Matt Smith News

María Magdalena Campos-Pons works with her husband, saxophonist and composer Neil Leonard, to reinsert the black body into historical narratives. Under the name FEFA, they use personal stories, music and procession to evoke both protest and devotion. Their performance will begin in the Kogod Courtyard and move through the museum. 

CANTON, OHIO (May 9, 2016) – The Canton Symphony Orchestra (CSO) announces that Dr. Rachel L. Waddell has been accepted as an assistant conductor to the Miami Music Festival Conducting Institute in Florida during the summer of 2016.  Waddell is the Association Conductor for the CSO and Music Director and Conductor of the Canton Youth Symphonies. 

[Chattanooga, TN ]—National Endowment for the Arts Chairman Jane Chu has approved more than $82 million to fund local arts projects and partnerships in the NEA's second major funding announcement for fiscal year 2016.  Included in this announcement is an Art Works award of $15,000 to the Chattanooga Symphony & Opera's education programs. The Art Works category supports the creation of work and presentation of both new and existing work, lifelong learning in the arts, and public engagement with the arts through 13 arts disciplines or fields.

BUFFALO, NY - Ukulele virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro will perform at Kleinhans Music Hall at 8 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 17. Tickets will go on sale on Thursday, May 11. Shimabukuro has singlehandedly redefined the ukulele, exploring the instrument's possibilities like none other and inspiring a generation to learn the instrument. His YouTube videos of songs by The Beatles and Jimi Hendrix went viral and launched him into the international spotlight. He performs a range of rock music, tunes from his native Hawaii, and original works.

HOUSTON (May 10, 2016) – Music Director Andrés Orozco-Estrada will lead the Houston Symphony in a performance of concert works from two leading composers of the Romantic period and composer-in-residence Gabriela Lena Frank during Andrés Conducts Symphonie fantastique at 8 p.m. Saturday, May 21 and 2:30 p.m. Sunday, May 22.

San Francisco, CA, May 10, 2016 – San Francisco Performances today announced that 25-year arts management leader Melanie Smith will become the new President of the highly respected, 37-year-old presenting organization, succeeding founder Ruth A. Felt, who will retire this fall. Ms. Smith comes to SF Performances after serving as Executive Director of the San Francisco Girls Chorus, having led the $2.5 million organization since 2006. She returns to San Francisco Performances, where she served as Director of Education/Artistic Administration for nine years after positions with Carnegie Hall, the Midori Foundation and Young Concert Artists. Ms. Smith was selected after a year-long search by the SF Performances Board of Trustees and an arts management recruitment firm and will begin her new role in August.

A group of classically-inspired sculptures of black London men with modern accessories - such as a mobile phone tucked into a pocket, American sports sweatshirts and a male haircut known as a 'fade' - will go on display at the National Portrait Gallery from next month, it was announced today, Wednesday 11 May 2016. 

The synth-laden opening strains of Concord Music Group's AMERICAN PSYCHO (Original London Cast Recording) are appropriately dark and sterile. In crafting the score for the musical adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis' novel by the same title, Duncan Sheik has created a Broadway score that purposefully reminds listeners of synth-pop music by the likes of Giorgio Moroder while mixing in updated technologies to ensure that the score is as crisp and pulsating as any track on Daft Punk's RANDOM ACCESS MEMORIES. The end result is an album filled with addictive looping and backbeats that masterfully mixes throwback modalities with modern technology to create an unexpectedly electronic musical score.

An extremely rare and important album of photographs by the celebrated early Victorian photographer, Oscar Gustav Rejlander, most of which have never been exhibited before, has been acquired by the National Portrait Gallery, it was announced today, Monday 9th May 2016. 

Of all the great classics, Swan Lake remains the quintessential ballet of all time. It is the story of romance, sorcery and betrayal, and centered on one of life's most recognizable themes, the struggle between good and evil. The Atlantic City Ballet is bringing this timeless classic to the stage as the grand finale of their 2015/2016 season. Ms. Papa infuses Atlantic City Ballet's production with a new passion that embodies all the beauty, strength, and grace of classical ballet.

May 3, 2016 – Richmond Virginia The Richmond Symphony will close the 2015-16 Season with Ravel's Daphnis et Chloé on Saturday, May 14 at 8pm and Sunday, May 15 at 3pm. The music, composed for a three-part ballet, is based on the mythological Greek love story of Daphnis and Chloé and is considered some of the most beautiful and evocative of the twentieth century. Joining the Symphony will be the Richmond Symphony Chorus under the direction of Erin R. Freeman. The Altria Masterworks concerts will be led by Music Director Steven Smith and held at the Carpenter Theatre, Dominion Arts Center.

SAN FRANCISCO, May 5, 2016 – The acclaimed Merola Opera Program, one of the most prestigious and selective opera training programs in the United States, opens its 2016 Summer Festival with the popular Schwabacher Summer Concerts Thursday, July 7 at 7:30 pm and Saturday, July 9 at 2 pm at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Conducted by Eric Weimer and directed by Omer Ben Seadia, the Schwabacher Summer Concert features this year's Merola Opera artists performing extended scenes from operas including Handel's Serse, Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress, R. Strauss's Arabella, Wagner's Lohengrin, Poulenc's Dialogues des Carmélites, and Rossini's Le Comte Ory. Tickets for the concerts at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music range from $25 to $40, with a limited number of $15 student tickets. 

New York, NY - Artadia and New Art Dealers Alliance (NADA) are delighted to announce Summer Wheat as the recipient of the 2016 NADA Artadia Award, a $5,000 unrestricted, merit-based Award granted to one artist exhibiting at the fair. Wheat's work is exhibited at Fridman Gallery, booth 3.01 at NADA New York. A jury comprised of two renowned curators, Ian Alteveer, Associate Curator, Department of Modern and Contemporary Art at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Amanda Hunt, Assistant Curator at the Studio Museum in Harlem, selected Summer Wheat. This is the seventh time NADA and Artadia have partnered to present the Award.

HOUSTON, TEXAS – Houston Ballet, America's fifth largest ballet company, unveiled the first phase of a marketing plan for Artistic Director Stanton Welch's new production of The Nutcracker which premieres on November 25, 2016. To build upon the anticipation and excitement surrounding the upcoming production Houston Ballet's marketing team has devised a unique three-phase brand campaign to introduce audiences to the new look and feel of the ballet.  

May 4, 2016 (BOSTON, MA)—Boston Ballet Artistic Director Mikko Nissinen is honored to announce a five-year partnership with internationally-renowned choreographer William Forsythe. The Company will add one new William Forsythe work to its repertoire each year, in addition to also presenting reprised works from the Company's current repertoire. Nissinen and Forsythe will work together to select the programming for Boston Ballet, and the legendary choreographer and his assistants and stagers will work directly with the Company. This partnership will result in Boston Ballet having the richest collection of William Forsythe ballets in the United States.

Praised for their innovative and anarchic reinvention of the classics, The Jamie Lloyd Company propels Christopher Marlowe's legendary now in an explosive new production starring Kit Harington (Game of Thrones) in his long-awaited return to the London stage. Faustus makes a pact with the Devil, selling his tale Doctor Faustus into the here and soul in return for the ability to perform absolutely anything he pleases with the power of black magic. This fatal decision catapults him into an intoxicating world of celebrity, as he becomes a world-renowned conjuror, international heartthrob and friend of the rich, famous and powerful. But what is the cost of his insatiable thirst for wealth and fame? With blackly comic new scenes by Colin Teevan, the story of this 400-year-old play is transported to a celebrity-obsessed society of greed and instant gratification, offering a fresh, new perspective that chimes with our times.

Praised for their innovative and anarchic reinvention of the classics, The Jamie Lloyd Company propels Christopher Marlowe's legendary now in an explosive new production starring Kit Harington (Game of Thrones) in his long-awaited return to the London stage. Faustus makes a pact with the Devil, selling his tale Doctor Faustus into the here and soul in return for the ability to perform absolutely anything  he pleases with the power of black magic. This fatal decision catapults him into an intoxicating world of celebrity, as he becomes a  world-renowned conjuror, international heartthrob and friend of the rich, famous and powerful. But what is the cost of his insatiable thirst for wealth and fame? With blackly comic new scenes by Colin Teevan, the story of this 400-year-old play is transported to a celebrity-obsessed  society of greed and instant gratification, offering a fresh, new perspective that chimes with our times. 

New York, NY (April 25, 2016) - C24 Gallery is pleased to announce Hero and Leander, a solo exhibition featuring a new body of work by hyperrealist sculptor Carole A. Feuerman. The exhibition will be on view May 7, 2016 through June 25, 2016 with a Press Preview on Friday, May 6th from 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm, a VIP Preview from 3:00 pm - 6:00 pm and a public reception from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm featuring dance performances.  Additionally, Carole Feuerman will have her first solo show in Los Angeles at KM Fine Arts from July 14 - August 20, 2016.

New York City, NY (For Release 3.30.16) — Known for capturing the duality of strength and grace, Ariel Rivka Dance (ARD) celebrates its ninth season with a special, contemporary dance festival comprising five world premieres by four of today's top choreographers all on one stage. Curated by ARD, this elegant array of diverse dance and live musicians showcases new works by Ariel Grossman of ARD, soloist Elisa King, Heidi Latsky of Heidi Latsky Dance, and Pascal Rioult of RIOULT Dance NY. (Program details are below.)