Leonard Bernstein News

The Park Avenue Chamber Symphony will be kicking off its 15th anniversary season with a pair of concerts featuring the world renowned clarinetist Stanley Drucker in a performance of Mozart's Clarinet Concerto. The concerts will be held on Saturday, November 8th at 8PM and Sunday, November 9th at 3PM at All Saints Church, 230 East 60th Street between 2nd and 3rd Avenues in New York City.

Recently, David Bernard, the Park Avenue Chamber Symphony's music director, sat down with Stanley Drucker to discuss his illustrious career, Mozart and life after 60 years with the New York Philharmonic.

HE JEWISH SPIRIT, a new cd on Sono Luminus (DSL-92182), was released today, October 28, 2014, with Essential Voices USA, conducted by Judith Clurman with soloists Ron Raines, Bruce Ruben and Michael Slattery.

Our national ballet treasure, American Ballet Theatre, is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year. The 2014-2015 season is abundant in new works, classical masterpieces, and signature American Ballet Theatre masterworks.

2Y announces casting for Lyrics & Lyricists 2015, the 45th season of the acclaimed American Songbook series. Cady Huffman, Liz Callaway, Kate Baldwin, Peter Cincotti and Jason Danieley are among the performers interpreting the works of Stephen Sondheim; Irving Berlin; Sheldon Harnick; and such songwriters as Cole Porter, Duke Ellington and Leonard Bernstein, who so eloquently illuminated New York City's essence in song. Mitzi Gaynor makes a special guest appearance for the show on Hollywood's Leading Ladies - only the fourth time the legendary entertainer has performed in New York City.

The life of Mary Rodgers Guettel, composer and children's book author, will be remembered and honored in a memorial celebration on Monday, November 3 at Town Hall. Mary was best known for her musical Once Upon a Mattress, and her novel Freaky Friday. She passed away in June at her home in New York City. She was 83 years old.

Encores! Celebrates Rodgers and Hammerstein and Hart, New York City Center's annual Gala tonight, October 27, 2014, will feature the music and lyrics of Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II, and Lorenz Hart, sung by some of Broadway's finest talent, includingKate Baldwin, Kelli O'Hara, Laura Osnes, Steven Pasquale, and Paulo Szot, and with dance performances by Irina Dvorovenko, Chase Finlay, Jared Grimes, and Lauren Lovette.

The exceptionally talented Pacific Symphony Youth Orchestra (PSYO) begins its 2014-15 Cheng Family Foundation Youth Orchestra concert series with a “Fall Concert,” featuring beautiful and challenging music by Leonard Bernstein, Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and Ottorino Respighi. Led by Assistant Conductor Alejandro Gutiérrez, the awe-inspiring young musicians open the concert with the grand and cheerful music of Bernstein's Overture to “Candide.” Then, “Swan Lake Suite” (selections) shines, showcasing Tchaikovsky's gift for melody. To conclude, brass musicians from the Pacific Symphony Youth Wind Ensemble (PSYWE) join in to play Respighi's “Pines of Rome,” an Italian tone poem that achieved success at a time when opera dominated the music scene.

The most recent revival of 'On the Town', the 1944 smash hit based on Jerome Robbins' 'Fancy Free' ballet about three sailors on 24-hour shore leave in NYC, is first-rate on all counts. Right from the moment that the booming bass-baritone voice of Phillip Boykin joins the audience singing 'The Star Spangled Banner' as he strolls down an aisle, the show captivates with professionalism and energy that are sustained throughout the evening.

After successful shows at Judy's Chelsea and Don't Tell Mama, Jennifer Roberts is back to celebrate her love for Manhattan with two new shows at New York hotspot 'Don't Tell Mama.' New Musical Director Tedd Firth will join Jennifer along with returning bass player Ritt Henn.

Today we are turning our attention to the rapturously received Broadway revival of Golden Age classic ON THE TOWN.

A hundred years ago on the battlefields of France, World War I soldiers on both sides of the lines set down their weapons in an impromptu Christmas ceasefire. They shared handshakes, cigarettes, rations, and soccer games. They sang carols together.

On November 1, embark on the first concert of the Houston Symphony's Family Concert Series as Associate Conductor and audience favorite Robert Franz leads the orchestra in a program entitled African Safari with Music from The Lion King.

In advance of Classic Stage Company's rare production of Rodgers & Hammerstein's 1947 musical Allegro, CSC's artistic director Brian Kulick and Tony Award-winning director John Doyle lead a conversation on the legendary team's most personal, groundbreaking and little-known work. The discussion also includes Ted Chapin, president and executive director of Rodgers & Hammerstein: An Imagem Company, and cast members George Abud, Claybourne Elder, and Jane Pfitsch.

Anyone can be a star - for a price! The annual CHICAGO CASTING AUCTION is a unique opportunity for non-professionals to experience the thrill of being on stage in a professionally produced Chicago stage production. Bailiwick Chicago will be auctioning off over 40 roles for this season's musical production, Wonderful Town, on Saturday, November 8, 2014 at this year's new venue, Michelle's Ballroom, 2800 W. Belmont Ave. in Chicago. THE CHICAGO CASTING AUCTION will also feature live entertainment, a silent auction, delectable hors d'oeuvres, an open bar with signature cocktails and a professional photo booth to ham it up!

In advance of Classic Stage Company's rare production of Rodgers & Hammerstein's 1947 musical Allegro, CSC's artistic director Brian Kulick and Tony Award-winning director John Doyle lead a conversation on the legendary team's most personal, groundbreaking and little-known work. The discussion also includes Ted Chapin, president and executive director of Rodgers & Hammerstein: An Imagem Company, and cast members George Abud, Claybourne Elder, and Jane Pfitsch.

The Broadway @ series originated at its now-famous home in Provincetown, MA in the summer of 2011. Since that time the series, hosted by SiriusXM radio star and pianist Seth Rudetsky and produced by Mark Cortale, has attracted Broadway's biggest stars, such as Patti LuPone, Audra McDonald, Sutton Foster, Megan Hilty, Cheyenne Jackson, Chita Rivera, and many other marquee names. The series has also now leapt to ongoing seasons in New Orleans, Fort Lauderdale, Los Angeles, the Poconos, Woodstock, NY, Hartford, Detroit, as well as Sydney, Australia and London's West End.

Los Angeles favorite Hershey Felder returns to the Geffen Playhouse in Hershey Felder as Irving Berlin. The production is directed by Trevor Hay, who has collaborated with the performer and creator on An American Story, Abe Lincoln's Piano, Hershey Felder as Franz Liszt and The Pianist of Willesden Lane. Previews for Irving Berlin begin on November 11, the press opening will be on November 19 and the production is currently scheduled to close on December 21, 2014.

ON THE TOWN has moments of classic dance, comedy and music, but it's the earthy country sailors who make this musical soar.