British Broadcasting Corporation News

An all-new cast of celebrities and their professional partners hit the dance floor on ABC's 'Dancing with the Stars' with the highly anticipated two-hour season premiere, Monday, March 22 (8:00-10:00 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network.

In March 2010, The New York Philharmonic This Week - the two-hour, national, weekly radio program of concerts by the New York Philharmonic, hosted by Emmy and Golden Globe Award-Winner Alec Baldwin - features five programs led by guest conductors.

ABC kicks off the tenth season of the hit reality series 'Dancing with the Stars' with a huge two-hour premiere, MONDAY, MARCH 22 (8:00-10:00 p.m., ET), on the ABC Television Network, as an all star cast of celebrities and their professional dance partners will hit the floor with two hours of dancing.

In January 2010, The New York Philharmonic This Week - the two-hour, national, weekly radio program of concerts by the New York Philharmonic, hosted by Emmy Award-winning actor Alec Baldwin - begins with a Summertime Classics program from July 3-4, 2009, with conductor Bramwell Tovey: Gershwin's Strike Up the Band, Variations on "I Got Rhythm," and Rhapsody in Blue with Marc-Andre Hamelin as soloist; Copland's Appalachian Spring Suite; and Sousa's Hands Across the Sea March and Washington Post March. The following week, Music Director Alan Gilbert leads the Orchestra in Webern's Im Sommerwind, Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 23, with Leif Ove Andsnes as soloist, Webern's Symphony, Op. 21, and Schumann's Symphony No. 2. The third January broadcast, also conducted by Mr. Gilbert, features Yefim Bronfman as soloist in Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 2, with Rachmaninoff's Symphony No. 2 concluding the program. In the final January broadcast, Mr. Gilbert conducts Haydn's Symphony No. 49, La passione; John Adams's The Wound-Dresser, with baritone Thomas Hampson, the Orchestra's Mary and James G. Wallach Artist-in-Residence; Schubert's Symphony in B minor, Unfinished; and Berg's Three Orchestral Pieces.

'Dancing with the Stars' welcomes Baz Luhrmann to the ballroom as a guest judge during Week 2 of the competition, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 28 (8:00-10:02 p.m., ET) and TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29 (9:00-10:00 p.m.) on the ABC Television Network. Luhrmann joins dancer/choreographers Bruno Tonioli and Carrie Ann Inaba at the judges' table while head judge Len Goodman takes a week off from the competition.

The 'Dancing with the Stars' pro dancers paid tribute to the legendary dance career of the late Patrick Swayze by performing a medley of his signature numbers.

On the first 'Dancing with the Stars the Results Show' of Season 9, the cast of Disney's Tony Award-winning The Lion King will perform the spectacular 'Circle of Life,' the Oscar-nominated song that opens the show, in a stunning parade of costumes, animal puppetry and the most performers to ever take to the 'Dancing with the Stars' stage, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23 (8:00-9:00 p.m., ET), on the ABC Television Network. The appearance coincides with The Lion King recently passing the 50 million mark in worldwide attendance.

The New York Philharmonic and Chicago?s WFMT Radio Network will launch the sixth season of the concert broadcast series, The New York Philharmonic This Week, beginning the week of September 28, 2009. Emmy Award-winning actor Alec Baldwin is the new host of the two-hour radio program, which is broadcast and syndicated nationally 52 weeks a year by the WFMT Radio Network.

On the first 'Dancing with the Stars the Results Show' of Season 9, the cast of Disney's Tony Award-winning The Lion King will perform the spectacular 'Circle of Life,' the Oscar-nominated song that opens the show, in a stunning parade of costumes, animal puppetry and the most performers to ever take to the 'Dancing with the Stars' stage, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23 (8:00-9:00 p.m., ET), on the ABC Television Network. The appearance coincides with The Lion King recently passing the 50 million mark in worldwide attendance.

In June 2009, The New York Philharmonic This Week ? a two-hour, national, weekly radio program of concerts by the New York Philharmonic ? begins with a concert from the Philharmonic?s sixth annual residency in Vail, Colorado, as part of the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival. In this program, from the July 18, 2008 performance, Music Director Designate Alan Gilbert leads the Orchestra in Tchaikovsky?s Piano Concerto No. 1, with Lang Lang as soloist; Beethoven?s Symphony No. 4; and Sibelius?s Finlandia. The following week, after conducting J.S. Bach?s Brandenburg Concerto No. 4, Music Director Lorin Maazel leads the World Premiere of Aaron Jay Kernis?s a Voice, a Messenger (a Co-Commission with the New York Philharmonic and the Big Ten Band Association); Copland?s Clarinet Concerto, with Principal Clarinet Stanley Drucker as soloist; and Ravel?s Boléro. The third June broadcast, conducted by Lorin Maazel, will be Britten?s powerful War Requiem. Lionel Bringuier conducts the chamber orchestra (in his Philharmonic debut), and soprano Nancy Gustafson, tenor Vale Rideout (Philharmonic debut), and baritone Ian Greenlaw will be the soloists with the New York Choral Artists, the Dessoff Symphonic Choir, and the Brooklyn Youth Chorus. In the final June broadcast, Lorin Maazel conducts two of his own compositions, Monaco Fanfares and Farewells, concluding with Sibelius?s Symphony No. 2.

In February 2009, The New York Philharmonic This Week a two-hour, national, weekly radio program of concerts by the New York Philharmonic will begin with Gustavo Dudamel conducting the Orchestra in Oliver Knussen's Violin Concerto, featuring Pinchas Zukerman, and Mahler's Symphony No. 5. The following week, Riccardo Muti returns to conduct Haydn's Symphony No. 89; selected arias from Haydn operas Armida and L'anima del filosofo ossia Orfeo ed Euridice, with bass-baritone Thomas Quasthoff as soloist; and Brahms's Serenade No. 1. The third broadcast, led by Kurt Masur, commemorates the bicentenary of Mendelssohn's birth in an all-Mendelssohn program featuring his Overture to Ruy Blas; Violin Concerto, with guest artist Anne-Sophie Mutter; and Die erste Walpurgisnacht with mezzo-soprano Christine Knorren (in her Philharmonic debut), tenor Jorma Silvasti (in his Philharmonic debut), bass-baritone Albert Dohmen (in his Philharmonic subscription debut), bass Thorsten Gr?mbel (in his Philharmonic debut), and the Westminster Symphonic Choir. The final February broadcast will be the 2008?09 New Year?s Eve Gala Concert with Music Director Lorin Maazel leading mezzo-soprano Susan Graham and the Philharmonic in a program that includes ?Deh per questo istante solo? from Mozart?s La clemenza di Tito; Vilja from Leh?r?s The Merry Widow; and ?L?Amour est un oiseau rebelle? (Habanera) and ?Pr?s des ramparts de S?ville? (Seguidilla) from Act I of Bizet?s Carmen; the orchestral pieces will include works by Verdi, Rossini, Saint-Sa?ns, Brahms, Offenbach, and Falla.