Joseph Kaiser News

Summer is just around the corner, and we are looking ahead in anticipation to the start of Carnegie Hall's 2014-2015 season! Listed below are classical music highlights at Carnegie Hall, including details on UBUNTU: Music and Arts of South Africa, a three-week festival from October 10 to November 5, featuring an exciting array of events to be presented at Carnegie Hall and partner venues throughout New York City, inviting audiences to explore the incredibly dynamic and diverse culture of South Africa.

THE MAGIC FLUTE (Die Zauberflote), Mozart's last great work, is sometimes viewed as the precursor to musical theater. Mozart's friend, actor-producer Emanuel Schikaneder, wrote the original libretto in the German vernacular (as opposed to the more upper crust Italian) as a 'singspiel,' a play with music. In fact, THE MAGIC FLUTE has significantly more spoken dialogue than The Phantom of the Opera and certainly far more than Les Miserables.

A winner from start to finish, THE MAGIC FLUTE features Mozart's score, a delightful new translation, superb casting, and the stunning design work of Jun Kaneko. Perfect for fans and novices, this MAGIC FLUTE is a must see.

Washington National Opera (WNO) continues its 2013-2014 season with a new English-language production of one of the most beloved and family-friendly operas in the repertory: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's The Magic Flute, tonight, May 3-18 in the Kennedy Center Opera House. The eye-popping new production features set and costume design by Japanese- American artist Jun Kaneko in his WNO debut, and will be sung in a new English version by WNO dramaturg Kelley Rourke. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

Washington National Opera (WNO) continues its 2013-2014 season with a new English-language production of one of the most beloved and family-friendly operas in the repertory: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's The Magic Flute, May 3-18 in the Kennedy Center Opera House. The eye-popping new production features set and costume design by Japanese- American artist Jun Kaneko in his WNO debut, and will be sung in a new English version by WNO dramaturg Kelley Rourke. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

In the 2014/2015 season, Orchestra of St. Luke's (OSL) celebrates 40 years since a group of astounding musicians first performed at The Church of St. Luke in the Fields. OSL's concerts and programs show that the values held since the orchestra's earliest days-flexibility, a collaborative spirit, commitment to the community, and commensurate artistry-continue to distinguish OSL and propel it forward.

Reviving important but neglected operas is one of the ways the Bard SummerScape festival in New York's Annandale-on-Hudson has established itself, and this year's immersion in "Schubert and His World" - culminating in the 25th-anniversary season of the Bard Music Festival - is no exception. To enrich its exploration of the roots of Austro-German Romanticism, Bard presents Euryanthe (1823) by Schubert's contemporary Carl Maria von Weber, marking the opera's first American revival in 100 years. Headlined by Ellie Dehn, Bard's original staging is by Kevin Newbury, creator of SummerScape's production of Richard Strauss's Die Liebe der Danae. Euryanthe's five performances (July 25, 27 & 30; August 1 & 3) feature the festival's resident American Symphony Orchestra under the leadership of music director Leon Botstein, who also leads semi-staged performances of Schubert's own seldom-heard opera Fierrabras starring Joseph Kaiser, best known for his leading role in Kenneth Branagh's film adaptation of The Magic Flute, on August 17, and of a double-bill of rarities - Schubert's one-act Singspiel Die Verschworenen and Franz von Suppe's operetta Franz Schubert - on August 10.

Washington National Opera (WNO) celebrates its sixth season of free opera simulcasts at Nationals Park with title sponsor Mars, Incorporated for the M&M'S® Opera in the Outfield performance of Mozart's beloved classic The Magic Flute on Saturday, May 3, 2014. Sung in English and featuring a colorful kaleidoscope of sets and costumes by Japanese- American artist Jun Kaneko, The Magic Flute is a perfect opera for the entire family. Gates open at 5 p.m. for “pregame” activities, and the opera will be broadcast live from the Kennedy Center Opera House to the high-definition NatsHD scoreboard at the ballpark at 7 p.m. Free seating will be available in the stands, while access to the outfield will be limited on a first-come, first-served basis when gates open at 5 p.m. More information, including a chance to RSVP to win prizes, is available at OperaintheOutfield.org.

The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra announces that as part of the culmination of its second annual One City, One Symphony project, it has released the live recording from the November 14 & 16 concerts, available as a free download on the CSO's website.

Washington National Opera (WNO) continues its 2013-2014 season with a new English-language production of one of the most beloved and family-friendly operas in the repertory: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's The Magic Flute, May 3-18 in the Kennedy Center Opera House. The eye-popping new production features set and costume design by Japanese- American artist Jun Kaneko in his WNO debut, and will be sung in a new English version by WNO dramaturg Kelley Rourke. The opening-night performance on May 3 will be simulcast free to thousands of fans at Nationals Park as part of M&M'S® Opera in the Outfield. A special

Tonight, April 1 at 7:30pm at Opera America's National Opera Center, New York Festival of Song concludes its 2013-14 edition of NYFOS Next-the series for new song in which composers curate and host an hour of contemporary song-with celebrated composer HAROLD MELTZER.

On Saturday, March 29, at 7:30 p.m., the talented singers and pianist of The Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center 2013-14 ensemble will perform with members of the Lyric Opera Orchestra in works of Adams, Bizet, Copland, Donizetti, Gershwin, Gounod, Handel, Lehár, Massenet, Mozart, Ravel, Stravinsky, and Walton. Rising Stars in Concert is offered in celebration of an extraordinarily successful year of study and performance for these up-and-coming artists.

New York Festival of Song marks its sixth annual residency at the Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts with PORTS OF CALL: AN ITINERARY OF SONG, to be performed tonight, March 18 and Wednesday March 19, 2014 at 7:00PM at Opera America's National Opera Center in New York, NY.

New York Festival of Song announces 'Remembering Lenny', A Gala Celebration of Leonard Bernstein (Founding Advisor NYFOS). NYFOS Artistic Directors and pianists STEVEN BLIER and MICHAEL BARRETT host an extraordinary lineup of special guests.

NEW YORK FESTIVAL OF SONG announces its star-studded 2014 spring gala, Remembering Lenny, celebrating the life of Leonard Bernstein with a performance on Monday, April 28 at 6:30PM at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, followed by supper at the '21' Club.

On Tuesday, April 1 at 7:30pm at Opera America's National Opera Center, New York Festival of Song concludes its 2013-14 edition of NYFOS Next-the series for new song in which composers curate and host an hour of contemporary song-with celebrated composer HAROLD MELTZER.

New York Festival of Song marks its sixth annual residency at the Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts with PORTS OF CALL: AN ITINERARY OF SONG, to be performed on Tuesday, March 18 and Wednesday March 19, 2014 at 7:00PM at Opera America's National Opera Center in New York, NY.

NEW YORK FESTIVAL OF SONG (Steven Blier, Artistic Director • Michael Barrett, Associate Artistic Director) concludes its 2013-14 Mainstage series at Merkin Concert Hall, Kaufman Music Center with WARSAW SERENADE.