Billy Strayhorn News

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts hosts its 18th annual Page-to-Stage New Play Festival from Saturday, August 30, 2019 through Monday, September 2, 2019. The festival is a free three-day celebration of local playwrights featuring more than 65 theater companies from the D.C. metropolitan area. Theaters and artists participating in Page-to-Stage present open rehearsals, concert readings, and workshops of new plays that are still in the development phase.

NEW YORK FESTIVAL OF SONG has announced the lineup for its 2019-20 Season.

Birdland will kick-off their great week of programming with the following acts:

Birdland will kick-off their exciting month of programming with John Pizzarelli: A Tribute to Benny Goodman, Dee Dee Bridgewater, David Matthews Trio, The Count Basie Orchestra, Charlie Parker Birthday Celebration, Chris Byars Original Sextet, Nicki Parrott, Gunhild Carling, Ken Peplowski and Diego Figueiredo, Birdography: Celebrating Charlie Parker, Lorin Cohen, Sam Behr, Laila Biali, Carole J. Bufford, The Lineup with Susie Mosher, Jim Caruso's Cast Party, and more!

Birdland Jazz Club announces July 2019 Schedule featuring Veronica Swift with the Emmet Cohen Trio, Freddy Cole Quartet, Steve Smith's Groove Blue Organ Trio, John Pizzarelli: Two-week engagement, Nancy Kelly, Konrad Paszkudzki and Pasquale Grasso, Lew Tabackin Trio, Michael Wolff Trio, Laura Osnes, Alyssa Allgood Quartet, Ladybugs, The Lineup with Susie Mosher, Jim Caruso's Cast Party, and more.

This July, Carnegie Hall will bring together more than 200 of the finest teen musicians from across the country to perform as part of its three acclaimed national youth ensembles: the National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America (NYO-USA), NYO2, and NYO Jazz. All three ensembles will take part in an intensive training residency at Purchase College, SUNY before performing at Carnegie Hall and embarking on tours across the country and around the world, serving as America's dynamic musical ambassadors. In total, 222 musicians will take part in this year's program, representing 39 US states plus Puerto Rico.

Reservoir announces the signing of multi-Platinum-selling rapper A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie to a worldwide publishing deal. The deal includes A Boogie's entire catalog of works, including his #1 Billboard 200 album Hoodie SZN, plus future works.

Award-winning vocalist joins pianist Sean Gough in new collaboration (New York) Award-winning vocalist Celia Berk returns to Birdland Theater on Tuesday, July 9, 2019 at 7pm. COMES LOVE is her new collaboration with pianist Sean Gough.

Reservoir announces the signing of multi-Platinum-selling songwriter and pop recording artist RuthAnne to a worldwide publishing deal. The deal includes titles from RuthAnne's catalog of hits, plus future works.  

The NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission has calendared six New York City sites for possible landmark designation based on their cultural significance to LGBT and American history. The expert research and ongoing advocacy of the NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project contributed significantly to the selection of these important place-based historic sites.

VIVIAN REED will debut her new show "Little Bit of Soul, Little Bit of Pop" at The Green Room 42 on Saturday, June 15 at 7:00 PM. Reed is back to display her rare vocal ability to powerfully deliver songs in a variety of genres. The evening is packed with her unique arrangements of well-known music from an eclectic group of songwriters, such as Lionel Richie, Steve Winwood, Brenda Russell, Alan Jay Lerner, and Stevie Wonder. Her energy and passion are accompanied by conductor James Davis on piano, leading an all-star quintet.

The DC Jazz Festival (DCJF) is pleased to announce the sizzling schedule for Jazz in the 'Hoods Presented by Events DC, an essential component of the DC JazzFest, celebrating its 15th anniversary, June 7-16. Spotlighting the District as a vibrant cultural capital, Jazz in the 'Hoods brings a stunning array of music - from the traditional to the avant garde - in all quadrants of the nation's capital, with performances at more than 20 neighborhood venues. 

The nationally-recognized Shakespeare in the Streets program will highlight the stories of not just one community, but two - Normandy, Missouri and Brussels, Illinois -- for Shakespeare Festival St. Louis' first urban-rural exchange Sept. 12-14. The performances will be inspired by the Bard's play, "As You Like It."

Silence Presents: Otterville on Saturday, April 20 at 8pm at Silence, 46 Essex Street, Guelph http://www.silencesounds.ca/Tickets $15, available at Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/silence-presents-otterville-tickets-58316396913.

The life and times of African-American jazz composer Billy Strayhorn will be examined in choreographer David Rousseve's Halfway to Dawn performance Sat, Apr 13 at Northrop. Written, choreographed, and directed by Rousseve and performed by his company, REALITY, this vibrant dance-theatre work shines light on the many aspects of Strayhorn, who worked as a collaborative arranger/writing partner to Duke Ellington and was instrumental to the creation of a vastly important body of work in American music history. Rousseve explores the contrast between the half-hidden quality of Strayhorn's public career and his private existence as an openly gay man.

Five Boroughs Music Festival (5BMF) presents Les Delices in their new program, Songs Without Words, in two concerts:

A frequent creative fixture of Los Angeles Theatre, as well as, in theatre communities nationwide; Gilbert Glenn Brown will next be sharing his acting acumen and gravitas on the Garry Marshall Theatre stage reprising his role of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. in Katori Hall's Olivier Award-winning THE MOUNTAINTOP, beginning February 6, 2019. I managed to catch Gilbert for a few moments between juggling his many acting commitments to answer a few of my queries.

First Run Features is pleased to announce that Joseph Pulitzer: Voice of the Peoplewill open at the Quad Cinema in New York on March 1 and in Los Angeles at the Laemmle Theaters on March 8 after sold out festival screenings in New York, Washington and across the country. At a time of daily attacks on the news media with claims of fake news; and at a time when journalism is being suppressed around the world, Joseph Pulitzer's words and his story resonate more deeply than ever.

The John F. Kennedy Center announces the full lineup for DIRECT CURRENT, its two-week celebration of contemporary culture, which returns for a second season this spring (March 24-April 7).