A. Phillips News

The Sydney Symphony Orchestra and its Chief Conductor and Artistic Director David Robertson will be joined next month by some of the best opera singers in the world for Beethoven's Missa Solemnis deemed by the composer as 'my greatest work'. Australian tenor Stuart Skelton, American soprano Susanna Phillips, Russian mezzo-soprano Olesya Petrova and Chinese bass-baritone Shenyang will showcase their virtuosity in this highly textured, melodic and often technically demanding mass with the Sydney Philharmonia Choirs and a full orchestra, totalling more than 200 performers on stage in these concerts.

Noel Coward's popular play Private Lives currently on stage at American Players Theatre might be ripped from modern entertainment headlines. These scenes of two recently divorced spouses reconnecting for a romantic tryst could be versions of Duchess Sarah Ferguson and Prince Andrew living unmarried under one roof (after their long ago divorce) and wishing for royal approval to remarry. Or perchance reminiscent of Gyweneth Paltrow and Coldplay's Chris Martin separating and naming their split a "conscious uncoupling," Coward's 1930 production appears more believable decades later, continually relevant for contemporary audiences.

The Oratorio Society of New York (OSNY), New York's standard for grand choral performance, will mark its 2015/16 season with performances of two major symphonic choral works written within the past 20 years. Leading OSNY in its 143rd season will be Kent Tritle, in his 11th year as music director.

American Players Theatre (APT) will launch its 36th Season tonight, June 6, 2015 with a preview performance of William Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor. The performance begins at 8:00 p.m. Tickets are still available.

American Players Theatre (APT) will launch its 36th Season June 6, 2015 with a preview performance of William Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor.

The renowned Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center returns to Segerstrom Center for the Arts in a remarkable program titled Passionate Piano Quartets, pairing three works by Schumann, Brahms and the rarely performed Mahler Piano Quartet, which is the composer's only surviving instrumental chamber work, written while still a teenager. Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center is soon embarking on a North American tour that will include 11 cities and their visit to Segerstrom Center tonight, April 15 in Samueli Theater will be the quartet's sole West Coast appearance.

The renowned Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center returns to Segerstrom Center for the Arts in a remarkable program titled Passionate Piano Quartets, pairing three works by Schumann, Brahms and the rarely performed Mahler Piano Quartet, which is the composer's only surviving instrumental chamber work, written while still a teenager. Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center is soon embarking on a North American tour that will include 11 cities and their visit to Segerstrom Center on April 15 in Samueli Theater will be the quartet's sole West Coast appearance.

An all-star cast of renowned singers and instrumentalists comes together on one CD to sing for hope and in the cause of supporting AIDS research.

Just ahead of the show's fourteenth season, original judge-turned-mentor Randy Jackson is officially exiting AMERICAN IDOL, Deadline has confirmed.

Queens Theatre (QT) and its resident theatre company, Titan Theatre Company, join forces to present a soaring, WORLD PREMIERE adaptation of the Charles Dickens classic A CHRISTMAS CAROL adapted by Titan Literary Director Emily Trask and Titan Artistic Director Lenny Banovez. A CHRISTMAS CAROL will play a two week limited engagement at Queens Theatre (14 United Nations Avenue South, Flushing Meadows Corona Park). Performances begin Thursday, December 11 and continue through Sunday, December 21. Tickets ($30 each or 4 for $100) are available at www.queenstheatre.org.

A performance of Verdi's Requiem that is a tripartite collaboration highlights the 2014-15 season of Kent Tritle, called 'New York's reigning choral conductor' by The New York Times. In an event emblematic of Kent's multiple roles in the city's choral life, he will conduct a performance of the massive work by the Oratorio Society of New York, of which he is Music Director, and the Symphony and Symphonic Chorus of the Manhattan School of Music, where he is Director of Choral Activities, in the grand space of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, where he is Director of Cathedral Music and Organist -- with a new choral configuration that features the more-than-250 singers on risers in the cathedral's Great Choir space.

Following its appointment as Queens Theatre's inaugural theatre company in residence for the 2014-2015 season, Titan Theatre Company, New York City's premier professional repertory theatre company, announced today the members of its resident acting company.

A performance of Verdi's Requiem that is a tripartite collaboration highlights the 2014-15 season of Kent Tritle, called 'New York's reigning choral conductor' by The New York Times. In an event emblematic of Kent's multiple roles in the city's choral life, he will conduct a performance of the massive work by the Oratorio Society of New York, of which he is Music Director, and the Symphony and Symphonic Chorus of the Manhattan School of Music, where he is Director of Choral Activities, in the grand space of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, where he is Director of Cathedral Music and Organist -- with a new choral configuration that features the more-than-250 singers on risers in the cathedral's Great Choir space.

Australian theatre producer John Frost and Opera Australia Artistic Director Lyndon Terracini previously announced that Jason Scott Lee has had to withdraw from their production of the Rodgers and Hammerstein's classic Broadway musical The King and I in Melbourne. Lee has torn a calf muscle which will preclude him from performing for the rest of the season.

It was announced today by Australian theatre producer John Frost and Opera Australia Artistic Director Lyndon Terracini that Jason Scott Lee has had to withdraw from their production of the Rodgers and Hammerstein's classic Broadway musical The King and I in Melbourne. Lee has torn a calf muscle which will preclude him from performing for the rest of the season.

On Saturday, April 19, the cast of the film X/Y - including America Ferrera, Ryan Piers Williams, Jon Paul Phillips, Dree Hemingway, and Melanie Diaz - gathered at the Heineken Official After-Party at Parlor to celebrate the world premiere of the film. Scroll down to see some pictures of the event!

Swarovski crystals are 'shining like the brightest star' in costumes for Broadway's HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH. The musical is now in previews at the Belasco Theatre (111 West 44th Street) and will open Tuesday, April 22.

The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and Music Director Edo de Waart open the 2014 Beethoven Festival with Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 today, March 21-23, 2014 at the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts.

The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and Music Director Edo de Waart open the 2014 Beethoven Festival with Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 on March 21-23, 2014 at the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts. The program features the MSO Chorus, soprano Susanna Phillips, mezzo- soprano Kelley O'Connor, tenor Thomas Cooley, and baritone Christopher Maltman. The performances open with John Adams's The Wound-Dresser, a setting of Walt Whitman's Civil War prose.

Italian tenor Vittorio Grigolo, who has earned praise for his elegant and expressive vocalism in performances at the Met and other opera houses around the world, will perform a solo recital on the Met stage on Sunday, March 9 at 4 p.m. He will be joined by pianist Vincent Scalera for the recital, which will feature songs and arias by Bellini, Rossini, Donizetti, Verdi, Tosti, Leoncavallo, Gastaldon, De Curtis, and D'Annibale. A complete listing of the program appears below.