Benjamin Britten News

Multi-instrumentalist Koloto has released her EP IOA on March 20th via Interstellar Music Ltd. Featured on the EP is 'IOA (Part One)' which premiered via COMPLEX Magazine. The producer's debut album Mechanica was released with remixes from the likes of CloZee and Sun Glitters. Koloto has been featured on XLR8R, Indie Shuffle, Data Transmission and Stereofox with international radio play from BBC Radio 1's Huw Stephens, BBC Radio 6's Tom Robinson, ABC National and France Inter. The songstress has received over 6 million plays across streaming platforms with features of Ines, DLoaw, and Perles de Musique contributing towards that count. Her single 'Fox Tales' was released on Bad Panda Records and reached number 2 on Hype Machine while 'Life in Clay' was featured on Ryan Hemsworth's 'Secret Songs' while the music video for 'Fay' by Sabine Volkert is handpicked by Vimeo as one of their 'Staff Picks' and has since been nominated for several film festival awards. Continuing in the world of film, the artist composed the original soundtrack for Douglas Burgdorf's independent film 'Damsel'. She has previously played and toured with a succession of bands including Delta Sleep.

In light of the most recent government advice due to COVID-19, The Original Theatre Company's production of Alan Bennett's THE HABIT OF ART, which was due to open at Devonshire Park Theatre, Eastbourne on Wednesday 18 March 2020, will now perform a closed filmed performance on Wednesday 18 March 2020 at 2pm.

Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts today announced its 2020 Mostly Mozart Festival, running from July 14 through August 8. Maintaining Mozart's innovative spirit as its inspiration, the festival magnifies its impact through groundbreaking immersive works, commissions, premieres, international multidisciplinary productions, and more.

The great composers from Bach, Beethoven and Brahms to Mozart, Mendelssohn and Mahler all wrote music for singers and symphony orchestra together. The unsung heroes of classical music today are the all-volunteer choruses who join orchestras to perform the great works of classical music.

British guest conductor Bramwell Tovey led the San Diego Symphony Orchestra in authoritative performances of William Walton's Crown Imperial (Coronation March), Benjamin Britten's Violin Concerto and the Enigma Variations of Edward Elgar. Britannia indeed ruled on this night! In 1936 Walton was asked to write a ceremonial march for the coronation of King Edward VIII. And did he ever! Tovey pulled out all the stops (no pun intended) when a roaring organ joined pounding percussion, crashing cymbals and blaring brass in the work's thrilling climaxes, though the sound became a bit muddy with organ at full-blast.

Richard Alston is a man who doesn't need reviews any more. With a choreographic career spanning over fifty years (“entirely lacking any strategic plan” by his own admission), there is not much that hasn't been said. Alston is also adamant that this Final Edition is a celebration and not a funeral but there are moments in his generous mixed bill that feel heavily bittersweet. With the company closing after 25 years due to funding restrictions, Alston's work could always be guaranteed to bring quality additions to the dance calendar and its absence will be sorely felt.

Seven Last Words from the Cross is James MacMillan's setting of the dying words of Jesus Christ. Commissioned in 1994 by the BBC, SE gave the premiere performance of the work on live television across the seven consecutive nights of Easter Week that year. More than two decades later SE revisits the piece in its 50th anniversary year in collaboration with another leading Scottish group, Dunedin Consort, in Inverness, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee and London. The tour is supported by Resonate, a PRS Foundation initiative in partnership with Association of British Orchestras, BBC Radio 3 and Boltini Trust.

D.C.-area dance enthusiasts have the opportunity to witness some of the most exquisite dance works from across the world this spring at the Mason Dance Company's 2020 Gala Concerts.

Pacific Opera Victoria has announced the biggest, boldest season in its 40-year history, including main stage company premières of Wagner's Die Walküre and Britten's Death in Venice and a new production of Mozart's Don Giovanni.   All performances take place at the Royal Theatre, 805 Broughton Street, Victoria, BC.

One of the nation's most adventurous opera companies, Odyssey Opera, continues its Tudor-inspired season with the fully-staged production of Elisabetta, Regina d'Inghilterra (1815) by Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868). With a libretto by Giovanni Schmidtfrom the play The Page of Leicester by Carlo Federici,this two-act Italian opera contrasts the public and private spheres of Queen Elizabeth I. This seldom-heard work by one of opera's most beloved composers is the first of the nine Rossini Neapolitan operas. Gil Rose conducts with the soprano Serena Farnocchia as Elizabeth making her Boston debut.

New Diorama Theatre has announced the programme for Brits Off Broadway this spring, hosting the finest Off West End theatre on American soil. This festival is co-curated with New York's 59E59 and takes place at the Drama Desk Award-winning Midtown theatre from Tuesday 14 April to Sunday 28 June.

Violinist ANDREY BARANOV'S appearance at IIMF cannot be a better inspiration for young talents attending the festival. Andrey Baranov was winner of the Queen Elisabeth Violin Competition 2012, Benjamin Britten and Henri Marteau International Violin Competitions, and a prizewinner of more than twenty other international competitions including Indianapolis, Seoul, Sendai, Liana Isakadze, David Oistrakh, Paganini (Moscow) international competitions. Mr Baranov will join pianist Alexei Volodin and cellist Misha Quint in a concert featuring the Schubert B-flat Major Trio and Ravel Piano Trio. More info can be found at www.interharmony.com

Svend McEwan-Brown has announced his 16th East Neuk Festival, unveiling an imaginative and wide-ranging programme which runs from Wednesday 1 July a?" Sunday 5 July 2020.

New Amsterdam Singers (NAS), led by Music Director Clara Longstreth, will present Through the Seasons, featuring Robert Paterson's 'I Go Among Trees' - a World Premiere commissioned by NAS in honor of its 50th anniversary. The three-movement work by the New York-based award-winning composer is written for chorus and marimba on texts by Wendell Berry, May Sarton, and John Freeman; Makoto Nakura is the marimba soloist. The concert will be performed twice: Friday, March 20, 2020, at 8:00 pm at Broadway Presbyterian Church, Broadway at 114th Street, and Sunday, March 22, 2020, at 4:00 pm at The Theater of St. Jean Baptiste, 184 East 76th St.

Houston Ballet Artistic Director, Stanton Welch AM, has announced the company's lively 2020-2021 season. Houston Ballet, continuing to paint the town gold this season, will embrace the next chapter and decade in vivid color this fall.

This February, six exceptionally talented young artists from the world-renowned Kronberg Academy in Germany travel to New York City to make their Carnegie Hall debut over four concerts in Weill Recital Hall and Zankel Hall. Current students - violinist Stephen Waarts, cellist Jonathan Roozeman, and pianists Jean-Sélim Abdelmoula and Mishka Rushdie Momen - along with alumni violinist Marc Bouchkov and violist Matthew Lipman present a wide range of repertoire in programs that reflect the individuality and artistry honed during their studies at the prestigious Academy. In two matinee programs, these musicians perform alongside Kronberg Academy faculty members and acclaimed soloists - violist Antoine Tamestit and cellist Gary Hoffman - while in two evening programs the students and alumni showcase solo and chamber works.

Leading the vanguard of Boston's classical music scene, the Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP) and Odyssey Opera present the world premiere of The Chronicle of Nine: The Tragedy of Lady Jane by the late American composer Arnold Rosner (1945-2013). A semi-staged, English-language production led by conductor Gil Rose,The Chronicle of Nine unites Odyssey Opera (one of the nation's most innovative opera companies), BMOP(the nation's premier orchestra dedicated exclusively to commissioning, performing, and recording new orchestral music), and internationally renowned singers including soprano Megan Pachecano playing the lead role of Lady Jane Grey. This marks the third of six productions of Odyssey Opera'sseason-long exploration of operatic works inspired by the great English dynasty of the 16th century:the Tudors.

Leading the vanguard of Boston's classical music scene, the Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP) and Odyssey Opera present the world premiere of The Chronicle of Nine: The Tragedy of Lady Janeby the late American composer Arnold Rosner (1945-2013). A semi-staged, English-language production led by conductor Gil Rose,The Chronicle of Nineunites Odyssey Opera (one of the nation's most innovative opera companies), BMOP(the nation's premier orchestra dedicated exclusively to commissioning, performing, and recording new orchestral music), andinternationally renowned singers including soprano Megan Pachecanoplaying the lead role of Lady Jane Grey. This marks the third of six productions of Odyssey Opera'sseason-long exploration of operatic works inspired by the great English dynasty of the 16th century:the Tudors.

Soka Performing Arts Center presents internationally-acclaimed pianist Murray Perahia in a solo piano recital on Saturday, March 7, 2020 at 8pm. Program: TBD. With his performances described as revelatory, Perahia has remained a consistent and dominating presence in the classical world for over four decades, procuring his place amongst the greats with meticulous technique and scrupulous musicianship. The virtuoso pianist is widely known for his affinity for the Classical and early Romantic repertoire, including Mozart and Bach.

Long Beach Opera presents a new production of Purcell's King Arthur --- a collaboration with Chicano provocateurs CULTURE CLASH and the authentic sounds of LA 's premiere Baroque orchestra MUSICA ANGELICA -- in January 2020 for only three performances at Long Beach's Beverly O'Neill Theatre.  Performances are Sunday January 12, Saturday January 18 and Sunday, January 19.