Count Basie News

Grammy-winning violinist Hilary Hahn joins the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra for Brahms' Violin Concerto on a program that also features Stravinsky's The Firebird Suite (1945) and Salonen's Giro today, March 13-16 in Newark, Princeton and Morristown.

On Today, March 13, the Houston Symphony will continue its legendary centennial celebration by performing alongside one of the leading figures in the recording industry, Steve Tyrell. Under the leadership of Houston Symphony Associate Conductor Robert Franz, Tyrell and the orchestra will perform American standards like 'You're So Nice to Come Home To,' 'The Way You Look Tonight' and 'I Get a Kick Out of You,' to name just a few. The Grammy Award-winning Tyrell will also invite his friends Diane Schuur, Judith Hill and Lew Soloff to the stage to share the evening with him as he sings the night away to timeless classics in this one-night only special performance.

Smokey Joe's Cafe-The Songs of Leiber and Stoller transports audiences to the golden age of rock, rhythm and blues this spring at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater. Director Randy Johnson returns to Arena Stage following the success of A Night with Janis Joplin (which enjoyed two runs at Arena Stage followed by a subsequent run on Broadway) to helm this Grammy Award-winning tribute to legendary songwriting duo Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, which originally opened on Broadway in 1995 and became the longest running musical revue, topping 2,000 performances. Bursting with hit tunes including 'Hound Dog,' 'Jailhouse Rock,' 'Stand by Me,' 'Love Potion #9' and 'On Broadway,' Smokey Joe's Cafe showcases choreography by Parker Esse (Arena Stage's The Music Man, Oklahoma!) and music direction by Victor Simonson (Center Stage's A Civil War Christmas, Arena Stage's 3 Mo' Divas) and runs April 25-June 8, 2014 in the Fichandler Stage.

The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra announces the NJSO Edward T. Cone Composition Institute, a multi-faceted program that promotes new music and emerging composers, presented in collaboration with the Princeton University Department of Music and generously funded in part by the Edward T. Cone Foundation. The Institute will select up to four composers to participate in five days of intense compositional evaluations and consultations July 15-19 on the Princeton University campus; the program will culminate in a live concert performance of the participants' works by the NJSO and Music Director Jacques Lacombe on July 19 at the Richardson Auditorium.

Tony Bennett earns a standing ovation the very moment he walks out on stage. The audience's response is both heartfelt and immediate, a mark of acclaim and a fitting tribute of respect for one of the greatest musical icons in the business.

Liz Kennedy (www.lizkennedymusic.com) had been composing wordless songs on the piano since she was 12, always wondering who was going to come along and finish them for her. By her late '40s, she finally gave up waiting and began adding the lyrics herself. Performing for the first time in her early '50s, she knew she was taking a bold risk. Divorced and remarried, facing the kind of fears that come with the pain of loss, never playing for anyone but her young children asleep on the floor below, she was protecting a budding need for self-expression. She worried that one sharp critique could destroy her deep connection to something that had always been her greatest passion.

Team USA Olympic bobsled pilot Jazmine Fenlator joins the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra for 'From Sochi to Strauss'-a special post-concert session with NJSO Concertmaster Eric Wyrick on Friday, March 21, at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) in Newark. The New Jersey-native Olympian and the Orchestra concertmaster will discuss what it takes to be at the top of their respective games. NJSO President & CEO James Roe will moderate the session, which will be held in NJPAC's Prudential Hall lobby following the 8 pm concert.

Birdland Jazz Club has announced their excellent line-up of talent for March 17-23, including Steve Ross in 'Ridin' High: Cole Porter on Broadway,' 'Now This' with Gary Peacock, Marc Copland & Joey Baron, The Puppeteers, Jim Caruso's Cast Party, and more.

Audiences of all ages are invited to spend an afternoon with Jack Jones, hailed by Frank Sinatra as 'One of America's Greatest Singers of Our Time' when he appears LIVE IN CONCERT at the Edgerton Center for the Performing Arts on the campus of Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Connecticut on Sunday, March 16 at 3pm.

The Broadway at Birdland concert series is pleased to announce that Broadway/television leading man CHEYENNE JACKSON will return to the historic music room for two shows only on Thursday, March 27 and Saturday, March 29, with shows at 6:15pm.

The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra and Music Director Jacques Lacombe present Verdi's mammoth Requiem April 3-6 in Newark, New Brunswick and Morristown with soprano Marianne Fiset, mezzo-soprano Janara Kellerman, tenor Russell Thomas, bass Peter Volpe and the Montclair State University Chorale. Thomas returns to NJSO stages after his performance of Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde with the Orchestra in January. The April 5 performance at the State Theatre in New Brunswick is the NJSO's third College Night event of the season.

Sycamore Entertainment Group, Inc. (OTC Pink: SEGI), a leading innovator in hybrid distribution, is pleased to announce it has acquired the exclusive USA licensing of 26 episodes of 'The Judy Garland Show' to be available for the first time on streaming video.

On Thursday, March 13, the Houston Symphony will continue its legendary centennial celebration by performing alongside one of the leading figures in the recording industry, Steve Tyrell. Under the leadership of Houston Symphony Associate Conductor Robert Franz, Tyrell and the orchestra will perform American standards like 'You're So Nice to Come Home To,' 'The Way You Look Tonight' and 'I Get a Kick Out of You,' to name just a few. The Grammy Award-winning Tyrell will also invite his friends Diane Schuur, Judith Hill and Lew Soloff to the stage to share the evening with him as he sings the night away to timeless classics in this one-night only special performance.

On Thursday, March 13, the Houston Symphony will continue its legendary centennial celebration by performing alongside one of the leading figures in the recording industry, Steve Tyrell. Under the leadership of Houston Symphony Associate Conductor Robert Franz, Tyrell and the orchestra will perform American standards like 'You're So Nice to Come Home To,' 'The Way You Look Tonight' and 'I Get a Kick Out of You,” to name just a few. The Grammy® Award-winning Tyrell will also invite his friends Diane Schuur, Judith Hill and Lew Soloff to the stage to share the evening with him as he sings the night away to timeless classics in this one-night only special performance.

The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra presents Grieg's Piano Concerto on a program that also features Dvor?a?k's Eighth Symphony and Sibelius' Spring Song today, February 27-March 2 in Englewood, Red Bank and Newark. Conductor Santtu-Matias Rouvali, a 26-year-old prote?ge? of Gustavo Dudamel whom Gramophone has called a 'dynamic young Finn' whose 'career is developing at a rapid pace,' makes his NJSO debut. The March 2 performance at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark is the NJSO's second College Night event of the season.

Today Jazz at Lincoln Center announces its 2014-15 Concert and Education season, which features a season-long journey 'through the Americas.' Through a diverse array of concerts and programs, Jazz at Lincoln Center's 27th season will explore how jazz has both integrated and influenced the rich musical traditions of the Caribbean and North, South, and Central America.

The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra presents Shostakovich's Fifth Symphony on a program of Romantic music March 21–23 in Newark, Red Bank and New Brunswick. NJSO Concertmaster Eric Wyrick makes his annual solo appearance with the Orchestra performing Strauss' Violin Concerto. The program also includes Goldmark's In Springtime; Gerard Schwarz conducts.

Joffrey Ballet School, a world-renowned dance center offering the most versatile and highest quality training, will present a Winter Concert collaboration highlighting the schools' Jazz and Contemporary Trainees and the Joffrey Concert Group. The celebrated fusion of performers will take place tonight, February 22, 8:30 p.m. and tomorrow, February 23, 4:00 p.m. at the Salvatore Capezio Theater.

When the Harlem Renaissance was in vogue at the dawn of the 20th Century, the jazz clubs around Jungle Alley, between Lenox and Seventh Avenue - The Savoy Ballroom, Small's Paradise, Minton's Playhouse, Clark Monroe's Uptown House, The Ubangi Club, Park Palace, Connie's Inn, and others - were the place to be. These immortal nightclubs, concert halls, cabarets, speakeasies and ballrooms, will be channeled and showcased May 4 - 10 at the Fourth Annual Harlem Jazz Shrines Festival.