Samuel Barber News

Berklee College of Music has named Philip Lima as assistant chair of the Voice Department. Lima is a baritone vocalist who has garnered critical acclaim for his performances on both concert and operatic stages. He is currently serving as interim chair of the department while chair Anne Peckham is on sabbatical.

In a fitting conclusion to an historic season, on Sunday, May 12 at 3 PM, the Chamber Music Society of Detroit returns to Orchestra Hall, its home for more than 20 of its 75 years. Four of America's most exciting young string quartets the Attacca, Catalyst, Dover and Harlem Quartets are joined by master pianist Leon Fleisher, who will perform Mozart's K. 414 Piano Concerto plus music of Bach. The program also includes a world premiere by Jessie Montgomery, plus the Mendelssohn Octet performed by members of all four quartets switching off for different movements in a game of musical chairs.

Soprano Patricia Westley will replace Mary Evelyn Hangley in the final recital of the 2019 Schwabacher Recital Series, presented by the Merola Opera Program and San Francisco Opera Center. Soprano and first-year Adler Fellow Mary Evelyn Hangley has withdrawn from the April 24 recital for personal reasons.

Their May 8 concert, From Song Came Symphony, will explore the symphonic influence of composer Harry T. Burleigh, whose legacy is often tied to the concertization of the American spiritual. He is also increasingly credited as influencing some of the spiritual-inspired thematic material for the 'New World Symphony' and 'American String Quartet' of Antonin Dvorak. The Burleigh Society, which advances studies of black art music through scholarship and performance, hopes to broaden audiences' understanding of Burleigh's foundational contributions to American classical music.

The Choral Arts Society of Washington's Chamber Singers and Youth Choir, together with the New Orchestra of Washington (NOW) and the Aeolus Quartet, will immerse their audience with soundscapes and projections in a subterranean musical experience for Into the Light.

The Schwabacher Recital Series, presented by San Francisco Opera Center and the Merola Opera Program, continues in April with the final two recitals of its 36th season. Showcasing the exemplary young artists who have participated in the prestigious training programs of San Francisco Opera Center and the Merola Opera Program, the series offers music lovers an opportunity to hear opera's next generation of stars in the intimate and state-of-the-art Dianne and Tad Taube Atrium Theater in San Francisco.

The Czech National Symphony Orchestra (CNSO) announced today that Steven Mercuriowill become its new Music Director as of the upcoming 2019/20 season.

The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (HK Phil) will present a programme featuring internationally-acclaimed conductor Leonard Slatkin and the renowned Eton College Chapel Choir. On 5 & 6 April in the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall, Slatkin, who is recognised for his intuitive interpretations of iconic American works, will be joined by the choristers of Eton College Chapel Choir in a performance of Leonard Bernstein's colourful Chichester Psalms.

Principal Guest Conductor David Charles Abell returns to his hometown of Philadelphia for Cole Porter's Broadway: Too Darn Hot, the explosive penultimate performance of The Philly POPS 40th Anniversary Season, April 12-14 at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts. 

Edo de Waart began his official tenure as The San Diego Symphony Orchestra's Principal Guest Conductor with a program of three 20th Century works of, to receptive listeners, quiet reassuring beauty. The concert opened with 'The Walk to the Paradise Garden,' a between-scenes interlude from British composer Frederick Delius's opera A Village Romeo and Juliet. The interlude's gentle soothing melodies and pace are the exact opposite of those of the boisterous overtures that more typically open a concert. Just about any of Delius's music will sooth the savage breast. Extreme examples could be used to sedate patients before surgery. With that, I fear my bias shows, though I admit de Waart elicited beautiful playing and affectionate warmth in Thomas Beecham's arrangement. Lush and molasses-like as it is, it's hard to believe the arrangement was written so that the piece could be performed by a smaller orchestra than the oversized one Delius originally wrote it for, but it's true.

Every child knows his melodies. You will normally only hear this about rock stars. However, Danny Elfman is a composer of film music. Yet, who does not know how to whistle the theme from The Simpsons? Or the driving sound of Beetlejuice devised by Elfman in 1988, which became a hallmark for the comedy-fantasy film genre and for video games. Elfman provided the film score for nearly all movies directed by Tim Burton, invented the cinematic sound for Spider Man and Men in Black and came up with the main theme for Desperate Housewives. Hailing from Los Angeles and already a member of an avant-garde ensemble by the age of 19, Elfman has established himself as a fixture among the greatest film composers alongside Hans Zimmer or John Williams. However, among the soundtrack masters Elfman stands out for the distinctive character he lends his scores. With him, tubas and trombones play at a breakneck speed and violins are put through Paganini-like paces. And every soundtrack has its own unique idea which captivates the imagination of moviegoers over and over again.

The Ailey organization continues its 60th Anniversary celebration during the annual New York season of Ailey II - The Next Generation of Dance. Led by Artistic Director Troy Powell, the 12 rising stars will perform at NYU Skirball March 13-17, showcasing their talents in two programs: All New featuring works by Uri Sands, Bradley Shelver, Robert Battle and Troy Powell; and Returning Favorites featuring works by Darrell Grand Moultrie, Juel D. Lane, and Renee I. McDonald.

FirstWorks, a Rhode Island non-profit dedicated to building community through world-class arts announces the New England premiere of 'Some Favored Nook,' a song cycle featuring an original composition by Providence-based composer Eric Nathan. The work is based on the historic 24-year correspondence between poet Emily Dickinson and Thomas Wentworth Higginson; an essayist, abolitionist, women's rights advocate, Colonel of the first black regiment during the Civil War, and who notably was instrumental in publishing the first collection of Dickinson's poetry after her death.

The Nashville Symphony has announced the lineup for its 2019/20 season, which kicks off in September and features an extensive variety of classical, pops, jazz and family concerts, including top-flight guest artists, film favorites with live orchestral accompaniment, unique speaker events and much more. At the heart of this concert programming, Maestro Giancarlo Guerrero will lead the orchestra in its flagship Classical Series, which includes everything from masterworks by Tchaikovsky, Mozart, Berlioz and Beethoven to boundary-pushing contemporary American works.

Known as the nation's foremost label launched by an orchestra and devoted exclusively to new music, BMOP/sound today announced the release of a new album: David Sanford: Black Noise (TBR 02.05.19) performed by the intrepid musicians of the Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP) and led by conductor Gil Rose.

Following a 36-city world tour, Ailey II returns to NYU Skirball from March 13 – 17 for its annual New York season during Ailey's 60th Anniversary celebration. The renowned second company to Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater will inspire audiences in dynamic works by some of today's most revered choreographers. Premieres by Uri Sands, Bradley Shelver, Ailey Artistic Director Robert Battle, and Ailey II Artistic Director Troy Powell will grace the stage, along with returning crowd-pleasers by Juel D. Lane, Renee I. McDonald, and Darrell Grand Moultrie.

San Francisco Opera Center and Merola Opera Program present the 36th season of the Schwabacher Recital Series, opening on February 13 and continuing through April 24. The four-recital series offers music lovers an opportunity to hear opera's next generation of stars in the intimate and state-of-the-art Taube Atrium Theater in San Francisco.

Annenberg Center Live and NextMove Dance present the Martha Graham Dance Company in the EVE Project, Friday, January 25 (8 PM) and Saturday, January 26 (2 PM and 7 PM). The EVE Project commemorates the upcoming centennial of the 19th Amendment (which extended the right to vote to American women) with works by all female choreographers, staying true to Graham's tradition of social activism. The program features the Philadelphia premiere of Graham's powerful Chronicle; the first preview performance of Deo, a new work by celebrated choreographers Maxine Doyle and Bobbi Jene Smith, Graham's Diversion of Angels, and Ekstasis by Graham, reimagined by Virginie Mecene. Tickets are available at AnnenbergCenter.org or 215.898.3900.

Music Sales Corp., part of a leading international music publishing group, announces the appointment of Jeffrey Duncan as Executive Vice President. Duncan will be in charge of managing all aspects of the company's west coast operations. His duties commenced at the company's Santa Monica office on January 1st 2019.

The Sheen Center for Thought & Culture has announced its 2019 winter/spring season, a rich program of theater, film, music, poetry, art, and talk events featuring artists and thought leaders including Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Mary Chapin Carpenter;Tony Award winner Lena Hall; Grammy Award-winning musician and recording artist Eileen Ivers; Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award nomineeAlexander Gemignani;and journalist and former Wall Street Journal columnist Sohrab Ahmari.