John Corigliano News

It may surprise you to learn that Stephen King didn't write 'The Shining' and Sister Helen Prejean didn't write 'Dead Man Walking.' Even more, you may be startled to learn that Herman Melville didn't write 'Moby Dick' and Louisa May Alcott didn't have a hand in 'Little Women.' Well, of course they did--except when it came to turning the works into operas. Then, respectively, Mark Campbell and Terrence McNally took over, as did Gene Scheer and Mark Adamo.

Soka Performing Arts Center presents Pacific Symphony Chamber Orchestra with violinist Elissa Lee Koljonen on Sunday, April 5, 2020 at 3pm. The program includes Ticheli's There Will Be Rest, a piece of fragile beauty and quiet dignity, and Beethoven's Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 61, considered to be his most lyrical work, and the only concerto he wrote for one of the most popular instruments of his day: the violin.

I admit this is an absolutely personal, totally one-sided view of what gave one man opera thrills last year and what I will look back on with delight. Some are old works, some are new, some are individual performers, some are ensembles, some are complete productions, some are merely the highlight of an evening, most are domestic, a few are foreign. In any case, as the new decade begins, I recall that these are the vocal highlights that made my heart beat a little faster and made me look forward to the year ahead.

San Diego Opera has announced addition to its 2019-2020 season with the Bel Canto Trio for one-night-only on Wednesday, March 4, 2020 at 7:30 PM at The Conrad Preby Performing Arts Center in the Baker-Baum Concert Hall (7600 Fay Ave, La Jolla, CA 92037). In 1947 Columbia Artist Management created The Bel Canto Trio, featuring tenor Mario Lanza, soprano Frances Yeend, and bass-baritone George London.

Houston Grand Opera (HGO) has selected the semifinalists for the 32nd annual Eleanor McCollum Competition for Young Singers Concert of Arias, to be presented in the Wortham Theater Center on Feb. 7, 2020 at 7 p.m. A limited number of tickets for the performance are available for purchase here. The program will also be streamed live on Facebook and YouTube for all to enjoy, inviting viewers to cast their votes for the Online Viewers' Choice Award.

Acclaimed pianist Alain Lefèvre returns to join Carl St.Clair and Pacific Symphony for three nights of performances headlined by Ravel's Piano Concerto in G Major. Also featured is the French composer's work a?oeLe Tombeau de Couperin,a?? an homage in the Baroque style dedicated to the memory of friends who had died fighting in World War I. Immediately afterwards, follow Pacific Symphony into the mind of Hector Berlioz and his opium-driven musical hallucination a?oeSymphonie Fantastique,a?? ending the night with a musical explosion of unrequited love, passion and desire.

On Friday, February 7, 2020 at 8:00pm and Sunday, February 9, 2020 at 3:00pm at Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall and Saturday, February 8, 2020 at 8:00pm at The Music Center at Strathmore, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO) presents Charlie Chaplin's Legacy: Classical Music in Film featuring multiple Grammy Award-nominated violinist Philippe Quint in his BSO debut.

On Friday, February 7, 2020 at 8:00pm and Sunday, February 9, 2020 at 3:00pm at Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall and Saturday, February 8, 2020 at 8:00pm at The Music Center at Strathmore, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO) presents Charlie Chaplin's Legacy: Classical Music in Film featuring multiple Grammy Award-nominated violinist Philippe Quint in his BSO debut.

Columbia Artists welcomes multiple Grammy Award-nominated violinist Philippe Quint to the roster for worldwide general management. Quint will be managed by Senior Vice President & Artist Manager Stefana Atlas and Artist Manager Martin Wittenberg.

Soka Performing Arts Center presents Pacific Symphony Chamber Orchestra on Sunday, January 9, 2020 at 3pm. This concert is truly a Pacific Symphony family affair as Maestro St.Clair leads the Pacific Symphony Chamber Orchestra in this all-Mozart program, along Concert Master Dennis Kim and Benjamin Smolen who holds the Symphony's Valerie and Hans Imhof Principal Flute Chair. The all-Mozart program includes Flute Concerto in G Major and Violin Concerto No. 3.

San Diego Opera's 2019-2020 season continues with a special one-night-only event on Wednesday, December 11, 2019 at 7:30 PM when soprano Ailyn Pérez and tenor Joshua Guerrero perform in concert at the Balboa Theatre. They will be accompanied by pianist Abdiel Vázquez. Ailyn Pérez is no stranger to San Diego Opera, having made her Company debut as Juliet in Romeo and Juliet in 2010, returning to sing Marguerite in Faust in 2011, and in recital in 2014. In demand at all the major opera houses including the Metropolitan Opera, Royal Opera House, and Opéra National de Paris, Ms. Pérez is the winner of the 2012 Richard Tucker Award, the 15th annual Plácido Domingo Award, and the 14th annual Opera News Award. 

Extraordinary occurrences like this don't happen every day.

Pegasus: The Orchestra will make their Merkin Hall debut on Saturday, November 23rd at 8pm led by conductor Karén! Hakobyan. Glenn Dicterow, the legendary former concertmaster of New York Philharmonic, will join Pegasus concertmaster Eiko Kano for Bach's Double Violin Concerto. Opening the program will be the world premiere of Hakobyan's Contempo: Bach Recombinant and to close, Tchaikovsky's beloved Serenade for Strings. 

Lyric Opera of Chicago announced today that American baritone Lucas Meachem will portray the title role of Mozart's Don Giovanni November 14 - 30. Due to a family situation in Europe, Russian bass Ildar Abdrazakov has had to withdraw from Lyric's production in order to be closer to home in the coming months.

During its 50th anniversary season of milestones, CMS begins November with the world premiere of John Corigliano's The Food of Love for Oboe and Celloa?"one of several trailblazing composers highlighted in this concert, including John Cage, Elliott Carter, and Ruth Crawford Seegera?"whose works from the past century have set the stage for composers today (Nov. 7). The piece was commissioned by Corigliano's friends Michèle and Larry Corash for their 50th wedding anniversary. The same day, a free master class will be given by soprano Tony Arnold, who performs in Berg's Lyric Suite for String Quartet the following night, with the Schumann Quartet. The work's hidden musical and numerical codes, and a vocal part, revealed Berg's secret love affair with a married woman (Nov. 8).   

5-time Grammy Award-winning composer John Corigliano visits Roosevelt High School and speaks in community forums ahead of Saturday concert

San Diego Opera's 2019-2020 season continues with a special one-night-only event on Wednesday, December 11, 2019 at 7:30 PM when soprano Ailyn Pérez and tenor Joshua Guerrero perform in concert at the Balboa Theatre.

On Friday, October 18, 2019, the award-winning Tesla Quartet (Ross Snyder & Michelle Lie, violins; Edwin Kaplan, viola; Serafim Smigelskiy, cello) releases its second album, Joy & Desolation, on Orchid Classics. The record features performances of Mozart's Clarinet Quintet in A Major, K581; Gerald Finzi's Five Bagatelles arranged by Christian Alexander; John Corigliano's Soliloquy (1995); and Carolina Heredia's Ius in Bello (2014) with acclaimed clarinetist Alexander Fiterstein. The program on Joy & Desolation is all about contrasts: the duality of light and darkness, joy and despair, isolation and inclusion. Recorded at idyllic Wyastone, a retired concert hall nestled along the River Wye in England, the Tesla Quartet and Alexander Fiterstein used this recording as an opportunity to dive deeper into their art and to explore how they make music together.

Cincinnati's Vocal Arts Ensemble (VAE) returns for its 40th- anniversary season with four unique concert programs in three historic venues: Christ Church Cathedral, St. Rose Church, and Memorial Hall, the VAE's permanent home. 

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.