Benjamin Britten News

The University of Maryland Symphony Orchestra (UMSO) brings Benjamin Britten's Les Illuminations, Op. 18 to life tonight, March 9 at 8pm in the Clarice Smith Center's Dekelboum Concert Hall.

The Church of the Transfiguration ('The Little Church Around the Corner') presents Curlew River in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Benjamin Britten. This will be a fully staged and costumed production of Britten's chamber opera about a Madwoman searching for her son, who was kidnapped and brutally murdered, as performed by Medieval monks.

The Killer Bs will perform at Roswell UMC (814 Mimosa Blvd, Roswell, GA) on March 10 at 3:00 PM, featuring Michael O'Neal, conductor, John LaForge, associate conductor, and Tom Alderman, principal accompanist.

On Saturday, April 6 at 9:00 p.m. in Zankel Hall, the innovative contemporary chamber ensemble Alarm Will Sound gives the world premiere of Fly By Wire by former Battles singer and guitarist, composer Tyondai Braxton, a work commissioned by Carnegie Hall. Artistic Director Alan Pierson conducts the program of music written expressly for Alarm Will Sound, which also includes New York premieres by Charles Wuorinen and John Orfe-the ensemble's pianist- as well as Dublin-based composer Donnacha Dennehy, whose scenes from The Hunger will be performed with mezzo-soprano soloist Rachel Calloway. David Lang's 2002 work, increase, completes the program.

Houston Chamber Choir presents What Sweeter Music with special guest, noted English conductor Simon Carrington, tonight, March 2, 7:30pm at The Church of St. John the Divine (2450 River Oaks Blvd., Houston, TX) and Sunday, March 3 at 4:00 pm at the Imperial Arts, Center for the Arts (823 3rd Street, Rosenberg, TX). The Chamber Choir and Simon Carrington offer a sampling of British a cappella music that includes works by Benjamin Britten, Bob Chilcott, James MacMillan and Pete Townshend of The Who.

Music Director Marin Alsop and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO) announce the Orchestra's 2013-2014 season, its seventh under the direction of Maestra Alsop.

59E59 Theaters will welcome the US premiere of THE GIRL I LEFT BEHIND ME, written by Neil Bartlett and Jessica Walker, and directed by Mr. Bartlett to Brits Off Broadway. THE GIRL I LEFT BEHIND ME begins performances on Tuesday, April 30 for a limited engagement through Sunday, May 19. Press opening is Sunday, May 5 at 7:30 PM. The performance schedule is Tuesday - Thursday at 7:30 PM; Friday at 8:30 PM; Saturday at 2:30 PM & 8:30 PM; and Sunday at 3:30 PM & 7:30 PM. Performances are at 59E59 Theaters (59 East 59th Street, between Park and Madison Avenues). Tickets are $25 ($17.50 for 59E59 Members). To purchase tickets, call Ticket Central at (212) 279-4200 or go to www.59e59.org.

The Metropolitan Opera's 2013-14 season will feature many of the world's greatest singers, conductors, and theater artists in 26 operas, including six new productions, of a varied repertory that ranges from the Baroque era to the 21st century. Met Music Director James Levine will return to the Met podium for the first time in two years, conducting three operas with which he has long been associated: a new production of Verdi's final masterpiece Falstaff, Mozart's Cosi fan tutte, and Berg's Wozzeck. Met Principal Conductor Fabio Luisi will be conducting two operas in the 2013-14 season, Rossini's La Cenerentola and Puccini's Madama Butterfly.

The Metropolitan Opera's 2013-14 season will feature many of the world's greatest singers, conductors, and theater artists in 26 operas, including six new productions, of a varied repertory that ranges from the Baroque era to the 21st century. Met Music Director James Levine will return to the Met podium for the first time in two years, conducting three operas with which he has long been associated: a new production of Verdi's final masterpiece Falstaff, Mozart's Cosi fan tutte, and Berg's Wozzeck. Met Principal Conductor Fabio Luisi will be conducting two operas in the 2013-14 season, Rossini's La Cenerentola and Puccini's Madama Butterfly.

The Metropolitan Opera's 2013-14 season will feature many of the world's greatest singers, conductors, and theater artists in 26 operas, including six new productions, of a varied repertory that ranges from the Baroque era to the 21st century. Met Music Director James Levine will return to the Met podium for the first time in two years, conducting three operas with which he has long been associated: a new production of Verdi's final masterpiece Falstaff, Mozart's Cosi fan tutte, and Berg's Wozzeck. Met Principal Conductor Fabio Luisi will be conducting two operas in the 2013-14 season, Rossini's La Cenerentola and Puccini's Madama Butterfly.

Conductor James Conlon will continue his three-year celebration of the music of composer Benjamin Britten throughout the remainder of the 2012-13 season and during the 2013-14 season with performances encompassing opera, orchestra and choral works including spearheading LA Opera's year-long, city-wide Britten 100/LA: A Celebration festival and returning to The Metropolitan Opera in October 2013 to conduct A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Houston Chamber Choir presents What Sweeter Music with special guest, noted English conductor Simon Carrington, Saturday, March 2, 7:30pm at The Church of St. John the Divine (2450 River Oaks Blvd., Houston, TX) and Sunday, March 3 at 4:00 pm at the Imperial Arts, Center for the Arts (823 3rd Street, Rosenberg, TX). What Sweeter Music spans five centuries of British a cappella repertoire, from Lamentations of Jeremiah by Elizabethan composer Robert White, to Pete Townshend's Pinball Wizard from The Who's 1969 rock opera Tommy. Additional works include Bob Chilcott's (fellow former member of The King's Singers) Weather Report, and Benjamin Britten's settings of seven poems by Gerard Manley Hopkins, A.M.D.G (Ad majorem Dei gloriam).

Placido Domingo, LA Opera's Eli and Edythe Broad General Director, announced today that James Conlon, the Company's Richard Seaver Music Director, has extended his contract with LA Opera through the end of the 2017/2018 season. "James has had an incredible impact on the artistic quality of LA Opera performances," said Mr. Domingo. "Since his arrival, he has conducted more than half of our mainstage performances, inspiring performers and audiences alike through his extraordinary talents. His vision for the company's future, like mine, is one of great ambition and optimism. We have so many exciting plans for LA Opera's seasons to come, and I am greatly looking forward to continuing our work together."

Philadelphia Orchestra Music Director Yannick Nezet-Seguin and President and CEO Allison Vulgamore today announce the 2013-14 season of The Philadelphia Orchestra.

The Opera Institute at Boston University will present 'Owen Wingrave' with Nickoli Strommer starring in the title role. The production opens on February 21 through February 24. Click below for rehersal photos!

The Church of the Transfiguration ('The Little Church Around the Corner') presents Curlew River in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Benjamin Britten. This will be a fully staged and costumed production of Britten's chamber opera about a Madwoman searching for her son, who was kidnapped and brutally murdered, as performed by Medieval monks.

The University of Maryland Symphony Orchestra (UMSO) brings Benjamin Britten's Les Illuminations, Op. 18 to life on March 9 at 8pm in the Clarice Smith Center's Dekelboum Concert Hall.

Music Director Thierry Fischer, Principal Pops Conductor Jerry Steichen and Associate Conductor Vladimir Kulenovic today announced the Utah Symphony's complete 2013-2014 season, in which Fischer will again conduct 12 of the 18 Masterworks performances.

On Tuesday, February 26, the debut recording of David T. Little's 'sharp, elegantly bristling' opera-theatre piece, Soldier Songs (2006), which recently completed a wildly successful NYC premiere run on the inaugural PROTOTYPE festival, is released on audio CD from Innova Recordings, produced by Lawson White. The recording receives its digital release on iTunes and Amazon today, February 5, 2013.

New York City Opera concludes its spring 2013 BAM residency and celebrates the centennial of composer Benjamin Britten (1913-1976) with a brand-new production of Britten's chamber opera The Turn of the Screw (1954). Based on the classic ghost story by Henry James, the opera's libretto is by Myfanwy Piper. The production, conducted by Jayce Ogren, marks the opera debut of Sam Buntrock, the theater director best known for his award-winning staging of Sunday in the Park with George in the West End and on Broadway.