Michael Tilson Thomas News

Today, Steve Silver's Beach Blanket Babylon Producer Jo Schuman Silver announced Hats Off to 40 Years of Steve Silver's Beach Blanket Babylon, a self-guided tour featuring iconic hats from the past 40 years running in May through June. With more than 20 hats being exhibited throughout the Bay Area, this is the first time in the show's history that this many hats have been displayed at one time. At 15 feet wide, 10 feet deep and 29 feet tall, visitors to Davies Symphony Hall can see the iconic Silver San Francisco Skyline Hat. Other hats include the World Hat and the Washington Hat at the de Young Museum, as well as the original Banana Carmen Hat at the SFJAZZ Center. A complete list of locations and viewing dates is below.

Music Director Michael Tilson Thomas (MTT) and the San Francisco Symphony (SFS) will release a new live recording of the first-ever concert performances of Leonard Bernstein's complete score for the musical West Side Story featuring a stellar Broadway cast including Cheyenne Jackson and Alexandra Silber, and the San Francisco Symphony Chorus, on June 10, 2014.

Jeffrey Siegel's Keyboard Conversations are brilliantly polished concerts-with-commentary format in which captivating remarks precede virtuoso performances of piano masterpieces. The Los Angeles Times acclaims "Jeffrey Siegel has everything: massive technique, musical sensitivity and character, wide tonal resources, immense reserves of power, and the ability to communicate." These talents will be displayed at Harris Center for the Arts in Folsom as Mr. Siegel concludes this season's series of concerts with Mistresses and Masterpieces on May 18.

The Celebrity Series of Boston announced its 2014-2015 season today, marking 76 years of bringing the world's greatest performing artists to Boston. The season opens on Sunday, October 5, 2014 with Italian pianist Maurizio Pollini in recital. In total, the 2014-2015 season will include 46 music, dance and entertainment engagements. The 2014-15 season is sponsored by Amy and Joshua Boger.

The Utah Symphony led by Music Director Thierry Fischer will tour Utah's red rock country, home to the state's five iconic national parks, in August 2014 with free outdoor performances surrounded by the landscape of Capitol Reef, Arches, Canyonlands, Bryce Canyon and Zion National Parks. Presented by the George S. and Dolores Dore Eccles Foundation, The Mighty 5® Tour represents a collaboration between two of Utah's great treasures, the state's leading arts organization, Utah Symphony | Utah Opera, and the unparalleled natural beauty of Utah's red rock country preserved within the five national parks, collectively known as "The Mighty 5."

Called "legendary" and a "San Francisco institution," Feinstein's at the Nikko welcomes jazz and blues vocalist, Kim Nalley, for one performance only - Saturday, May 10 (7 p.m.).

Under the leadership of Artistic Director Derek Bermel and Music Director George Manahan, American Composers Orchestra's (ACO) 2014-2015 season strengthens the orchestra's commitment to serve as a catalyst for the creation of new orchestral music, providing unprecedented opportunities for American composers to create new work and for audiences to discover it. Now in its 11th year at Carnegie Hall's Zankel Hall, Orchestra Underground continues as ACO's subversive and entrepreneurial redefinition of the orchestra as an elastic ensemble, and this year features the rarely performed orchestral music of pioneering composer and performer Meredith Monk, holder of the 2014-2015 Richard and Barbara Debs Composer's Chair at Carnegie Hall (Monk's Sphere, November 21). Orchestra Underground brings cabaret, pop, and jazz traditions into the concert hall in a program featuring Kurt Weill's cabaret cult classic The Seven Deadly Sins sung by Shara Worden (Sin & Songs, February 27). For the first time in several seasons, ACO returns to performing with full symphonic forces outside of Carnegie Hall - the orchestra's April concert at Jazz at Lincoln Center will showcase the New York premiere ofWynton Marsalis' Blues Symphony.

The Collegiate Chorale announces the New York premiere of battle hymns on May 15, 2014 at 7:30pm at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum, Pier 86, 12th Ave. & 46th Street in New York, NY.

Celebrating its 35th anniversary, the Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival will present a concert open to the public for the first time in New York this evening, April 8, 2014 at 7:45 p.m. at the DiMenna Center for Classical Music, Cary Hall, 450 West 37th Street, between Ninth and Tenth Avenues.

Conductor Michael Tilson Thomas, Boosey & Hawkes, the New World Symphony, and the San Francisco Symphony today announced composer Ted Hearne as the third annual New Voices composer. A recipient of the Gaudeamus Prize; ASCAP's Leonard Bernstein Award and Morton Gould Award; fellowships from the Barlow Endowment, the Fromm Music Foundation, and the American Academy of Arts and Letters; and two residencies at the MacDowell Colony, Ted Hearne has captured the attention of the classical, pop, and rock worlds. His collaborations with ensembles such as the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Brooklyn Philharmonic, and the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), and artists like Erykah Badu have earned him praise from musicians and critics. Also a singer, Hearne has been called a 'vocal hellion' by Time Out Chicago, and The Los Angeles Times has said, 'No single artist embodies the post-genre Brooklyn scene, but Hearne may be its most zealous auteur.'

One-hour long Rush Hour concerts are a great way to experience live music in an informal and relaxed smaller setting. Rush Hour concerts are perfect for those new to the orchestra experience, as well as for the most die-hard listeners.

Celebrating its 35th anniversary, the Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival will present a concert open to the public for the first time in New York on Tuesday evening, April 8, 2014 at 7:45 p.m. at the DiMenna Center for Classical Music, Cary Hall, 450 West 37th Street, between Ninth and Tenth Avenues. A special orchestra-the Cape Cod Gala Orchestra, conducted by Liam Burke-has been assembled for this occasion. Noted WQXR radio announcer Jeff Spurgeon will host the evening and Nancy B. Barry, First President of the Festival, as well as Honorary Artistic Chair Charles Hamlen, V.P. of Orchestra of St. Luke's and Co-Founder of IMG Artists, will be on hand for the event.

The Cleveland Orchestra has announced its 2014-15 season. Music Director Franz Welser-Möst's programs include Bach's Mass in B minor, and Brahms's Piano Concertos with Yefim Bronfman as soloist. Mr. Welser-Möst continues his long-standing tradition of opera performances at Severance Hall with concert performances of Richard Strauss's rarely heard opera Daphne. Guest artists returning to Severance Hall include Lang Lang, Christian Tetzlaff, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, and Mitsuko Uchida, and conductors Charles Dutoit, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, and Fabio Luisi. The Orchestra celebrates the 90th birthday of Pierre Boulez in three programs conducted by Franz Welser-Möst.

Nathan Gunn has made a reputation as one of the most exciting and in-demand baritones of the day. He has appeared in internationally renowned opera houses including the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Paris Opera, and Teatro Real in Madrid.

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.

Musiqa, winner of the 2013 Chamber Music America/American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers Award for Adventurous Programming of Contemporary Music, presents its spring concert, Time in Motion, at the Hobby Center's Zilkha Hall on Saturday, March 22, at 7:30 p.m. In collaboration with NobleMotion Dance and Houston Cinema Arts Society, Musiqa's concert features an eclectic program that explores the concept of time in new music and how it integrates with elements of movement in dance and film.

Jeffrey Siegel's unique concerts are a joy for both the piano aficionado and novice alike with a brilliantly polished concert-with-commentary format. Captivating remarks precede the virtuoso performances of piano masterpieces and the concert concludes with a lively Q & A. Mr. Siegel returns for his third concert of the season at Harris Center for the Arts presenting The Glory of Beethoven on Wednesday, March 19.

Edward Seckerson - former presenter of BBC Radio 3's long-running musical theatre show Stage and Screen continues to host a series of in-depth encounters with the stars of musical theatre at London's Charing Cross Theatre.

PK Productions, by arrangement with Stanley Silverman and R&H Theatricals Europe, present CELEBRATING SILVERMAN with music by Stanley Silverman, and direction by Patrick Kennedy, and music direction by Peter Mitchell on Sunday, 6th April 2014 at London Hippodrome.