Marc Stern News

HYPROV: Improv Under Hypnosis, the international sensation from the brilliant minds of Improv and Comedy Legend Colin Mochrie (“Whose Line Is It Anyway?”) and Master Hypnotist Asad Mecci, will make its New York City premiere this summer. 

The Music Center today announced a new onsite catering arm, Hope & Grand Events, in collaboration with its food and beverage partner Levy. Offering a multitude of unique indoor and outdoor spaces across the 22-acre Music Center campus, including three onsite full-service restaurants, Hope & Grand Events will provide bespoke hospitality experiences for a wide range of catering needs including personal and corporate events.

 LA Opera has announced the 2022 recipients of the Eva and Marc Stern Artist Award: tenor Ben Bliss, mezzo-soprano J'Nai Bridges and soprano Liv Redpath.

The LA Opera Board of Directors has elected Keith Leonard as the new chair. Leonard, a board member since 2015, has served as the chair of the executive committee and vice chair of the campaign committee for the past year, where he worked closely with both board and staff leadership.

Philanthropists Terri and Jerry Kohl have made an immediate $5 million gift and pledged a challenge grant in support of the LA Opera Orchestra and the company's post-COVID recovery, part of which will be used to fund an upcoming production of Oedipus Rex by Igor Stravinsky.

LA Opera board chairman Marc Stern and his wife Eva have established an annual $50,000 award to celebrate and support extraordinarily gifted artists in opera: the Eva and Marc Stern Artist Award. The new award will recognize artists with deep connections to LA Opera and will serve as an expression of gratitude for past and future artistic contributions to the company.

In a time when its theater remains closed, LA Opera continues to look forward, finding new ways for a world-class opera company to connect with its audiences. To that end, three new directors — Janet J. Ciriello, William Chase Hodge-Brokenburr and Shirley Starke-Wallace — were recently elected to LA Opera's board.

The Music Center today joined with civic and community leaders to dedicate The Music Center Plaza, opening the newly renovated, accessible outdoor urban space and recognizing it as a?oeThe Plaza for All.a??

The Music Center today announced it will re-open The Music Center Plaza with a civic ceremony on August 28, 2019 and free public festivities throughout Labor Day weekend (from Friday, August 30-Sunday, September 1, 2019) following a 20-month $41 million renovation of the expansive outdoor space.

Placido Domingo has announced final details about the company's upcoming presentation of Giuseppe Verdi's La Traviata, conducted by James Conlon

The prestigious honor of performing the opening concerts of the 2019 Salzburg Festival in Austria on July 20 and 21 will be one highlight of the Los Angeles Master Chorale's Spring/Summer tour of its acclaimed production of Orlando di Lasso's Lagrime di San Pietro directed by Peter Sellars. The tour will feature 21 Master Chorale singers conducted by Grant Gershon, Kiki & David Gindler Artistic Director.

James Mulally and Vina Spiehler were elected to the LA Opera board of directors at a recent meeting.

Placido Domingo has announced the company's 2019/20 season. The season will include six mainstage operas, one musical, one recital and one concert presented at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, with additional performances presented in other venues through the company's Off Grand initiative.

Nicolas Hamatake, a Los Angeles-based artificial intelligence leader, was elected to the LA Opera board of directors at a recent meeting.

Honoring one of the world's most revered artists, The Music Center celebrated Joni Mitchell on November 6 and 7, 2018, with two all-star concerts - JONI 75: A Birthday Celebration Live at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion - and an exclusive gala, co-hosted with Vanity Fair and its editor Radhika Jones, which feted her 75th birthday and raised funds for The Music Center's artistic programming, specifically free and low cost programming for underserved communities. The concerts featured performances by Brandi Carlile; Glen Hansard; Emmylou Harris; Norah Jones; Chaka Khan; Diana Krall; Kris Kristofferson; Los Lobos with La Marisoul, Cesar Castro & Xochi Flores; Graham Nash; Seal; James Taylor; and Rufus Wainwright. The artists lit up the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion stage performing Mitchell's songs, which spanned all stages of her career. Co-musical directors Brain Blade and Jon Cowherd provided the evenings' musical arrangements.  

Gregory Nava and Linda Shaheen were elected to the LA Opera board of directors on Tuesday. The board additionally approved a resolution that affirms its longstanding commitment to cultural equity and inclusion. LA Opera, the fourth largest opera company in the nation, also announced the addition of several new leaders to its administrative staff.

The Los Angeles Philharmonic and Music & Artistic Director Gustavo Dudamel ushered in the orchestra's Centennial season with a celebratory Opening Night Concert & Gala, California Soul, Thursday, September 27, 7 pm, at Walt Disney Concert Hall. The festive evening featured singers Chris Martin of Coldplay, who brought Dudamel and the LA Phil's YOLA musicians to the 2016 Super Bowl, and Corinne Bailey Rae, who performed at the Hollywood Bowl earlier this year.

 The Music Center announced it will present two star-studded concerts, JONI 75: A Birthday Celebration Live at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion on November 6 and November 7, 2018, featuring an incredible array of singers and musicians who will honor one of the world's most remarkable artists, Joni Mitchell, on her 75th birthday.  On both nights, Glen Hansard, Emmylou Harris, Norah Jones, Chaka Khan, Diana Krall, Kris Kristofferson, Los Lobos, Graham Nash, Seal, and Rufus Wainwright, will perform songs from all stages of Mitchell's life and career, across the entire oeuvre of her 19 studio albums.  Co-musical directors, providing the musical arrangements for the evenings, are drummer Brian Blade, who recorded three studio albums and toured extensively with Mitchell, and, pianist, composer, arranger producer Jon Cowherd. 

A performance at the Ravinia Festival in Illinois on September 13 will be the first date in the Los Angeles Master Chorale's wide-reaching tour of its acclaimed production of Orlando di Lasso's Lagrime di San Pietro (Tears of St. Peter) directed by Peter Sellars. The tour will feature 21 Master Chorale singers conducted by Grant Gershon, Kiki & David Gindler Artistic Director, and Jenny Wong, Associate Conductor.

Patricia Artigas, Lauren B. Leichtman and Sean V. Madnani were elected to the LA Opera board of directors at a recent meeting of the board.