John Adams News

Max McLean, Artistic Director of Fellowship for the Performing Arts, announces that the World Premiere of C.S. Lewis' THE GREAT DIVORCE will be presented at Herberger Theater Center, 222 E. Monroe St., in Phoenix, in a limited engagement from Friday, December 13 through Sunday, December 22, 2013. This journey to Heaven and Hell is a provocative exploration of human nature, featuring vivid characters drawn with Lewis' trademark wit. THE GREAT DIVORCE National Tour will visit cities including Birmingham, Kansas City, Charlotte, Charleston, Cleveland, Colorado Springs, and Columbus in 2014.

PITTSBURGH—The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra's Composer of the Year for the 2013-2014 season is eight composers—all of them based in Pittsburgh and connected to higher education.

The Barbican today announced a stellar program of events for spring and summer 2014, pushing the boundaries of all major art forms for its diverse audiences. This new program builds on the most successful year ever for the Barbican, with attendances for events at the Centre exceeding 1 million for the first time, an increase of 36% on 2011/12. In this Olympics year, box office receipts also rose 33%, and the Barbican's commercial income increased by 35%.

Tonight, October 29 at 7:30 p.m., soprano Jessica Rivera and mezzo-soprano Kelley O'Connor are joined by pianist Robert Spano on a program featuring three New York premieres, two of which are Carnegie Hall co-commissions.

NPR Music is streaming Aheym, the upcoming collaboration between critically acclaimed composer and guitarist from The National Bryce Dessner and Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet, in its entirety.

Dmitri Hvorostovsky will sing his first Met performances of the title role in Verdi's Rigolettobeginning November 11, in the first revival of Michael Mayer's hit production, set in the decadent world of 1960s Las Vegas. Matthew Polenzani makes his company role debut as the womanizing Duke, and two rising singers make Met debuts as the innocent Gilda: Russian soprano Irina Lungu and Bulgarian soprano Sonya Yoncheva. Spanish conductor Pablo Heras-Casado makes his Met debut leading the revival. The December 7 matinee performance will be broadcast live over the Toll Brothers-Metropolitan Opera International Radio Network to inaugurate the 83rd season of the popular Saturday broadcast series.

Stephen Fry, who is making his Broadway acting debut as Malvolio in the critically acclaimed Shakespeare's Globe production of TWELFTH NIGHT, will be a guest on 'The Colbert Report' on Thursday, October 24. 'The Colbert Report' airs at 11:30 PM ET on Comedy Central, 10:30 PM Central.

Your Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra is pleased to offer you a special one day only sale on mini series in sections B & C. The sale runs 9:00 a.m. Wednesday, October 23 until 9:00 a.m. Thursday October 24, 2013 and is valid on the final four main stage concerts of the season. You can help fill the house and save a bundle.

Beginning with the 2013-14 season, the New York Philharmonic's Insights Series - in which artists and experts will explore some of the season's themes and concerts - will now be free, and take place at the David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center. This season's events will include discussions with Concertmaster Glenn Dicterow during his farewell season (TODAY, October 23); composer-conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen and violinist Leila Josefowicz (October 28), who will discuss Mr. Salonen's Violin Concerto, written for Ms. Josefowicz (which they will perform with the Philharmonic in its New York Concert Premiere, October 30-November 5); Music Director Alan Gilbert and Executive Director Matthew VanBesien on the state of the Philharmonic (March 3, 2014); The Mary and James G. Wallach Artist-in-Residence Yefim Bronfman (May 20, 2014), who will talk about Beethoven's piano concertos (which he will perform during The Beethoven Piano Concertos: A Philharmonic Festival, June 11-28, 2014); and discussions relating to the NY PHIL BIENNIAL, the details of which will be announced at a later date. All Insights Series events begin at 7:30 p.m.

Music Director Alan Gilbert will conduct the New York Philharmonic in a program of Mozart's three final symphonies - Nos. 39, 40, and 41, Jupiter - Friday, November 29, 2013, at 8:00 p.m. and Saturday, November 30 at 8:00 p.m. Classical 105.9 FM WQXR in New York will broadcast the November 30 concert live at 8:00 p.m. as part of a month-long festival on the music and life of Mozart.

Los Angeles Philharmonic Conductor Laureate Esa-Pekka Salonen concludes his two-week stint at Walt Disney Concert Hall by leading the LA Phil and violinist Leila Josefowicz in his Violin Concerto, Friday and Saturday, October 25 and 26, at 8 pm, as well as Sunday, October 27, at 2 pm. All three performances also feature one of Salonen's most famous specialties, Sibelius' Fifth Symphony. The Saturday and Sunday performances open with Ives' The Unanswered Question.

The University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music's (CCM) Chamber Choir and Philharmonia Chamber Orchestra join forces to perform a unique staged production of Johann Sebastian Bach's visceral rendering of the St. John Passion as the next installment in CCM's 2013-14 Prestige Concert Series. The monumental work will be presented at 5 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 3, at Christ Church Cathedral under the direction of Earl Rivers, staged by Omer Ben-Seadia, and in conjunction with the Constella Festival of Music and Fine Arts.

The Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, led by Music Director Jeffrey Kahane, presents the highly anticipated U.S. premiere of the orchestral version of Bruce Adolphe's Do You Dream in Color?, a powerful work set to a poem about living without sight written by rising mezzo-soprano Laurie Rubin. Born blind, Rubin, a 1997 Music Center Spotlight Awards winner, joins LACO for the premiere, marking her LACO debut, tonight, October 19, 8 pm, at Pasadena's Ambassador Auditorium, and Sunday, October 20, 7 pm, at UCLA's Royce Hall.

The Metropolitan Opera and Le Poisson Rouge announced details for 'An Evening of Britten and Muhly,' two concerts at Le Poisson Rouge tonight, October 17 at 7:30 p.m. and 10 p.m. Metropolitan Opera stars Patricia Racette, Kathleen Kim, and Iestyn Davies will perform at the event. Composer Nico Muhly will host and perform on piano.

The 2013-14 season of the New York Philharmonic's Insights Series - in which artists and experts explore some of the season's themes and concerts - will begin this month with two events. The series is free to the public throughout the season, and all events take place at the David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center (Columbus Avenue at 62nd Street) at 7:30 p.m.

On Tuesday, November 12, 2013, Michael Tilson Thomas (MTT) and the San Francisco Symphony(SFS) will release a hybrid SACD recording and digital download of Beethoven's Cantata on the Death of Emperor Joseph II and Symphony No. 2 on SFS Media, the Orchestra's in-house label. The recording is part of MTT & the SFS' multi-season focus on performing and recording the music of Beethoven. It features the Grammy-award winning San Francisco Symphony Chorus, and soloists Sally Matthews, soprano; Tamara Mumford, mezzo-soprano; Barry Banks, tenor; and Andrew Foster-Williams, bass-baritone. The performance was recorded live at Davies Symphony Hall May 2-3, 2013 during Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony's two-week festival exploring Beethoven's early inspirations. The recording of Beethoven's Cantata on the Death of Emperor Joseph II and Symphony No. 2 can be pre-ordered on iTunes at itunes.com/sfsymphony and on SACD from the San Francisco Symphony Store at sfsymphony.org/store. The album will be available for purchase at music retailers everywhere on Tuesday, November 12. A video about the recording featuring concert footage and interviews with Michael Tilson Thomas, Chorus Director Ragnar Bohlin, and SFS bassoon player Rob Weir can be viewed at http://bit.ly/B2Cantata.

Just last week, Cameron Mackintosh and Andrew Lloyd Webber's Really Useful Group announced the casting and initial tour schedule for their spectacular new production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera launching a major North American Tour in Providence, R.I. at the Providence Performing Arts Center. With newly reinvented staging and stunning scenic design, this new version of PHANTOM, the most successful musical of all-time, will be performed by a cast and orchestra of 52, making this one of the largest productions on tour in North America. Meet the cast below!

Bernard Labadie will return to the New York Philharmonic to conduct Mozart's Requiem; J.S. Bach's Cantata No. 51, Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen!; and Handel's “Let the Bright Seraphim” from Samson. The program's soloists will include soprano Miah Persson, mezzo- soprano Stephanie Blythe, tenor Fre?de?ric Antoun in his Philharmonic debut, bass Andrew Foster- Williams, and the New York Choral Artists directed by Joseph Flummerfelt. Associate Principal Trumpet Matthew Muckey, replacing Principal Trumpet Philip Smith, who is on temporary leave from the Orchestra, will make his Philharmonic solo debut in these performances. The concerts will take place Thursday, November 7, 2013, at 7:30 p.m.; Friday, November 8 at 8:00 p.m.; and Saturday, November 9 at 8:00 p.m.

The 92nd season of the New York Philharmonic Young People's Concerts (YPCs) will be launched tonight, October 12, 2013, at 2:00 p.m. Philharmonic Assistant Conductor Case Scaglione will lead selections from all four movements of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9. This is the first program in this season's series, Points of Entry, in which each concert explores facets of music and the orchestra itself through a single, influential score. The performance will feature the Manhattan School of Music Symphonic Chorus, Kent Tritle, director.