Michael Tilson Thomas News

59E59 Theaters welcomes the Little Opera Theatre of NY in its return with Rossini's comic opera OPPORTUNITY MAKES THE THIEF (L'OCCASIONE FA IL LADRO OSSIA IL CAMBIO DELLA VALIGIA), directed by Philip Shneidman and conducted by James Bagwell.

The San Francisco Symphony (SFS) continues its mission of providing broad access to music and music education with the release of a new version of its free online music education resource, SFSKids.org. The new SFSKids incorporates user-friendly educational game-play techniques to bring orchestral music to today's digitally savvy children, and launches a new generation of music instruction tools for parents and teachers. The new SFSKids was developed in creative partnership with University of California, Irvine's Institute for Software Research.

Perhaps the most controversial opera of the 20th century makes its Southern California debut when Long Beach Opera (LBO) stages John Adams' The Death of Klinghoffer on March 16 and March 22 at the Terrace Theater in downtown Long Beach. This powerful and unsettling work chronicles the 1985 hijacking of the Mediterranean cruise ship Achille Lauro by Palestinian terrorists and the murder of disabled Jewish-American passenger, Leon Klinghoffer. LBO's production is a partner presentation of the Los Angeles Philharmonic's 'Minimalist Jukebox' Festival.

Producer Jo Schuman Silver announced today that Steve Silver's Beach Blanket Babylon will commemorate its 40th anniversary with a special public celebration to take place at San Francisco's City Hall on Friday, June 6, 2014 at 12 p.m. City and civic leaders will join the cast of Beach Blanket Babylon as The City of San Francisco salutes the world's longest-running musical revue in an event open to the public. This 'only in San Francisco' event will feature Mayor Ed Lee, Chief of Protocol Charlotte Shultz, former Mayor Willie L. Brown Jr., Ann Getty, Dede Wilsey, San Francisco Symphony Music Director Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus. Other dignitaries will be announced at a later date.

Five decades later and still blazing new trails, Meredith Monk began preparation for her Fiftieth Year celebration with the January 29 announcement of her appointment as the 2014/15 Richard and Barbara Debs Composer's Chair at Carnegie Hall. Her spring calendar, a prelude to her 50th anniversary events, is crammed with New York, national and international performances, record and CD releases, workshops and residencies designed to showcase Monk's groundbreaking work past and present.

Music Director Gustavo Dudamel and President and CEO Deborah Borda today announced the 2014/15 season of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. This new season, the orchestra's 96th, is devoted to moving music forward by presenting an ever-evolving vision through a series of programs that demonstrate the artistry of the Los Angeles Philharmonic as a leading orchestra of the 21st century, under the baton of Gustavo Dudamel.

The Los Angeles Master Chorale (LAMC) - heralded around the globe for its unparalleled artistry and wide ranging repertoire - continues expanding and transforming the spectrum of choral music with two world premieres while also presenting Renaissance gems, a cappella masterpieces, contemporary classics and seminal large-scale works during the 2014-15 Season, its 51st, at Walt Disney Concert Hall. Acclaimed Kiki & David Gindler Music Director Grant Gershon, who marks his 14th season at the choir's helm, conducts 10 programs, 4 of which are repeated, for a total of 14 performances at Disney Hall. The Grammy®-nominated Chorale displays its skills as both a virtuosic symphonic chorus and a masterful a cappella tour de force with a season of carefully curated repertoire, featuring works by some 20 composers, nearly half of whom are active today, among them Swan Family Composer in Residence Shawn Kirchner, Tan Dun, Arvo Part, Eric Whitacre, Nack-Kum Paik, Richard Einhorn, Ariel Quintana, Jan Sandstrom and Morten Lauridsen.

The 44th Season of Orchestra Seattle and the Seattle Chamber Singers (OSSCS) continues with tonight's February 8, 2014 concert inspired by the human spirit.

The 49th season of Lincoln Center's Great Performers series, which will run from November 2, 2014 through May 10, 2015, was announced today by Jane Moss, Ehrenkranz Artistic Director. Highlighting the season are the return of the Gewandhaus Orchestra of Leipzig, led by Riccardo Chailly and of Michael Tilson Thomasconducting the London Symphony Orchestra. The "Art of the Song" series returns in 2015 with recitals by four outstanding vocal artists. The 2014-2015 season also features a period-instrument chamber orchestra series, a recital series, and a film series, and includes pre- and post-concert discussions and lectures. A new series, "Complimentary Classical" will bring four compelling string quartets to the David Rubenstein Atrium in free concerts in 2015.

Musica Sacra, the longest continuously-performing professional chorus in New York City, will present a performance in honor of Women's History Month featuring works by acclaimed composers Meredith Monk and Jocelyn Hagen at New York's Alice Tully Hall on Monday, March 31, 2014 at 7:30 p.m.

On Sunday, February 9 at 3:00pm, The Greenwich Village Orchestra, led by Metropolitan Opera conductor Pierre Vallet, will perform a concert to include excerpts form Berlioz's The Damnation of Faust, Ravel's Sheherazade with Grammy Award-wining mezzo-soprano Sasha Cook, and Brahms' Symphony No. 4. Now in its 27th season, the ensemble performs at Washington Irving Auditorium (40 Irving Place) near Union Square.

The five-time Grammy Award-winning San Francisco Girls Chorus—Lisa Bielawa, Artistic Director, and Valérie Sainte-Agathe, Music Director and Principal Conductor—are in demand as one of the Bay Area's top vocal ensembles with upcoming guest performances this spring with the San Francisco Symphony, award-winning visual arts organization Creativity Explored, Stephen Petronio Dance Company presented by San Francisco Performances and in Opera Parallèle's productions of Poulenc's Les Mamelles de Tiresias and Weill's Mahagonny. In addition, the Girls Chorus will stage Benjamin Britten's Noye's Fludde, based on the biblical deluge story, with décor and set pieces by artists from Creativity Explored on Saturday, March 29. A complete list of Spring performances is listed below. For more information, visit www.sfgirlschorus.org .

Rising young soprano Nadine Sierra, will take the stage at the Michael Schimmel Center For the Arts on Sunday, February 9 at 3pm as part of Pace's concert series VOCE AT PACE: RISING OPERA STARS. Rising Opera Stars in Recital is supported by the Richard Tucker Music Foundation in honor of Dr. Agnes Varis. It is curated by Matthew Epstein.

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.

59E59 Theaters is thrilled to announce that the Little Opera Theatre of NY returns with Rossini's comic opera OPPORTUNITY MAKES THE THIEF (L'OCCASIONE FA IL LADRO OSSIA IL CAMBIO DELLA VALIGIA).

The 44th Season of Orchestra Seattle and the Seattle Chamber Singers (OSSCS) continues with a February 8, 2014 concert inspired by the human spirit. Guest conductor Stilian Kirov, associate conductor of the Seattle Symphony, conducts this evening concert, Friendship and Imagination. It includes The Enchanted Lake by Russian composer Anatoly Liadov, Violin Concerto in E Minor, Op 64 byFelix Mendelssohn and Pictures at an Exhibition by Modest Mussorgsky with orchestrations by Maurice Ravel. Elisa Barston, principal second violinist of the Seattle Symphony is the guest soloist for the evening.

The Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra is holding general vocal auditions on Monday, Jan. 20 from 4 to 6 PM at Kleinhans Music Hall, 3 Symphony Circle, Buffalo 14201.

This February, Principal Conductor Yuri Temirkanov leads the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra in two performances in Carnegie Hall's Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage. On Thursday, February 13 at 8:00 p.m., Mr. Temirkanov leads the orchestra, Russia's oldest symphonic ensemble, in a unique concert featuring Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat Minor, Op. 23, with lauded Russian pianist Denis Kozhukhin as soloist. In addition, the program includes excerpts from Rimsky-Korsakov's nationalistic 1907 opera, The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh, and Giya Kancheli's 2000 work …al Niente. On Saturday, February 15 at 8:00 p.m., the orchestra and Mr. Temirkanov return, performing Prokofiev's folk music-inspired Violin Concerto No. 2 in G Minor, Op. 63, featuring acclaimed violinist Julia Fischer. On the second half of the concert, the orchestra plays Rachmaninoff's Symphony No. 2 in E Minor, Op. 27.

The day Leonard Bernstein died, a sense of gut-wrenching loss pervaded the musical world. Anyone who had watched and listened to his extraordinary music making could not help but be affected by his passion and reverence for music. Those of us lucky enough to have known and worked with him and availed ourselves of his wisdom, still hold deep affection and respect for him, along with a feeling that we have been blessed many times over.