Chris Botti News

The McCallum Theatre played host to the irreverent funny man Howie Mandell last Saturday night and he did not disappoint.

I've said it before, but it is hard to find a more perfect venue than The McCallum Theatre for just about any theatrical production of any genre. And it was great to be back, as The McCallum kicks off it's 25th Anniversary Season - a season that promises to feature something for everyone - from Howie Mandell to Jackie Evancho, from Rock of Ages to Beauty And The Beast to West Side Story, and from Barbara Cook and Michael Feinstein to Yo Yo Ma and Chris Botti. Last night The McCallum played host to a multi-media touring production called THIS IS THE 60's and it was a great "warm up act" for everything that will follow. For those who came back for the second half, after a somewhat "underwhelming" first Act (there was a minor exodus in the parking lot at intermission), it turned out to be a rousing evening or musical nostalgia that brought the crowd to their feet dancing in the aisles - literally.

The Lied Center for Performing Arts at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln has announced its 23nd season of world-class performing artists. The 2012-13 season includes 52 performances of 36 shows from a wide range of categories including Broadway, popular music, comedy, dance, classical music, world music and jazz, family offerings and theater. More than half of the 36 scheduled shows will make their first appearance at the Lied Center. See below for details.

Barbara Cook returns to Carnegie Hall to celebrate her 85th birthday tonight, October 18 at 8:00 p.m. with a special performance in Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage.

Poway Center for the Performing Arts Foundation brings ukulele "wunderkind" Jake Shimabukuro to the Poway Center for the Performing Arts stage on Friday, October 12, 2012 at 8pm.

This Fall, stage and screen legend Barbra Streisand brings her concert tour across the United States. Titled 'Back to Brooklyn,' the tour stops tonight in Streisand's hometown, Brooklyn, New York, where she will perform at the Barclays Center.

Anything Barbra Streisand-related is well worth attending (are you kidding?!), and on Friday, October 5, there was an invited dress rehearsal on the Temple University campus in the Liacouras Center as Barbra Streisand: BACK TO BROOKLYN got its feet wet for the first time in front of about a thousand people.

In a one-hour special, 'Dancing with the Stars: All-Stars -- Defining Dances,' airing TONIGHT, OCTOBER 2 (8:00-9:00 p.m., ET), the judges will select and introduce past routines from the All-Stars' previous seasons, ultimately defining the winning attributes that each All-Star demonstrated in these performances.

Monday's performance show showcases the remaining 12 All-Star couples dancing either the Jive or the Quickstep, live, MONDAY, OCTOBER 1 (8:00-10:01 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network.

Culture Project presents the 10th anniversary production of the hit, award-winning play, The Exonerated, written by Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen, presented in special association with The Innocence Project. Performances began September 15, 2012 at 8:00 p.m. for a limited seven-week engagement through Sunday, November 4, 2012 at Culture Project (45 Bleecker Street at Lafayette Street). Opening night was lst night, September 19, 2012, and BroadwayWorld was there for all the festivities. Check out full coverage from the star-studded after party below!

Andy Ezrin Trio will be appearing at Birdland tonight, September 20th from 6 to 7 pm, featuring Andy Ezrin on piano, Zev Katz on bass and Ben Wittman on drums.

Barbra Streisand, Aretha Franklin, Liza Minnelli, Itzhak Perlman, Lang Lang, Michael Feinstein, Chris Botti, Maria Friedman, Brian d'Arcy James, Carter Brey, Essential Voices USA, former cast members of A Chorus Line and cast members of The Nutty Professor came together for an invitation only event yesterday, September 18, 2012 to pay tribute to Marvin Hamlisch.

Barbra Streisand, Aretha Franklin, Liza Minnelli, Itzhak Perlman, Lang Lang, Michael Feinstein, Chris Botti, Maria Friedman, Brian d'Arcy James, Carter Brey, Essential Voices USA, former cast members of A Chorus Line and cast members of The Nutty Professor will come together for an invitation only event on Tuesday, September 18, 2012 to pay tribute to Marvin Hamlisch.

The 25th annual Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition and 'Women, Music and Diplomacy' All-Star Gala Concert will be presented by the world-renowned Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, in partnership with Cadillac, this year's Presenting Sponsor, on September 22-23. Through the competition and its numerous educational programs, the Institute is committed to identifying and training the world's leading young jazz musicians who will preserve the traditions of jazz while expanding the music in new directions.

Andy Ezrin Trio will be appearing at Birdland on Thursday, September 20th from 6 to 7 pm, featuring Andy Ezrin on piano, Zev Katz on bass and Ben Wittman on drums.

Poway Center for the Performing Arts Foundation brings ukulele "wunderkind" Jake Shimabukuro to the Poway Center for the Performing Arts stage on Friday, October 12, 2012 at 8pm.

The National Symphony Orchestra Pops today announced that Megan Hilty, known nationwide as triple-threat Ivy Lynn on NBC's hit Smash, will perform with the Orchestra November 23-24, 2012 in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall. Ms. Hilty will perform three concerts paying tribute to the music of Frank Sinatra, as well as the Rat Pack, Ella Fitzgerald and Etta James. The performances will be led by NSO Principal Pops Conductor Steven Reineke.

Grammy Award®-winning international megastar Rod Stewart will return to HSN on October 26 at 8 p.m. (ET) to kick-off the holidays with the debut of his first-ever holiday CD, MERRY CHRISTMAS, BABY before its official release on October 30 (Verve Music Group). In 2010, Rod Stewart shattered HSN music records with his exclusive debut of FLY ME TO THE MOON: VOLUME V, selling more than 25,000 units during his one-hour performance. He continues to be the largest selling music artist on HSN. PR Newswire (http://s.tt/1nnBH)

Modern jazz trumpeter, Gabriel Johnson, a graduate of the prestigious New England Conservatory of Music, and an active studio musician who has played and recorded with the likes of Jill Scott, Diddy, Andrea Bocelli, David Foster and B.o.B among others, will release the self-produced Introducing Gabriel Johnson on September 25 on his Sunset Horn imprint. Johnson, whose varied influences range from Miles Davis, to the Stones Throw Records label aesthetic of J-Dilla and Madlib, has created a vibrant wall-of-sound in which he blends the classic with the contemporary, for a sexy, raw, hip hop infused work. Johnson's modern jazz and hip hop blend provides the perfect backdrop for his trumpet playing to completely shine and take center stage.