Benjamin Britten News

With Music Director Peter Oundjian's tenth season in full swing, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra presents 24 concerts in October and November. The October performances range from Benjamin Britten's brilliant Violin Concerto performed by James Ehnes; to a special appearance by Rufus Wainwright, whom Elton John called the 'the greatest songwriter on the planet'; to a new performance experience featuring mesmerizing acrobats in Cirque de la Symphonie; to acclaimed Canadian pianist Janina Fialkowska performing the Piano Concerto by esteemed Polish composer, Witold Lutos?awski.

Peter Oundjian launches his tenth season as Music Director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, with a feast of rich and powerful music. Tonight and tomorrow, September 18 and 19, the inaugural concerts of the season will feature the first of several works by Benjamin Britten to be performed this season in honour of the reverEd English composer's centenary.

Birmingham Hippodrome has announced details of a spectacular new season of outstanding live entertainment. The 2013/14 season features a host of new productions, an outdoor event transforming the Southside district, and the return of a much-loved favourite with priority booking for Hippodrome Friends.

The School of Music presents Scena Shakespearean: Scenes by the Bard, directed by A. Scott Parry, on Friday, October 4, and Saturday, October 5, at 7:30 pm in Roy Bowen Theatre, Drake Performance and Event Center, 1849 Cannon Dr.

The full cast for To Sir With Love, joining the previously announced Olivier Award winning actor Matthew Kelly (Florian), is Mykola Allen (Denham), Harriet Ballard (Monica), Peta Cornish (Gillian), Kerron Darby (Seales), Ansu Kabia(Ricky), Paul Kemp (Weston), Heather Nicol (Pamela) and Nicola Reynolds(Clinty).

Burning Coal Theatre Company will open its 17th season with the U.S. Premiere of The Heretic, a rollicking comedy by Richard Bean. The production will run September 12 - 29, 2013 at the Murphey School, 224 Polk Street, Raleigh, NC. Performances are Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30 pm and Sundays at 2 pm. Sunday, September 15 at 2 pm is our 'Pay What You Can' Day. That performance will also be Audio Described. Tickets are $25, $20 for seniors (65+) and $15 for students and active military. All tickets are $15 on Thursday evenings. For reservations and information, please call 919-834-4001 or visit www.burningcoal.org. Don't forget our first Friday, 9/13, is our gala! Plenty of free food and drink before the show, plus chat with the cast in the lobby over cake and coffee after!

On Wednesday, October 23 at 8:00 p.m.,Orchestra of St. Luke's returns to Carnegie Hall's Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage for the first of three concerts this season. Following a successful debut last season as the orchestra's principal conductor, Pablo Heras-Casadoconducts Britten's Serenade for Tenor, Horn, and Strings as well as Mendelssohn's overture to A Midsummer Night's Dream and Shostakovich's Symphony No. 9 in E-flat Major.

Conductor James Conlon returns to the Metropolitan Opera to lead a revival of Benjamin Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream in commemoration of the 2013 Britten centenary, with six performances beginning Friday, October 11, 2013 at 7:30 p.m. The 1996 production by Tim Albery returns to the Met after ten years, and features a cast that includes Kathleen Kim as Tytania, Erin Wall as Helena, Elizabeth DeShong as Hermia, Iestyn Davis as Oberon, Joseph Kaiser as Lysander, Michael Todd Simpson as Demetrius, Matthew Rose as Bottom, and Riley Costello as Puck.

Burning Coal Theatre Company will open its 17th season with the U.S. Premiere of The Heretic by Richard Bean. The production will run tonight, September 12 - 29, 2013 at the Murphey School, 224 Polk Street, Raleigh, NC.

Los Angeles Children's Chorus (LACC) - led by Artistic Director Anne Tomlinson and acclaimed for its pure, agile, bel canto sound that has made it one of the most in-demand children's choirs in the county - announces its 2013-14 season, entitled "Legacies Unleashed," which spotlights the music of Benjamin Britten and the English choral tradition. The chorus also presents two world premieres and a broad range of other musical genres demanding remarkable vocal versatility and technical skill from LACC's accomplished young choristers, who range in age from 6 to 18.

Miro Magloire's New Chamber Ballet opened its 2013-14 season on September 6 & 7 with performances at City Center Studios in New York. It's a simple setting with no lighting, which adds to direct connection it has with the audience.

Anlasslich seines Frankfurter Liederabends prasentiert John Tomlinson, begleitet von David Owen Norris am Flugel, Lieder von Benjamin Britten, Hugo Wolf und Dmitri Schostakowitsch nach Gedichten von Michelangelo Buonarotti.

Evenings at Elder Hall presents three choirs in concert in 'Homage', a celebration of the centenary of Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976). Featuring Bella Voce, Timothy Marks Director; Adelaide Voices, Christie Anderson Director; and the Elder Conservatorium Chorale, Carl Crossin Director. The concert is set for Elder Hall, University of Adelaide at 6.30pm Saturday, 21 September 2013.

The St. Louis Symphony will mark the centennial of Benjamin Britten's birth with two concert performances of the composer's haunting opera Peter Grimes: first at Powell Hall on November 16, then at Carnegie Hall on November 22, the date of the late composer's 100th birthday.

In To Sir With Love, joining the previously announced Olivier Award winning actor Matthew Kelly (Florian), are Mykola Allen (Denham), Harriet Ballard (Monica), Peta Cornish (Gillian), Kerron Darby (Seales), Ansu Kabia (Ricky),Paul Kemp (Weston), Heather Nicol (Pamela) and Nicola Reynolds (Clinty).

Hailing from Alaska, America's 'last frontier,' the thrilling mezzo-soprano Vivica Genaux continues to earn accolades from audiences and critics alike for her enthralling performances on the world's greatest stages, praise focusing on both the unique beauty of her voice and the astounding brilliance of her technique, which combine to create unforgettable portraits of some of the most engaging characters in opera. Consistently lauded as one of the pre-eminent interpreters of Baroque and bel canto music, she continues to explore new avenues in these repertories.

The Metropolitan Opera and Le Poisson Rouge announced details for "An Evening of Britten and Muhly," two concerts at Le Poisson Rouge on Thursday, October 17 at 7:30 p.m. and 10 p.m. Metropolitan Opera stars Patricia Racette, Kathleen Kim, and Iestyn Davies will perform at the event. Composer Nico Muhly will host and perform on piano.

Trinity Wall Street will launch its 2013-14 season with 'Celebrating Britten' - a September to January festival devoted to the music of Benjamin Brittenin honor of this year's centenary of the composer's birth. Much of the festival will be part of Concerts at One, Trinity Wall Street's long-running series of free concerts on Thursday afternoons. 'Celebrating Britten' will explore the great British composer's orchestral, vocal and chamber works in performances by the Choir of Trinity Wall Street, Trinity Youth Chorus and NOVUS NY led by Grammy Award-nominated music director Julian Wachner, with guest artists including tenor Nicholas Phan, chamber ensemble Decoda and the piano duo of Grace Cho & Alejandro Hernandez-Valdez, among others. Many of the concerts will present Britten's music alongside that of contemporaries such as Berg, Gershwin, Rachmaninoff and Poulenc. Star cellist Matt Haimovitz will perform two recitals as part of the festival, on October 17 and November 21, contextualizing two of Britten's suites for solo cello with solo works by later composers including Ligeti, John Tavener and Jennifer Higdon. In addition to 'Celebrating Britten' events as part of Concerts at One, there will be special Britten festival concerts on November 18 (the Choir of Trinity Wall Street in Britten's Sacred and Profane and other choral works) and December 9 (cellistElinor Frey playing Bach and Britten, on both Baroque and modern cello). And holiday-themed works by Britten will be performed as part of Trinity's Twelfth Night Festival, including the ever-popular Ceremony of Carols (Dec 26) and St. Nicolas (Jan 5). See below for a complete list of 'Celebrating Britten' concert dates and programs.

Carnegie Hall's Weill Music Institute (WMI) kicks off the 2013-2014 season with live performances at community venues throughout the five boroughs of New York City with its free Neighborhood Concerts. For almost four decades, Carnegie Hall has presented an outstanding series of concerts featuring top notch artists across multiple genres including jazz, world music, classical, and more. In addition, WMI presents a number of free family-friendly programs throughout New York City as part of the Carnegie Kids series.

Peter Oundjian launches his tenth season as Music Director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, with a feast of rich and powerful music. On September 18 and 19, the inaugural concerts of the season will feature the first of several works by Benjamin Britten to be performed this season in honour of the revered English composer's centenary.