Sasha Cooke News

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts today announced a weeklong celebration to honor the 100th anniversary of the birth of its namesake, the late President John F. Kennedy-whose 100th birthday would have been May 29, 2017. The Center kicked off its Centennial celebration last May, and by the end of 2017, will have presented a suite of more than 50 distinct programs inspired by five ideals often ascribed to President Kennedy: Courage, Freedom, Justice, Service, and Gratitude. Special performances fromMay 23-29, 2017 span theater programs, dance, music, and the return of the Center's popular Open House, which all memorialize the life and legacy of America's 35th President. Highlights include performances by DJ Spooky, Yo-Yo Ma with the National Symphony Orchestra, the world premieres of Kennedy Center commissions by composer Mason Bates and Company E, and special Open House performances by Bandaloop, Flexn, and others. Additional programs through 2017 will be announced at a future date.

The Juilliard Opera season continues with a concert version and a fully staged production of G.F. Handel's Agrippina, presented by Juilliard as part of Carnegie Hall's La Serenissima: Music and Arts From the Venetian Republic festival.

The Juilliard Opera season continues with a concert version and a fully staged production of G.F. Handel's Agrippina, presented by Juilliard as part of Carnegie Hall's La Serenissima: Music and Arts From the Venetian Republic festival.

After leading the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) on a critically acclaimed seven-city, 11-concert European tour in January 2017, Music Director Riccardo Muti returns to Chicago in February for two weeks of concerts and activities, February 13-25.

Houston Grand Opera (HGO) will present Das Barbecu, a fast-paced and raucous retelling of Wagner's epic Ring cycle, on April 23at Jackson Street BBQ, and April 30 at Neon Boots Dancehall & Saloon. Five actors play over 30 roles in this comic take on opera's most spectacular saga, complete with mismatched lovers, a double shotgun wedding, and family feuds, all wrapped up in a Texas-sized heap of Wild West fun. Songs run the gamut from Broadway to Texas swing, from jazz to twangy country and western. Ticket prices include a BBQ feast and drink. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. for dinner, with performances beginning at 7 p.m. 

The inaugural Explorations series continues with Elvis Costello's The Juliet Letters, Jan. 28 and 29 at the Michael and Ginger Frost Production Arts Building at the Richard J. Stern Opera Center.Explorations features eclectic programs in intimate spaces, with programming that crosses musical borders and experiments with a wide range of lyrical expression.

On January 28, 2017, at 7:30PM, The Chelsea Symphony will present the continuation of its 11th season, 'Flight Paths,' with a concert featuring the New York premiere of P?teris Vasks' English Horn Concerto and the world premiere of Tim Kiah's Song of Zippy, paired with J. Strauss's Overture to Die Fledermaus, Bartok's Romanian Folk Dances, and Sibelius's Finlandia.

The inaugural Explorations series continues with Elvis Costello's The Juliet Letters, Jan. 28 and 29 at the Michael and Ginger Frost Production Arts Building at the Richard J. Stern Opera Center.Explorations features eclectic programs in intimate spaces, with programming that crosses musical borders and experiments with a wide range of lyrical expression.

The Juilliard Opera season continues with a concert version and a fully staged production of G.F. Handel's Agrippina, presented by Juilliard as part of Carnegie Hall's La Serenissima: Music and Arts From the Venetian Republic festival.

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and Washington National Opera (WNO) today announced that countertenor John Holiday is the 2017 winner of the Marian Anderson Vocal Award.

On January 28, 2017, at 7:30PM, The Chelsea Symphony will present the continuation of its 11th season, 'Flight Paths,' with a concert featuring the New York premiere of P?teris Vasks' English Horn Concerto and the world premiere of Tim Kiah's Song of Zippy, paired with J. Strauss's Overture to Die Fledermaus, Bartok's Romanian Folk Dances, and Sibelius's Finlandia.

In the fall of 1987, Houston Grand Opera's world premiere of Nixon in China made political headlines and galvanized the opera world. Thirty years later, John Adams's trailblazing opera returns in a new-to-Houston production that sheds light on the electronic media's role in political history, just as a new media-savvy American president takes office.

Widely recognized as one of the most dramatic works written in the form of the Christian liturgy, Verdi's mighty REQUIEM differs from those of other composers in that it demands operatic performing forces; it has been called 'an opera in disguise.'

Donizetti's ebullient comedy The Elixir of Love sets a celebratory tone as Houston Grand Opera's (HGO) 62nd season opener on October 21. The colorful production features tenor Dimitri Pittas and soprano Nicole Heaston, as well as the HGO debut of eminent English conductor Jane Glover. Performances run through November 4.  

Music Director Yannick Nezet-Seguin returns this season to Carnegie Hall to lead The Philadelphia Orchestra in three concerts in Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage, beginning on Tuesday, November 15 at 8:00 p.m. ViolinistBenjamin Beilman joins the orchestra for Prokofiev's Violin Concerto No. 1 in D Major, Op. 19, on a program that also includes Ravel's Le tombeau de Couperin and Daphnis et Chloe(complete) with the Westminster Symphonic Choir.

Donizetti's ebullient comedy The Elixir of Love sets a celebratory tone as Houston Grand Opera's (HGO) 62nd season opener on October 21.

You can never be too grown-up for the magic of a Brother's Grimm fairy tale. That's very clear from Seattle Opera's upcoming Hansel and Gretel, which comes from the vivid imagination of French stage director Laurent Pelly. This edgy version of Engelbert Humperdinck's masterpiece presents a thrilling quest ending not in a gingerbread house, but in a supermarket with a checkout lady from hell!

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and Washington National Opera seek nominations for the 2017 Marian Anderson Vocal Award, which celebrates excellence in performance by recognizing a young American singer who has achieved initial professional success in the area of opera, oratorio, or recital repertory, and who exhibits promise for a significant career.

The Harris Theater for Music and Dance, in association with Lyric Unlimited, has announced the return of Beyond the Aria - the highly acclaimed performance series produced by the Harris Theater which pairs internationally celebrated opera singers of Lyric's mainstage alongside rising stars from The Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center at Lyric Opera of Chicago.

The New York Philharmonic's box office opens today, August 9, 2016, for the 2016-17 season.