Richard Strauss News

Casting for the seventh and eighth weeks of American Ballet Theatre's 2018 Spring Season at the Metropolitan Opera House was announced today by Artistic Director Kevin McKenzie.

Cennarium, the largest subscription streaming service for theatrical productions, now has 16 theatrical performances available for streaming on Amazon, with more to come. The productions offered will be a variety of genres including musicals, drama, opera, ballet and dance, magic and comedies from countries around the world.

Town Hall's Broadway by the Year series closes its 18th acclaimed season with a finale that will feature the musicals from 1988 and 2017 alongside a cast of nearly 35 performers, including the Broadway by the Year Chorus, the Broadway by the Year Dance Ensemble (under the direction of Danny Gardner), and these great stars: William Michals (Emile de Beque in the Lincoln Center production of South Pacific), Brian Charles Rooney (critically acclaimed in the recent Broadway revival of The Three-Penny Opera), Farah Alvin (Drama Desk Nominee and veteran of 5 Broadway shows), Rebecca Faulkenberry (Nancy on Broadway in Groundhog Day), Danny Gardner (2X Drama Desk Winner, Dames at Sea, Star of Radio City Summer Spectacular), and Marina Jurica (The Singing Meteorologist from CBS-TV, Christine in the National Tour of The Phantom of the Opera).

The once of a lifetime experience of contributing as a part of audience during the olympian night of gusto was indefinable. Singular admirations of music were merged and served as a triumphed feast and every breath taken was filled with delight.

Premiere violinist Anne Akiko Meyers returns to play with Pacific Symphony for "A Hero's Life" to close out the 2017-18 Classical series, joined by Concertmaster-Designate Dennis Kim.

Mint Theater (Jonathan Bank, Producing Artistic Director) today announced the cast for a rare reading of Ferenc Molnar's Liliom which will be presented for one night only, onMonday, June 11 at 7pm at Theatre Row (410 West 42nd Street).  Liliom was turned into the musical Carousel by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II which is now enjoying a successful revival on Broadway.

This week the third concert in this landmark 18th season of Town Hall's signature series, Broadway by the Year drew out some of Broadway's finest performers including Tony-nominee Carolee Carmello, Drama Desk nominee Cheryl Freeman, Luke Grooms (Jerry Springer: The Opera), Douglas Ladnier (Jekyll & Hyde), Maxine Linehan (South Pacific), Kyle Selig(Mean Girls), Oakley Boycott (Bells Are Ringing), Joshua Israel (Annie). Check out photos from the even below!

The New York Philharmonic announces Foreign Bodies, a one-night-only multidisciplinary event conducted and hosted by Esa-Pekka Salonen, concluding his tenure as The Marie-Jos e Kravis Composer-in-Residence. The concert, Friday, June 8, 2018, at 8:00 p.m., will feature Esa-Pekka Salonen's Foreign Bodies, accompanied by the World Premiere of a live video installation by Tal Rosner; Dan el Bjarnason's Violin Concerto, with Pekka Kuusisto in his New York Philharmonic debut; and Obsidian Tear, a dance work choreographed by Wayne McGregor performed by members of the Boston Ballet (Philharmonic debut) and set to Mr. Salonen's Nyx and Lachen verlernt. Foreign Bodies will be casual and multi-sensory; drinks and conversation will flow as attendees mingle with the performers, who will give additional impromptu performances throughout the event.

The San Diego Opera's last concert this season was billed as 'One Amazing Night.' The program was originally scheduled to feature soprano Lise Lindstrom and tenor Rene Barbera, but Barbera was released from his commitment when he was offered a Teatro alla Scala debut as Ernesto in a new production of Don Pasquale. He's sung multiple time in San Diego, and will likely return, but the company understood a La Scala debut means too much to an opera singer's career to stand in his way. Bass-baritone Greer Grimsley, who had previously performed with Lindstrom in the San Diego production of Salome, was an effective stand-in. Earlier this season Grimsley played the pirate king here in Pirates of Penzance with surprising comic flair, though best known for dark and heroic roles.

The San Diego Symphony, along with many others, is this year celebrating the 100th anniversary of the birth of Leonard Bernstein. The first half of the Symphony's 'Dances Suites and Serenades' concert consisted of 'Three Dance Variations' from Bernstein's ballet Fancy Free, and Serenade (After Plato's 'Symposium'). Fancy Free was choreographed by Jerome Robbins. Robbins collaborated on all of Bernstein's ballets and his hugely successful Broadway musical Westside Story. Fancy Free features three sailors on leave who want to impress two young women. Since two doesn't equal three, except possibly in fake-news reports, they  dance to showoff and help the women decide which two suitors will win approval. Galop, waltz and danzon variations provide solos for each sailor in which to demonstrate skill and personality.

Andre Raphel, Music Director of the Wheeling Symphony Orchestra for the past fifteen years, was honored with the title of Conductor Laureate on Wednesday evening, May 2 at a recognition ceremony taking place in Wheeling, West Virginia.    On May 18, he will conduct the Wheeling Symphony in its season finale program featuring Respighi's "Pines of Rome" and works by Dvorak, Beethoven and Richard Strauss. The concert is to be followed by a public celebration.

Santa Fe Opera's General Director Charles MacKay and General Director Designate Robert Meya announced today the repertory, principal singers, conductors, directors, and designers for the company's 63rd season in 2019, along with updates to the 2018 season, which opens June 29. Joining MacKay and Meya were Santa Fe Opera Board of Directors President Susan G. Marineau, and Director of Education and Community Programs Andrea Fellows Walters.

National Endowment for the Arts Chairman Jane Chu has approved more than $80 million in grants as part of the NEA's second major funding announcement for fiscal year 2018.  Included in this announcement is an Art Works grant of $40,000 to Orpheus Chamber Orchestra to launch a 2019 nationwide tour and further their education and community initiatives. The Art Works category is the NEA's largest funding category and supports projects that focus on the creation of art that meets the highest standards of excellence, public engagement with diverse and excellent art, lifelong learning in the arts, and/or the strengthening of communities through the arts.

Oscar, Tony, and Emmy Award winner Al Pacino and Oscar nominee Jessica Chastain make their debuts on streaming service BroadwayHD on Thursday, May 3, 2018 with the critically acclaimed production of Oscar Wilde's Salome. The Los Angeles Times said that the film "proves a chilling and watchable look at lust, power, reprisal and decadence."

Orpheus Chamber Orchestra returns to Central Park's Naumburg Bandshell on Tuesday, June 26, 2018 at 7:30pm for a free concert presented by Naumburg Orchestral Concerts. The festive summer program features Mendelssohn's A Midsummer Night's Dream, Op. 21/61 arranged by Andreas Tarkmann; the New York premiere of Othmar Schoeck's Summer Night, Pastoral Intermezzo for Strings, Op. 58, inspired by the Gottfried Keller poem of the same name; and Beethoven's String Quartet in F Minor, Op. 95 "Serioso" arranged by Mahler. The evening is hosted by WQXR's Jeff Spurgeon and will be live-streamed on WQXR and their website.

Another all-star cast has been assembled for the third concert in this landmark 18th season of Town Hall's signature series, Broadway by the Year. The next concert in the series is on May 21st at 8pm & will star Tony-nominee Carolee Carmello, 4-time Grammy-winner John Easterlin, Drama Desk nominee Cheryl Freeman, Luke Grooms (Jerry Springer: The Opera), Douglas Ladnier (Jekyll & Hyde), Maxine Linehan (South Pacific), Kyle Selig (Mean Girls), Oakley Boycott (Bells Are Ringing), Joshua Israel (Annie) and more to be announced soon!

Oscar, Tony, and Emmy Award winner Al Pacino and Oscar nominee Jessica Chastain make their debuts on streaming service BroadwayHD on Thursday, May 3, 2018 with the critically acclaimed production of Oscar Wilde's Salome. The Los Angeles Times said that the film 'proves a chilling and watchable look at lust, power, reprisal and decadence.'

The Cleveland Orchestra and Baldwin Wallace University Conservatory of Music have announced a special residency partnership for the 2018-19 season and academic year. This collaborative residency will provide educational opportunities for Baldwin Wallace music and arts administration students led by Cleveland Orchestra musicians, conductors, and administrative staff.

Chief Executive Officer Tania Castroverde Moskalenko announces the Auditorium Theatre's 2018-19 Season, which includes exciting premieres, inspiring speakers, innovative contemporary artists, and legendary performers.

Folks Operetta is proud to announce its 2018 season and a new fundraising campaign, The Korngold Initiative. All of these projects are part of their new Reclaimed Voices Series, which focuses on recovering and reviving the lost music of the Jewish composers of the Second World War.