Edgar Meyer News

The Cleveland Orchestra announces its 2020 Blossom Music Festival season, presented by The J.M. Smucker Company. Nineteen concerts will be part of the Blossom Music Festival, taking place from Fourth of July through Labor Day weekends (July 3 a?" September 6). This year marks the 10th anniversary season of the Orchestra's innovative Under 18's Free ticket program for families and children which provides free tickets for young people to all Blossom Music Festival concerts.

Pianist Anne-Marie McDermott celebrates 10 seasons as Artistic Director in a summer that includes Yuja Wang playing three different piano concertos; premieres of commissioned works by Caroline Shaw, Mason Bates and Chris Rogerson; highly anticipated returns to Vail by Music Directors Yannick Nézet-Séguin and Jaap van Zweden; plus performances by Pinchas Zukerman, Edgar Meyer, Gil Shaham, Kelli O'Hara, Conrad Tao and Dover Quartet

The Indianapolis Quartet-violinists Zachary DePue and Joana Genova, violist Michael Isaac Strauss, and cellist Austin Huntington-will perform at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall in New York City on Thursday, March 5, 2020 at 8:00 p.m.

World-renowned banjoist Béla Fleck and accomplished Malian kora master Toumani Diabaté debut a new song today (2/21), titled 'Kauonding Sissoko,” off their upcoming new duo album The Ripple Effect. Available March 27th from Craft Recordings, The Ripple Effect will be available as a 180-gram 2-LP gatefold vinyl and also as part of a 3-CD/1-DVD collection, titled Throw Down Your Heart: The Complete Africa Sessions, which documents Béla's remarkable journey across Africa to explore the banjo's roots.

The Los Angeles Philharmonic has announced its 99th summer season at the Hollywood Bowl, showcasing a roster of world-class artists ranging from classical and pops to jazz, rock, and world music. The season features the return of legendary Bowl favorites, celebrated artists and conductors making their Bowl debuts, and the premieres of new LA Phil-commissioned works.

After 17 years of dreaming, the Diego Symphony has announced the inaugural season lineup and official name for the highly-anticipated permanent outdoor concert venue, The Shell. Opening in July, The Shell-a symbolic name inspired by the venue's dramatic shape and unique waterfront location-will be an acoustically superior and architecturally captivating structure within a newly upgraded public park. The Diego Symphony's first season at The Shell expands upon its wide range of musical genres -from classical concerts to Broadway, Jazz to R&B-that highlight the city's world-class orchestra, showcase the acoustical excellence of the venue, and will attract a wider range of audiences.

State Theatre New Jersey is pleased to announce an exciting new partnership with the Center for Musical Excellence (CME), a non-profit organization that nurtures and supports gifted young classical musicians. The partnership will give the State Theatre access to a wealth of young talent to enhance our nationally-recognized Education & Community Engagement programs. The partnership will give the State Theatre access to a wealth of new talent to enhance our nationally-recognized Education & Community Engagement programs. For CME's artists, working with the State Theatre will provide new employment opportunities, as well as invaluable experience teaching and performing for diverse groups in both traditional and nontraditional settings.

Virtuoso violinist Joshua Bell brings the renowned Academy of St Martin in Fields Orchestra to The Soraya where the Beethoven 250th celebration is well underway this season. Bell and the distinguished chamber orchestra will perform Beethoven's iconic Symphony No. 5, as well as the great violin concerto by Italian musical genius Niccolò Paganini.  

The Academy of St Martin in the Fields and Joshua Bell return to the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall for one night only on Saturday, February 15 at 8 p.m. The ensemble is one of the world's finest chamber orchestras, renowned for fresh, brilliant interpretations of the world's greatest orchestral music. The program, led by Music Director and virtuoso violinist Joshua Bell, features Le nozze di Figaro, K. 492: Overture (Mozart), Violin Concerto No. 1 in D major, Op. 6 (Paganini) and Symphony No. 4 in E minor, Op. 98 (Brahms).

Known collectively as Hawktail, fiddler Brittany Haas, bassist Paul Kowert, guitarist Jordan Tice, and mandolinist Dominick Leslie are proud to share their much-anticipated sophomore album, Formations today. With the help of co-producer Chris “Critter” Eldridge, the band recorded the album in just four days at Nashville's Southern Ground Studios. The album has received high praise from critics, including NPR Music who complimented the band's “rustic” sound on All Songs Considered's “New Music Friday” this morning. No Depression commented, “As new album Formations proves, the band members defy expectations based on other projects or instruments of choice by constantly pushing each other's creative boundaries,” while Folk Alley praised the band's unprecedented musicianship, noting, “We simply haven't seen these instruments played this way and with this exuberance... except by Hawktail.” The group will begin touring this month at Folk Alliance in New Orleans, followed by two Nashville performances including an album release show at Little Harpeth Brewing and a special performance at the Grand Ole Opry on February 1. Formations is available today, click here to purchase or stream.

The Utah Symphony Masterworks series' first performances of 2020 kick off on January 3-4 with Utah Symphony Associate Conductor Conner Gray Covington returning to the podium following his acclaimed early debut in November and the first of many celebrations of the 250th anniversary of Beethoven's birth. On January 9-11 one of the greatest living mezzo-sopranos, Isabel Leonard along with conductor Bernard Labadie will join Utah Symphony for an evening of highlights from Mozart's operatic and concert catalogue. Highlights for the performances include Beethoven's 'Leonore' Overture No. 3 and Debussy's 'La mer' on January 3-4, and three pieces from Mozart's 'The Marriage of Figaro' on January 9-11. Tickets are priced from $10-$92 and can be purchased at utahsymphony.org or by calling (801) 533-6683.

Known collectively as Hawktail, fiddler Brittany Haas, bassist Paul Kowert, guitarist Jordan Tice, and mandolinist Dominick Leslie have combined their monstrous compositional and instrumental forces once again for a much-anticipated sophomore album, Formations. Set for release on January 10th, 2020 via Padiddle Records, Formations took only two months to write and four days to record, a far cry from the 3-year process of their debut album, Unless. “We had studio dates to record a quick EP of covers, arrangements we'd been playing live,” explains Kowert, “But we had these strong starts that felt so good that we were like 'let's finish THESE instead,'” Adds Haas, “We found a new joy in creating, tapping into the experience we gained from writing and recording Unless.”

Known collectively as Hawktail, fiddler Brittany Haas, bassist Paul Kowert, guitarist Jordan Tice, and mandolinist Dominick Leslie have combined their monstrous compositional and instrumental forces once again for a much-anticipated sophomore album, Formations. Set for release on January 10th, 2020 via Padiddle Records, Formations took only two months to write and four days to record, a far cry from the 3-year process of their debut album, Unless. “We had studio dates to record a quick EP of covers, arrangements we'd been playing live,” explains Kowert, “But we had these strong starts that felt so good that we were like 'let's finish THESE instead,'” Adds Haas, “We found a new joy in creating, tapping into the experience we gained from writing and recording Unless.”

CMS continues its 50th anniversary celebration with its annual holiday Baroque festival throughout the month of December. Bach's a?oeGoldberga?? Variations, composed near the end of his life, will be performed on December 3rd by Jeffrey Kahane, one of a handful of masters of this work. Kahane will begin the performance with remarks on this monumental piece, which is an immersive experience during which the listener journeys through time and space. The next day, Kahane will give a free master class on solo piano works by Bach and other composers (December 4th).   

Béla Fleck, Zakir Hussain and Edgar Meyer celebrate the 10th Anniversary of their Grammy Award-nominated album The Melody of Rhythm - Triple Concerto & Music for Trio.

The Greenwich Village Orchestra (GVO), led by Music Director Barbara Yahr, opens its 2019-2020 season on Sunday, October 6, 2019 at 3:00pm at All Saints Church by taking part in the worldwide Pastoral Project, joining artists from around the world in performances of Beethoven's 6th Symphony, a?oePastorala??, to demonstrate commitment to environmental protection and sustainability. The program also features world-renowned German cellist Wolfgang Schmidt as soloist in Dvorak's beloved cello concerto.

The Greenwich Village Orchestra (GVO), led by Music Director Barbara Yahr, opens its 2019-2020 season on Sunday, April 7, 2019 at 3:00pm at All Saints Church by taking part in the worldwide Pastoral Project, joining artists from around the world in performances of Beethoven's 6th Symphony, a?oePastorala??, to demonstrate commitment to environmental protection and sustainability. The program also features world-renowned German cellist Wolfgang Schmidt as soloist in Dvorak's beloved cello concerto.

WFUV, New York (90.7 FM/wfuv.org), welcomes American Public Media's 'Live From Here,' with host Chris Thile, to its Sunday evening lineup beginning September 8, from 6-8 p.m., EDT, on 90.7FM, also streaming at WFUV.org.  

The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center opens the fall season of its 50th anniversary year in Alice Tully Hall on Tuesday October 15, 2019. The program will highlight Dvorák's “American” quintet—a work inspired by the plains of Spillville, Iowa, and the music of Native and African-Americans—along with works by African-American composer Harry Burleigh, and iconic American composers Aaron Copland and Leonard Bernstein.

Patsy Cline's trailblazing spirit is remembered in a?oeMy Patsy Cline Songbook,a?? the first-ever, full-length jazz tribute album arriving August 23, 2019.  Drawing on her country roots, vocalist Staci Griesbach's debut album explores looking at the Nashville Songbook as another treasure trove to consider reinterpreting for jazz, much like the traditional Great American Songbook.