Andrew Davis News

The Dallas Opera presents Dominick Argento's riveting 1988 opera, THE ASPERN PAPERS, in a brand-new production to mark the twenty-fifth anniversary of its TDO world premiere. THE ASPERN PAPERS will open on the evening of Friday, April 12, 2013 at 7:30 p.m. in the Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House.

The Cleveland Orchestra has announced its 2013-14 season. Music Director Franz Welser-Most will introduce a Fall Festival, pairing symphonies by Beethoven and Shostakovich, and an all-Brahms weekend with two programs featuring Brahms's Violin Concerto and his Second and Fourth Symphonies. Mr. Welser-Most brings opera back to Severance Hall, with a semi-staged production of Janacek's The Cunning Little Vixen. Guest artists returning to Severance Hall include Leon Fleisher, Mitsuko Uchida, Radu Lupu, and conductors Christoph von Dohnanyi, Pierre Boulez, and Herbert Blomstedt. The Orchestra celebrates the 100th anniversary of the birth of Benjamin Britten with performances of his Spring Symphony, Violin Concerto, and Serenade for Tenor, Horn, and Strings.

The Film Society of Lincoln Center presents the film series Foxy, The Complete Pam Grier (today, March 15-17). Screening at the Walter Reade Theater (165 West 65th Street) and the Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center (144 West 65th Street), and highlighted by the attendance of Grier at several screenings, the film series includes such fan favorites and notable classics as THE BIG BIRD CAGE (1972), COFFY (1973), ESCAPE FROM LA (1996), FOXY BROWN (1974), and GREASED LIGHTNING (1977), as well as JACKIE BROWN (1997) featuring her Golden Globe and SAG Award nominated performance in the title role.

New York City Opera opens its spring 2013 season with a new production of Powder Her Face (1995), composed by Thomas Ades (b.1971) to a libretto by Philip Hensher (b. 1965).

The Civic Opera House was transformed into 1920s Paris, complete with the Eiffel Tower, the Moulin Rouge nightclub, and classic boulevard signs (environmental design by Event Creative). This set the scene for 'Midnight in Paris,' the 29th annual Fantasy of the Opera Gala benefit hosted by Lyric Opera of Chicago's Guild Board of Directors on Saturday, February 9. The gala benefit raised more than $450,000 net for the world-renowned opera company.

The Film Society of Lincoln Center announced details today for the upcoming film series, Foxy, The Complete Pam Grier (March 15-17).

Miller Theatre at Columbia University School of the Arts continues the 2012-13 season of its Composer Portraits series with the works of Russian composer SOFIA GUBAIDULINA, featuring the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), Rebekah Heller, bassoon and Christian Knapp, conductor.

Lyric Opera of Chicago and its general director, Anthony Freud, announced the lineup for Lyric's 2013-14 season today. Joseph Calleja, Joyce DiDonato, Nathan Gunn, Thomas Hampson, Ana Maria Martinez, Matthew Polenzani, and Patricia Racette are among those headlining the new season's offerings. These comprise 67 performances of eight different operas, beginning October 5, 2013 and concluding March 23, 2014: new productions of Parsifal, La traviata, The Barber of Seville, and Rusalka (Lyric premiere); a revival of Otello; and new-to-Chicago stagings of Madama Butterfly, Die Fledermaus, and La clemenza di Tito. Lyric's music director, Sir Andrew Davis, will lead three operas, and guest conductors Marco Armiliato, Bertrand de Billy and Michele Mariotti will make their house debuts. Additionally, Lyric will present a new production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's The Sound of Music in the spring of 2014, continuing the company's American Musical Theater Initiative, and Davis will conduct a special Subscriber Appreciation Concert in March featuring Lyric's creative consultant - the star soprano Renee Fleming - with tenor Jonas Kaufmann.

Lyric Opera of Chicago and its general director, Anthony Freud, announced the lineup for Lyric's 2013-14 season today. Joseph Calleja, Joyce DiDonato, Nathan Gunn, Thomas Hampson, Ana Maria Martinez, Matthew Polenzani, and Patricia Racette are among those headlining the new season's offerings. These comprise 67 performances of eight different operas, beginning October 5, 2013 and concluding March 23, 2014: new productions of Parsifal, La traviata, The Barber of Seville, and Rusalka (Lyric premiere); a revival of Otello; and new-to-Chicago stagings of Madama Butterfly, Die Fledermaus, and La clemenza di Tito. Lyric's music director, Sir Andrew Davis, will lead three operas, and guest conductors Marco Armiliato, Bertrand de Billy and Michele Mariotti will make their house debuts. Additionally, Lyric will present a new production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's The Sound of Music in the spring of 2014, continuing the company's American Musical Theater Initiative, and Davis will conduct a special Subscriber Appreciation Concert in March featuring Lyric's creative consultant - the star soprano Renee Fleming - with tenor Jonas Kaufmann.

Miller Theatre at Columbia University School of the Arts continues the 2012-13 season of its Composer Portraits series with the works of Russian composer SOFIA GUBAIDULINA, featuring the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), Rebekah Heller, bassoon and Christian Knapp, conductor.

New York City Opera opens its spring 2013 season with a new production of Powder Her Face (1995), composed by Thomas Adès (b.1971) to a libretto by Philip Hensher (b. 1965).

Anthony Freud, general director of Lyric Opera of Chicago, announced today that Michael Black will be the company's new chorus master beginning with the 2013-14 season. He commences in August of 2013.

Baritone Thomas Hampson - fresh from induction into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences - looks forward to a blockbuster October in the US. The singer joins the Collegiate Chorale and the Israel Philharmonic under Zubin Mehta at Carnegie Hall tonight, October 25th, for a concert featuring Schoenberg's Kol Nidre and the New York premiere of Noam Sheriff's MECHAYE HAMETIM - a program that was greeted rapturously when Hampson performed it with the same forces at the Salzburg Festival this summer.

OPERATHON 2012, Lyric Opera of Chicago's annual live-radio marathon fundraiser on 98.7WFMT, celebrated its 33rd anniversary by raising $482,465 during its 16-hour broadcast on Saturday, October 20, exceeding the $450,000 goal.

Baritone Thomas Hampson will step into one of his favorite roles, Verdi's Simon Boccanegra, for a Lyric Opera of Chicago production led by Sir Andrew Davis (tonight, Oct 15-Nov 9). Also this month, on October 18th, Hampson will give one of his acclaimed SONG OF AMERICA recitals in Akron, Ohio, with longtime colleague Kevin Murphy.

Baritone Thomas Hampson will step into one of his favorite roles, Verdi's Simon Boccanegra, for a Lyric Opera of Chicago production led by Sir Andrew Davis (Oct 15-Nov 9). Also this month, on October 18th, Hampson will give one of his acclaimed SONG OF AMERICA recitals in Akron, Ohio, with longtime colleague Kevin Murphy.

Anthony Freud, general director of Lyric Opera of Chicago, announced today that Gianna Rolandi will retire as director of The Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center on April 15, 2013, following the annual "Rising Stars in Concert" performance April 13. Rolandi has held that position since May 2006, and served as director of vocal studies for the Ryan Opera Center for the previous four years, following a distinguished international career as a coloratura soprano. Rolandi will continue her association with the Ryan Opera Center as vocal consultant, a new position.

Louis Phillips has joined Focus Features as the worldwide film company's executive vice president, physical production. Focus president Andrew Karpen, to whom Mr. Phillips reports, made the announcement today.

Five-time Academy Award-winner and renowned composer John Williams returns to the Hollywood Bowl stage to lead the Los Angeles Philharmonic in a weekend of his movie music and accompanying film clips in John Williams.

Five-time Academy Award-winner and renowned composer John Williams returns to the Hollywood Bowl stage to lead the Los Angeles Philharmonic in a weekend of his movie music and accompanying film clips in John Williams.