Burt Bacharach News

Nick Ziobro, the 17 year-old pop/jazz vocal sensation, will release his debut album A Lot of Livin' to Do on Tuesday, May 20. The new disc, produced by Michael Feinstein - the two-time Emmy and five-time Grammy Award-nominated vocalist, pianist and musicologist - and available through Titanium Entertainment, will be available in stores and digital outlets such as iTunes and Amazon.com. The album's debut single 'This Guy's In Love with You' is now available on iTunes.

Grammy nominated, Golden Globe 'Entertainer of the Year' and multi-platinum selling artist Engelbert Humperdinck will perform at Segerstrom Center for the Arts for one night only on Saturday, September 20 at 7:30 p.m. in Segerstrom Hall. The charismatic and consummate entertainer will please audiences and "Humperdinckers" alike with music from his vast catalogue, including hits such as "Quando, Quando, Quando," "Release Me," "The Last Waltz," "Spanish Eyes" and many more tender ballads. London Times calls him, "The premier voice of the 20th Century."

Pacific Symphony and Segerstrom Center for the Arts are coming together to present 'a madly original organist whose programs careen across centuries of musical history and sashay deep into our popular culture (music writer Alex Ross in his book, The Rest is Noise)'-rock star of the pipe organ, Cameron Carpenter. Still only in his early 30s, Carpenter is creating quite a stir in the press: 'Carpenter is one of the rare musicians who changes the game of his instrument,' wrote Mark Swed of the Los Angeles Times. 'He is a smasher of cultural and classical music taboos. He is technically the most accomplished organist I have ever witnessed... And, most important of all, the most musical.' The headline in the Wall Street Journal read:'Not Your Grandma's Organist,' followed by this description of Carpenter: 'Alternately dazzling and subtle, and always fired by a profound musical intelligence.' The maverick musician who is causing the music world to sit up and take notice is also the first organist ever nominated for a Grammy Award for a solo album. Perhaps The New York Times put it most succinctly when they simply called Carpenter 'extravagantly talented.'

Pacific Symphony and Segerstrom Center for the Arts are coming together to present rock star of the pipe organ, Cameron Carpenter. Still only in his early 30s, Carpenter is creating quite a stir in the press. The maverick musician who is causing the music world to sit up and take notice is also the first organist ever nominated for a Grammy Award for a solo album.

As he has been doing throughout Season XIII, new AMERICAN IDOL Executive Producer Per Blankens has again thrown a curveball of a theme at the Top-8. Instead of the well-warn 'Motown' and 'Burt Bacharach' Weeks, for the first time in IDOL history, the finalists all performed their initial audition songs.

The Off-Broadway League today announced nominations in 18 categories and one special award for the 2014 Lucille Lortel Awards for Outstanding Achievement Off-Broadway. The Lortel Awards will be handed out on Sunday, May 4, 2014 at NYU Skirball Center beginning at 7:00pm EST, and hosted by acclaimed husband and wife actors and comedians, Megan Mullally and Nick Offerman. This year's event will once again benefit The Actors Fund.

The New York Philharmonic and the Music Academy of the West have entered into a four-year partnership that will create unique and intensive opportunities for selected Music Academy Fellows to train with New York Philharmonic musicians and Music Director Alan Gilbert in Santa Barbara and New York. Alan Gilbert, the New York Philharmonic, its Assistant Conductors, and musicians will have a presence at the Music Academy Summer Festival for training and performances each summer for four years beginning in 2014, culminating in a joint concert with the New York Philharmonic and Academy Festival Orchestra celebrating the Music Academy's 70th anniversary in 2017.

TV star and Broadway vet Ariana Grande performed the classic Whitney Houston ballad 'I Have Nothing' at the White House for the Women of Soul event

At Joe's Pub at The Public has announced its upcoming indie/pop/rock offerings for March-May 2014. Check out full details below!

May and June sees some new artists and some returns at The Crazy Coqs, including: Harold Sanditen (May 2-3); Simon Green with David Shrubsole (May 6-10); Lauren Fox with Jon Weber (May 13 - 17); Gary Williams (May 20 -24); KT Sullivan and Mark Nadler (May 26-28); Opera Tottie (May 29 - 31); Bryan Batt (June 3 - 7); Judy Carmichael with Colin Oxley (June 10 -14); Elaine Delmar (June 17 - 21) and more. Details below!

Bucks County's newest entertainment venue is set to open on Friday, April 4 when Michael Moeller Productions begins a new, ongoing cabaret series. The Cabaret Room at Doylestown's Central Bucks Senior Center will feature a full schedule of cabaret performances and special events. Set for two performances, this inaugural show titled 'New Friends and Old Songs' will be on Friday, April 4 at 8 pm and Sunday, April 6 at 2 pm.

Broadway stars Ryan Silverman and Nikki Renee Daniels joined the Detroit Symphony Orchestra on Friday in its most recent pops program, 'The Cocktail Hour: Music of the Mad Men Era.' The program was created and conducted by Maestro Steven Reineke, Music Director of the New York Pops at Carnegie Hall, and Principal Pops Conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Performances run through March 16.

Kristin Chenoweth stopped by Conan last week on TBS and talked about bringing her boyfriend to meet her conservative Christian family in the south, and how the experience ended up a little '50 Shades of Grey'. Check out the clip below!

Classically-trained coloratura soprano Kristin Chenoweth stopped by last night's CONAN on TBS to gave host Conan O'Brien some tips on how to sing an aria.

As part of their 'In Performance at the White House' series, the President and First Lady will invite music legends and contemporary major female artists to the White House for a celebration of the great 'foremothers' of American music, with songs expressing the struggles and achievements of women. The program will include performances by Tessanne Chin, Melissa Etheridge, Aretha Franklin, Ariana Grande, Patti LaBelle, Janelle Monae and Jill Scott, with Greg Phillinganes as music director.

After more than 2,000 performances - 46 months/12 shows per week- actor/singer/dancer Eric Jordan Young has decided to leave Vegas! The Show. His last performance will be Wednesday, March 12.

Pacific Symphony and Segerstrom Center for the Arts are coming together to present rock star of the pipe organ, Cameron Carpenter. Still only in his early 30s, Carpenter is creating quite a stir in the press. The maverick musician who is causing the music world to sit up and take notice is also the first organist ever nominated for a Grammy Award for a solo album.

Pacific Symphony and Segerstrom Center for the Arts are coming together to present 'a madly original organist whose programs careen across centuries of musical history and sashay deep into our popular culture (music writer Alex Ross in his book, The Rest is Noise)'-rock star of the pipe organ, Cameron Carpenter. Still only in his early 30s, Carpenter is creating quite a stir in the press: 'Carpenter is one of the rare musicians who changes the game of his instrument,' wrote Mark Swed of the Los Angeles Times. 'He is a smasher of cultural and classical music taboos. He is technically the most accomplished organist I have ever witnessed... And, most important of all, the most musical.' The headline in the Wall Street Journal read:'Not Your Grandma's Organist,' followed by this description of Carpenter: 'Alternately dazzling and subtle, and always fired by a profound musical intelligence.' The maverick musician who is causing the music world to sit up and take notice is also the first organist ever nominated for a Grammy Award for a solo album. Perhaps The New York Times put it most succinctly when they simply called Carpenter 'extravagantly talented.'

WaterTower Theatre's 2014 Spotlight Gala will be held tonight, February 22, 2014 at 7 pm. The Gala is chaired by Barbara Daseke. The committee chairs are April Bosworth, Live and Silent Auction Chair; Derek Blount, Underwriting Chair and Corky Pledger, Cuisine Chair. The theme for this year's Gala is 'What the World Needs Now: A Tribute to Burt Bacharach.' Singer/Actress Liz Mikel will perform an evening of well-known Bacharach hits along with some very 'special friends.'

Actor, musician and writer Peter Gallagher makes his debut at the Annenberg Theater in Palm Springs with his one-man show, 'How'd All You People Get In My Room?,' tonight, February 22 at 8:00 pm. Gallagher will share real-life stories from his early days starting out as a young actor in New York, to working with legends like Jack Lemmon, Tom Stoppard, Mike Nichols, Robert Altman, Peter O'Toole and more. Joined by his band, Gallagher brings his experiences to life with songs ranging from Broadway, to music from the hit television show 'The OC,' to classics from Sammy Cahn, Jules Styne, Burt Bacharach and Van Morrison. Gallagher made his Broadway debut in 1977 as Danny Zuko in 'Grease'. He later starred as Sky Masterson in the 1992 Tony-Winning revival of 'Guys And Dolls' , as well as the musicals 'Pal Joey' and 'Annie Get Your Gun'. I had the chance to talk with Gallagher as he was preparing for his Palm Springs stint, Here are a few excerpts from that conversation.