David Friend News

Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival presents the highly-anticipated world premiere of Daniil Simkin's INTENSIO, featuring the remarkable talent of eight American Ballet Theatre (ABT) stars and guest artist Céline Cassone of Les Ballet Jazz de Montréal in the intimate Ted Shawn Theatre, July 22-26. INTENSIO, co-produced, directed by, and starring ABT principal dancer Daniil Simkin, features four world premiere contemporary dance works by top-notch international choreographers including Alexander Ekman of Sweden, American dancemaker Gregory Dolbashian, resident Boston Ballet choreographer Jorma Elo of Finland, and Colombo-Belgian artist Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, currently based in Amsterdam.

Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE:BKS), the nation's largest retail bookseller and the leading retailer of content, digital media and educational products, today announced its top book picks for every interest, providing another great resource to help customers find the perfect gifts for the adults on their list. The company's booksellers have chosen from personal recommendations and customer favorites to compile a list of books that adults will love, with categories including 'For Thriller Fans,' 'For Mystery Lovers,' 'For On Screen Buffs,' 'For Business Readers,' 'For Sports Fans' and many more.

Rite of Summer Music Festival presents the final concerts of its 2014 season as Grand Band performs 'A BIGGER PICTURE' on Sunday, Sept. 7th at 2pm and 4pm at Nolan Park, Governors Island, NYC.

The Producers Guild of America (PGA) announced today its 2014 National Board and officer election results, which were shared during the Guild's annual General Membership Meeting tonight on the Warner Bros. Studios lot. The Producers Guild elected Gary Lucchesi and Lori McCreary as Presidents. Other newly PGA national officers include: Vice Presidents of Motion PicturesDavid Friendly and Lydia Dean Pilcher; Vice Presidents of Television Tim Gibbons and Jason Katims; Treasurer Christina Lee Storm,and Vice President PGA East Region Peter Saraf. Outgoing PGA Presidents Mark Gordon and Hawk Koch, who served since 2010, received special recognition at the meeting for their unwavering service to the Producers Guild over the years, including their seminal advocacy on behalf of the Guild's credit certification, the Producers Mark.

Blair McMillen and Pam Goldberg are thrilled to present the fourth and busiest season yet of the Rite of Summer Music Festival, taking place Summer 2014 at Colonels' Row on Governors Island, New York City. Rite of Summer will present free outdoor concerts on four different weekends on beautiful Governors Island from Memorial Day until just after Labor Day. In a locale The New York Times has called a "Playground for the Arts," the aim of the Festival is simple: to present the highest quality live performances, and to bring free contemporary classical music to as many people as possible in a relaxed, fun, outdoor setting.

At the beginning of 2011, four Venezuelan trumpet players, all products of the Venezuelan System of Children and Youth Orchestras (El Sistema), decided to explore and conquer new musical frontiers beyond their experience as an academic trumpet quartet, having as their ambition to play not only the Venezuelan repertoire but also the vast repertoire of the entire American continent. To achieve this they invited to their ensemble three outstanding performers of the Venezuelan cuatro, the double bass and percussion to create a unique new musical organization.

Marc Agger and William Brown present Bikeman: A 9/11 Play by Thomas F. Flynn based on his acclaimed book. Flynn is an Emmy Award-winning CBS reporter who nearly lost his life when the Twin Towers fell. He lived to write about his odyssey in an epic narrative poem that soon became a best seller. Dan Rather called it 'a journey into a modern underworld, and of the escape that made it possible to tell the tale.' Now, this critically acclaimed book has been adapted for the stage directed by Michael Bush. Bikeman features Tony Award nominee Robert Cuccioli, Irungu Mutu, Angela Pierce, Elizabeth Ramos, and Richard Topol. Opening night is tonight, February 18 at 7PM.

Marc Agger and William Brown proudly present Bikeman: A 9/11 Play by Thomas F. Flynn based on his acclaimed book. Flynn is an Emmy® Award-winning CBS reporter who nearly lost his life when the Twin Towers fell. He lived to write about his odyssey in an epic narrative poem that soon became a best seller. Dan Rather called it 'a journey into a modern underworld, and of the escape that made it possible to tell the tale.' Now, this critically acclaimed book has been adapted for the stage directed by Michael Bush. Bikeman features Tony Award® nominee Robert Cuccioli, Irungu Mutu, Angela Pierce, Elizabeth Ramos, and Richard Topol.

Marc Agger and William Brown present Bikeman: A 9/11 Play by Thomas F. Flynn based on his acclaimed book. Opening night is February 18. Directed by Michael Bush, Bikeman plays at BMCC Tribeca Performing Arts Center, 199 Chambers Street and features Robert Cuccioli, Irungu Mutu, Angela Pierce,Elizabeth Ramos, and Richard Topol. For information, go to www.Bikeman911.com. Check out a first look at the production below!

Roulette presents the world premiere of Neil Rolnick's Dynamic RAM & Concert Grand, commissioned by the Fromm Foundation for Bang On A Can All-Stars pianist Vicky Chow.

Marc Agger and William Brown present Bikeman: The 9/11 Theatrical Experience, a new play by Thomas F. Flynn based on his acclaimed book. Performances begin January 26. Opening night is February 18. Directed by Michael Bush, Bikeman features Robert Cuccioli, Irungu Mutu, Angela Pierce, Elizabeth Ramos, and Rich Topol. For information, go to www.Bikeman911.com.

The National Portrait Gallery, London, has appointed Phillip Prodger, founding Curator of Photography at the Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Massachusetts, as Head of Photographs Collection, from 1 June 2014.

This May, Bang on a Can is producing three simultaneous international touring programs: in Europe featuring the renowned Bang on a Can All-Stars; in Beijing, China featuring the Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra combined with a Festival Ensemble of musicians culled from its annual Summer Festival at Mass MoCA, and in Mexico featuring its renegade mobile ensemble Asphalt Orchestra.

New Amsterdam Records just announced the release and performances of music from Jace Clayton and Nadia Sirota in March and April. In The Julius Eastman Memory Depot, Brooklyn-based interdisciplinary artist Jace Clayton (also known for his work as DJ /rupture) focuses on the life and music of gay African-American composer, pianist and vocalist Julius Eastman. Celebrated violist Nadia Sirota's sophomore album Baroque is predominantly for multi-tracked viola and electronic textures, and features songs written expressly for Sirota by some of the most widely respected composers of her generation.

Violinist Laurie Carney and pianist David Friend will give the world premiere of Robert Sirota's Violin Sonata No. 2 as part of a free concert at the Manhattan School of Music's Greenfield Hall (120 Claremont Ave.) on Tuesday, April 2 at 7:30pm. Sirota wrote the sonata for Carney, a founding member of the American String Quartet (ASQ), and dedicated it to their mothers who both passed away recently. The concert will also include Brahms' Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 2 in A Major; Messiaen's Theme and Variations; and Faure's Piano Quartet in C Minor with violist Daniel Avshalomov (also of the ASQ) and cellist William Grubb (Carney's husband).

CBS News takes a sharp look at the glitz and glamour, heartaches and successes of the entertainment world in the special VANITY FAIR'S HOLLYWOOD to be broadcast Feb. 23, 2013 (10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.

On Tuesday, February 26 at 6pm and Monday, March 4 at 6pm, Bang on a Can and The Museum of Modern Art present a pair of concerts in conjunction with MoMA's exhibition Inventing Abstraction, 1910-1925 that reveal how pioneering European composers of 100 years ago forever changed music in New York. Curated by Bang on a Can co-founder and artistic directorDavid Lang, each concert pairs two composers-an early-20th-century innovator, and a New Yorker he influenced- and is performed by alumni and faculty of the Bang on a Can Summer Music Festival at MASS MoCA, a utopian residency program dedicated entirely to the creation, study, and performance of the most adventurous music of our time.

David Friend, President of the Board of Directors of Boston Baroque, and Martin Pearlman, Boston Baroque's Music Director, are delighted to announce the appointment of Miguel A. Rodriguez as the company's new Executive Director, effective October 15, 2012. Mr. Rodriguez was chosen after a national search guided by Arts Consulting Group.

Today, June 17, from noon until midnight, Bang on a Can continues celebrating its 25th year with the annual Bang on a Can Marathon, free for the public at World Financial Center Winter Garden (220 Vesey Street, NYC), presented by River To River® Festival, Arts Brookfield, and Bang on a Can.