With Music Director Peter Oundjian's tenth season in full swing, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra kicks off November on Halloween with Carl Orff's incredibly popular Carmina Burana! The month continues with pianist Emanuel Ax performing Brahms's Piano Concerto No. 2 and the return of Sir Andrew Davis conducting a programme of Beethoven and Richard Strauss.

Only the greatest opera companies in the world have the resources and orchestral forces to mount the massive and complex masterpieces of Richard Wagner. In November Lyric Opera of Chicago will do just that with a new production of the German composer's final masterpiece, Parsifal.

The Chicago Philharmonic continues its season with Romantic Serenade on Sunday, November 10, 2013 at 3:00 p.m. at Nichols Concert Hall in Evanston.