Benjamin Britten News

The centenary of British composer Benjamin Britten (1913-1976) has been observed around the world by musicians and institutions of every kind. Music Director James Conlon, whose lifelong fascination with Britten is reflected in his personal three-year performance cycle of the composer's works in America and Europe, is the inspiration for LA Opera's Britten 100/LA: A Celebration, an extensive collaboration featuring performances, conferences and exhibitions presented by a host of organizations throughout the Southland.

On Wednesday, January 15, 2014, Michele Wiles presented the second evening of performances of her new company, Ballet Next, at NYLA.

Never before have classical and rock converged in so organic, compelling and sensual a way as they do in the three short orchestral works by New York composer and guitarist Bryce Dessner on his new release St. Carolyn by the Sea

Emerging operatic powerhouse Paul Appleby, one of this generation's most incredible new tenors, will take the stage at the Michael Schimmel Center For the Arts on Sunday, January 26th as part of Pace's concert series VOCE AT PACE: RISING OPERA STARS. Rising Opera Stars in Recital is supported by the Richard Tucker Music Foundation in honor of Dr. Agnes Varis. It is curated by Matthew Epstein.

Das National Theatre London feiert derzeit seinen 50. Geburtstag und zeigt zum Beginn des neuen Jahres einige Produktionen von National Theatre Live als Encore noch einmal

The School of Music presents faculty artist C. Andrew Blosser, tenor, in concert Monday, February 3, at 8 pm in Weigel Hall Auditorium, 1866 College Rd. Alumnus Jiung Yoon, (DMA), and I-Chen Yeh, piano faculty, Bowling Green State University and Oakland University, Michigan, will perform a concert Wednesday, February 5, at 6 pm in Weigel Hall Auditorium, 1866 College Rd.

General Director Plácido Domingo announced LA Opera's 2014/15 season, created in collaboration with Music Director James Conlon and President and CEO Christopher Koelsch. The upcoming season will include six mainstage productions, with 41 performances at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. Additional performances will take place in other venues through an expansion of the Company's Off Grand initiative. The season will open on September 13, 2014, and will run through June 14, 2015.

General Director Plácido Domingo announced LA Opera's 2014/15 season, created in collaboration with Music Director James Conlon and President and CEO Christopher Koelsch. The upcoming season will include six mainstage productions, with 41 performances at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. Additional performances will take place in other venues through an expansion of the Company's Off Grand initiative. The season will open on September 13, 2014, and will run through June 14, 2015.

An Actors Touring Company, Young Vic Theatre, Brageteatret & Schauspielhaus Wien Co-Production, THE EVENTS by David Greig, is set for a UK and US tour and Young Vic return in 2014, directed by Ramin Gray and featuring music composed by John Browne.

Critics have called her 'the ideal Carmen of our time' and 'one of the leading singer-actresses of her generation.' The New York Times called her 'naturally seductive and vocally alluring.' But this down-to-earth southern girl prefers the moniker: The Dixie Diva!

The Grammy Award-winning chamber orchestra Kremerata Baltica, led by renowned violinist and Artistic Director Gidon Kremer, returns to the Harris Theater for Music and Dance on Friday, February 7, 2014 at 7:30PM, performing works by Benjamin Britten, Mieczyslaw Weinberg, and Dmitri Shostakovich, including Shostakovich's provocative and seldom-heard comic opera Antiformalist Rayok, featuring Moscow State Chamber Musical Theatre principal soloist and acclaimed bass vocalist Alexei Mochalov.

Houston Grand Opera is proudly presenting the US Premiere of Mieczyslaw Weinberg and Alexander Medvedv's 1968 opera THE PASSENGER. After the Second World War, a German couple, Lisa and Walter, are sailing to Brazil. Lisa, unbeknownst to her husband, was a camp guard at Auschwitz and feels she recognizes a former Polish inmate, Marta. In anticipation of opening night, Melody Moore, who plays Marta, spoke with me about Houston Grand Opera's production of THE PASSENGER and her career.

For DIRECTOR'S CHOICE, the fourth program of Pacific Northwest Ballet's 2013-2014 season, Artistic Director Peter Boal selects from his roster of acquisitions and increases them by one: The captivating mixed-bill program will feature a much-anticipated world premiere by Alejandro Cerrudo, resident choreographer of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. The program also reprises audience favorites TAKE FIVE…More or Less, Broadway-darling Susan Stroman's sunny slice of jazz-infused Dave Brubeck fun; and Susan Marshall's distinctive aerial duet, Kiss. Rounding out the lineup is Molissa Fenley's State of Darkness, a tour-de-force solo performance set to Stravinsky's riot-inducing The Rite of Spring. DIRECTOR'S CHOICE runs for seven performances only, March 14-23, 2014 at Seattle Center's Marion Oliver McCaw Hall. Tickets start at just $28 and may be purchased by calling the PNB Box Office at206.441.2424, online at PNB.org, or in person at the PNB Box Office, 301 Mercer Street.

Perhaps the greatest disservice ever done to English music was its dismissal by the modernist composer Elizabeth Lutyens as "cowpat music". That statement was a hangover of a common perception from the late nineteenth and early twentieth century that, despite the country's power and reputation, it wasn't actually very good at producing interesting music. But World War One marked the beginning of a new explosion of creative energy, one that saw exciting modern composers pour into England's concert halls, reaching across the sea to America, even to Hollywood. "This England" from Leon Botstein and the American Symphony Orchestra brings this England to Carnegie Hall.

American Symphony Orchestra bring an English "creative explosion" (and a musical volcano) to Carnegie Hall. Leon Botstein leads "This England" - four works that helped to change the game for English music, and for the rest of us, on January 31 at 8pm.

Thursday, January 30, 2014, 8pm -Texas Performing Arts at The University of Texas at Austin presents The Jasper String Quartet at McCullough Theatre (2375 Robert Dedman Dr) A map of the campus:texasperformingarts.org/visit/maps_directions. Tickets ($32 / Limited $10 student tickets / discounted tickets available for UT faculty & staff, seniors and Military) are on sale now at authorized ticket outlets, which include the Bass Concert Hall Ticket Office and all Texas Box Office outlets, online at TexasPerformingArts.org, or by calling (512) 477-6060 or (800) 982-BEVO.

Following the record-breaking attendance of Festival 2013, Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival announces the 2014 Festival schedule. Jacob's Pillow is a National Historic Landmark, home to America's longest-running dance festival, and a recipient of the National Medal of Arts. Noted dance writer Jennifer Dunning has called the Pillow "the dance center of the nation, possibly the world."

The Dallas Opera has announced that, through the generosity of The Titus Family, a brand-new recital series has been created to showcase well-established singers in programs dedicated to preserving the fine art of “art song.” The series launch will take place tonight, January 4, 2014 in Dallas City Performance Hall (2520 Flora Street, Dallas) at 7:30 p.m.

Minnesota Opera has published its first annual report in video for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2013. To watch the video, which highlights the company's 2012-2013 season, visit mnop.co/annual-report.

Chicago Shakespeare Theater (CST) collaborates with The Chicago Chamber Musicians (CCM) for their 13th annual family concert, presenting Fairy Tales by William Bolcom on Saturday, January 18 and Sunday, January 19, 2014, 10:00 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. in Chicago Shakespeare Theater's Courtyard Theater on Navy Pier. The one-hour concert introduces families and children ages four and up to the joys of live performance as CST actors imaginatively retell classic fairy tales accompanied by music played by CCM ensemble members. Fairy Tales is directed by Scott Weinstein.