Leonard Bernstein News

Berkeley Repertory Theatre has announced The Pianist of Willesden Lane, a one-woman play starring internationally acclaimed pianist and storyteller Mona Golabek. Based on the book The Children of Willesden Lane by Golabek and Lee Cohen, the play is set in Vienna in 1938 and in London during the Blitzkrieg and tells the true story of Golabek's mother, Lisa Jura, a young Jewish musician whose dreams are interrupted by the Nazi regime. In this poignant show, Golabek performs some of the world's most beautiful music live as she relates the real-life legacy of her mother's quest to survive.

Leading theatrical licensor, Music Theatre International (MTI), creators of the MTI Broadway Junior Collection (featuring 30 and 60-minute musicals designed for young performers) is launching a slate of children's musicals based on Mary Pope Osborne's beloved Magic Tree House book series. The books are number one New York Times bestsellers - more than 100 million copies have been sold in North America alone. The series has been translated into many languages and is available in more than 100 countries around the world.

Broadway's master songman, Mandy Patinkin, accompanied by Paul Ford on piano, will bring his critically acclaimed theatre concert to Merrill Auditorium thanks to Portland Ovations for one performance only on Friday, October 18 at 8pm. Tickets are on-sale now at PortTIX, the box office at Merrill Auditorium,207.842.0800 or by visiting portlandovations.org.

The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts campus is waking to the sweet sounds of a robust Fall harvest of programming with a dynamic line-up of arts offering something for everyone.

Sony Classical celebrates the 85th birthday of Gary Graffman – American pianist, music administrator and piano teacher – with the first ever release of Mr. Graffman's complete recordings in a limited original jacket collection available today, September 24, 2013.

Celebrating the opening of its 55th season, Oakland Symphony Chorus and Music Director Dr. Lynne Morrow will give one performance only of Brahms' Liebeslieder Waltzes Saturday, November 16, at7:30 pm at First Covenant Church in Oakland.

Today we are talking to uniquely compelling composer and lyricist known for her urbane wit and contemporary sensibility, having contributed music and lyrics to the recent Broadway musicals HIGH FIDELITY, BRING IT ON! and HANDS ON A HARD BODY as well as penning many other original musicals and unique standalone songs over the course of her career, Amanda Green. Discussing her famous musical theatre lineage - her father was legendary theatrical icon Adolph Green and her mother is famous actress Phyllis Newman - and sharing stories from her youth, Green sheds some light on her familial profession of choice and details the finer points of her own songwriting process, particularly insofar as it pertains to her two recent major musicals seen in New York. On that note, Green offers the 411 on the creative process in composing both the rap/pop-infused, high-school-set BRING IT ON! alongside collaborators Tom Kitt and Lin-Manuel Miranda as well as her work with Phish's Trey Anastasio on the down-home country sounds of HANDS ON A HARD BODY. Additionally, Green previews what we can expect from her upcoming Birdland concert, AMANDA GREEN & FRIENDS, and illuminates some of her sparkling previous work which may make its way into the live show. Plus, looks back on her experiences with the screen-to-stage adaptation of HIGH FIDELITY, imparts hilarious anecdotes about writing for Playboy Magazine, reveals her involvement in the currently on-hold DEBBIE DOES DALLAS movie musical, reflects on her first musical revue and album, PUT A LITTLE LOVE IN YOUR MOUTH!, as well as drops hints on her next musical project and much, much more!

It's one thing for a dancer over 40 to do a cabaret show. It's quite another for a dancer over 80 to attempt one. But that's exactly what still spry 83-year-old song and dance man George Marcy is going to do--tapping his way over to Don't Tell Mama for the second time in three years--when he takes the stage (today September 23 and 29, both at 8pm) for his new show, I Wish I Were Twins. Marcy's latest cabaret effort is being director by famed Broadway Musical star and Marcy's good friend Carol Lawrence. The Musical Director/Pianist is Christine Sutin, with Boots Maleson on bass, and AaRon Russell on drums.

The tour of the smash hit Broadway revival of WEST SIDE STORY is opening at The Orpheum Theatre on Tuesday, November 5. Tickets will go on sale Friday, September 27 at 10:00 AM. Ticket prices range from $20 to $90 and will be available for purchase online at the official Orpheum Theatre website,www.orpheum-memphis.com, The Orpheum Box Office (901.525.3000), the ticket counter at The Booksellers at Laurelwood, and all Ticketmaster centers (901.743.ARTS).

Music Director Jacques Lacombe and the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra present Tchaikovsky's powerful and turbulent Fourth Symphony, October 24-27 in Englewood, Princeton, Red Bank and Morristown. Violinist Vadim Gluzman joins the Orchestra for Bernstein's Serenade for Violin and Orchestra on a program that also includes Berlioz's Beatrice and Benedict Overture.

The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts campus is waking to the sweet sounds of a robust Fall harvest of programming with a dynamic line-up of arts offering something for everyone.

Step inside the mind of composer, Igor Stravinsky, as his musical choreographic work The Rite of Spring comes to life through the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra on opening night, tonight, September 21, 8:00 p.m. at the Michigan Theater. The concert features a riotous compilation of some of the greatest symphonic works of the repertoire, and lifts the audience back into the symphony season.

Bay Area Cabaret, devoted to presenting audiences with top performers who expand the definition of cabaret, enters its 10th season this fall with a gala series at the Fairmont San Francisco's historic Venetian Room. To celebrate this significant milestone, Bay Area Cabaret presents a star-studded lineup of performers making their Bay Area Cabaret debuts, as well as the return of a few favorites from the past decade. Opening the seas tonight, September 21, 2013 with a bang is Broadway's Megan Hilty, known to millions as the powerhouse 'Bombshell' on NBC's television program Smash. The season continues October 20, 2013 with Tony nominee Norm Lewis (The Gershwin's Porgy and Bess) and November 10, 2013 with 'America's romantic piano sensation,' multi-platinum selling recording artist Jim Brickman, joined by special guest Broadway heartthrob David Burnham.

Soprano Susanna Phillips, a star of New York's Metropolitan and Chicago's Lyric Opera stages, will headline a concert at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, October 13, in Anderson Chapel at North Park University, 5149 N. Spaulding Ave., Chicago, to benefit the spring 2014 Bach Week Festival in Evanston and Chicago.

As Houston's leading performing arts presenter, Society for the Performing Arts (SPA) has announced its 2013-2014 season filled with music, dance and family entertainment from the world's best artists and companies.

Music Director Marin Alsop leads the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO) and pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet in Bernstein's Symphony No. 2, "Age of Anxiety" on Thursday, September 26, 2013 at 8 p.m. at the Music Center at Strathmore and Friday, September 27, 2013 and Saturday, September 28, 2013 at 8 p.m. at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall. Also on the program are Gershwin's Cuban Overture and Ravel's Piano Concerto in G Major and Daphnis and Chloe: Suite No. 2. Please see below for complete program details.

The Music Institute of Chicago's fourth annual jazz festival celebrates the enduring legacy of Chicago's own Benny Goodman, featuring two concerts and the film The Benny Goodman Story November 1 and 2 at Nichols Concert Hall, 1490 Chicago Ave., Evanston. This two-day event shines a spotlight on the King of Swing, who first learned to play the clarinet at Chicago's famed Hull House.

The tour of the smash hit Broadway revival of WEST SIDE STORY is opening at The Orpheum Theatre on Tuesday, November 5. Tickets will go on sale Friday, September 27 at 10:00 AM. Ticket prices range from $20 to $90 and will be available for purchase online at the official Orpheum Theatre website,www.orpheum-memphis.com, The Orpheum Box Office (901.525.3000), the ticket counter at The Booksellers at Laurelwood, and all Ticketmaster centers (901.743.ARTS).

Music Director Marin Alsop will lead the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO) in Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade and Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture on Friday, September 20 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, September 22 at 3 p.m. at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, andSaturday, September 21 at 8 p.m. at the Music Center at Strathmore. Also on the program is the United States' premiere of the BSO co-commission of John Adams' Saxophone Concerto, performed by Tim McAllister. BSO opens the subscription season with a performance of the national anthem, arranged by James Lee III. Please see below for complete program details.

Philadelphia's treasured musical tradition Holiday POPS! returns to Verizon Hall at the Kimmel Center for nine festive performances, December 6 through December 21, 2013 led by Britain's celebrated American-born conductor David Charles Abell, who is known for conducting the two "Les Miserables" anniversary celebrations, televised throughout the world. As The POPS' exceptional musicians present the beloved seasonal tunes in exciting arrangements, each concert also features three spectacular choirs and the ever-popular audience sing-along, in a rousing program guaranteed to please young and old. For 2013, The Philly POPS is pleased to welcome acclaimed dramatic soprano Angela Brown making her POPS debut during this annual family favorite.