Benjamin Britten News

The internationally-acclaimed Pacific Chorale in Orange County, CA will be presenting a new work created by American opera composer Jake Heggie, and the versatile librettist Gene Scheer entitled 'THE RADIO HOUR'. The choral opera will be conducted by Pacific Chorale's Artistic Director, John Alexander, and stage-directed by James R. Taulli. The premiere work will be performed by the organization's chamber choir, The John Alexander Singers, accompanied by an 8-member ensemble of musicians who are members of Pacific Symphony. The performance is on Sunday, May 18 at 5:30 p.m. at the Renee and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall in Costa Mesa, CA. Scroll down to see an interview with composer Jake Heggie and conductor John Alexander!

Music Director Robert Spano will lead the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (ASO) and Chorus in Britten's War Requiem tonight, April 24, 2014, at 8:00 p.m. and April 26, 2014, at 7:30 p.m. in Atlanta Symphony Hall at the Woodruff Arts Center.

From today, April 24 through June 1, one of William Shakespeare's most famous histories 'Richard III' gets an innovative PNT treatment in this boldly re-imagined tale of power, treachery, seduction, and fate.

The Virginia Arts Festival presents Dance Theatre of Harlem on May 17 and 18 in Norfolk and Richard Alston Dance Company on May 21 and 23 in Norfolk and Williamsburg in this year's Dance Series. The 2014 Festival features two world-class companies who have rewritten the rules for these art forms.

UNDERSTUDY BLUES, the debut production from Canned Rice Productions, will open at the Galloway Theatre in Cape Town for a nine-performance run in May 2014.

The Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) announced its 2014-15 Philharmonics and Pops concerts in February, but today reveals the remainder of its 92nd season, presented by Dawn & Jacques Lipson. Subscriptions to OrKIDStra and Sunday Matinees are available today to new and renewing subscribers, and tickets for Specials are now available as add-ons to all 14/15 subscribers. Single tickets for all 14/15 concerts go on sale to the general public on Friday, August 1, 2014.

The Celebrity Series of Boston announced its 2014-2015 season today, marking 76 years of bringing the world's greatest performing artists to Boston. The season opens on Sunday, October 5, 2014 with Italian pianist Maurizio Pollini in recital. In total, the 2014-2015 season will include 46 music, dance and entertainment engagements. The 2014-15 season is sponsored by Amy and Joshua Boger.

The Arvo Part Project at St. Vladimir's Seminary presents a concert in Carnegie Hall devoted to the music of Estonian composer Arvo Part. The concert will take place on Saturday, May 31 at 8:00 p.m. in Carnegie Hall's Stern Auditorium, and will feature performers closely associated with Mr. Part's music. An additional performance of Kanon Pokajanen will be performed in The Temple of Dendur at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on Monday, June 2, and a lecture based on Mr. Part and his music will be held in The Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on Wednesday, June 11. Traveling from Estonia for these events are the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir and the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra with their conductor Tõnu Kaljuste.

The opening concert of the University of Adelaide's Evenings@Elder Hall 6.30pm tonight, 12 April is an evening of piano wizardry delivered by two exceptional exponents of the keyboard, Clemens Leske and Daniel Herscovitch.

Carnegie Hall presents lyric soprano Lucy Crowe in her New York recital debut tonight, April 9 at 7:30 p.m. in Weill Recital Hall. Joined by pianist Anna Tilbrook, Ms. Crowe performs a wide variety of repertoire, with song cycles to include Alban Berg's Sieben fruhe Lieder and William Walton's A Song for the Lord Mayor's Table-six pieces celebrating the sights and sounds of London. Additional program highlights include a performance of Sibelius's vocally demanding tone poem, Luonnotar, Op. 70, inspired by the Kalevala, a 19th-century Finnish epic poem, and well-known lieder by Schubert. The British-born singer will also perform traditional selections from Folk Songs from the British Isles, including 'Sally Gardens,' and 'The Ash Grove,' arranged by Benjamin Britten, as well as songs by English composers Michael Head, Ivor Gurney, Thomas Dunhill, and Frank Bridge.

Pablo Heras-Casado will make his New York Philharmonic debut conducting Barto?k's Piano Concerto No. 3, featuring pianist Peter Serkin; Britten's Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes; and Shostakovich's Symphony No. 10, today, April 2, 2014, at 7:30 p.m.; Thursday, April 3 at 7:30 p.m.; Friday, April 4 at 11:00 a.m.; and Saturday, April 5 at 8:00 p.m.

James Conlon, Music Director of the Cincinnati May Festival since 1979, conducts the May Festival Chorus and Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra on Friday, May 9 at 7:30 p.m. at Carnegie Hall's Stern Auditorium during the fourth and final installment of the Spring For Music festival. The centerpiece of the Carnegie Hall program is the New York premiere of The Ordering of Moses, a work by Robert Nathaniel Dett that received its world premiere at the 1937 May Festival, performed by a chorus of 350 with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra led by Eugene Goosens. Mr. Conlon will open the program with John Adams' Harmonium.

New works, engaging collaborations and classic revivals set the theme for the Royal Ballet Season 2014/15.

From April 24 through June 1, one of William Shakespeare's most famous histories 'Richard III' gets an innovative PNT treatment in this boldly re-imagined tale of power, treachery, seduction, and fate.

Geoff Nuttall, now in his fifth year as Spoleto Festival USA's Charles E. and Andrea L. Volpe Director for Chamber Music, today announced details of the Bank of America Chamber Music series comprising 11 programs, each performed three times at the Dock Street Theatre in Charleston, South Carolina from Friday, May 23 through Sunday, June 8.

The Symphony presents the fourth performance of its Chamber Concert Series on Sunday April 6, 2014 at 3 p.m. in the Meagher Theatre of the Thomas A. Bruder, Jr. Life Center at Neumann University, Aston, Pa.

Theatre Rhinoceros presents The Habit of Art: A Very British Comedy by Alan Bennett (The History Boys) and directed by John Fisher. The production will only be in San Francisco for a limited engagement, opening tonight, March 27 and closing April 13.

Carnegie Hall's Benjamin Britten centenary celebration comes to an end on Wednesday, April 30 at 8:00 p.m., with Music Director Robert Spano leading the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus in a performance of Britten's masterful War Requiem in Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage. They are joined by a trio of eminent soloists-soprano Evelina Dobra?eva, tenor Anthony Dean Griffey, and baritone Stephen Powell-as well as the Brooklyn Youth Chorus. Written for the inauguration of Coventry's new cathedral in 1962, Britten's War Requiem is a deeply felt expression of the composer's pacifism. By juxtaposing Latin texts from the Mass for the Dead with shocking depictions of battle by British poet Wilfred Owen (who died in World War I), Britten created a gripping musical statement about man's inhumanity to man.

An always anticipated occasion for audience and orchestra alike, Conductor Laureate Ignat Solzhenitsyn returns to the Chamber Orchestra podium for a play/conduct program that will undoubtedly brim with the passion, panache and vivacity his concerts unfailingly deliver. The program features Haydn's famous 'Surprise' Symphony and two highly expressive works by Schumann and Britten.

Roger Wright, director of BBC Proms and controller of BBC Radio 3, plans to leave the BBC after 15 years for a job as chief executive of Aldeburgh Music. Wright has worked with the BBC for over 15 years, becoming Radio 3 controller in 1998 and taking over the Proms in 2007. Wright said that he was 'sorry to be leaving the BBC having enjoyed such a long and fulfilling period' there. Wright will join Aldeburgh Music in September, taking over from Jonathan Reekie. Aldeburgh Music is based at Snape Maltings in Suffolk. It organizes the annual Aldeburgh Festival, which was founded by Benjamin Britten. Wright stated he was 'honoured to have been invited to lead Aldeburgh Music at such an exciting time in its development.' Chairman of Aldeburgh Music, Simon Robey, said Wright would 'bring an exceptional breadth and depth of experience to all we do.' Members of the BBC responded to this news with BBC Radio director Helen Boaden calling Wright 'a unique and brilliant talent' who would be 'hugely' missed and BBC director general Tony Hall saying that Wright made a 'huge contribution to the BBC, through the success of both Radio 3 and seven seasons of the Proms'.