Eric Whitacre News

The five-time Grammy-winning San Francisco Girls Chorus will open its 2013-2014 35th anniversary season Sunday, November 3, 2013, at 7 pm at Marines' Memorial Theatre in San Francisco with a concert of music both French and French-inspired, conducted by new Music Director and Principal Conductor Valerie Sainte-Agathe. The program, entitled French Impressions, will feature Poulenc's Les petites voix; Maurice Ohana's 4 petits choeurs, Debussy's Nuit d'etoiles, Morton Lauridsen's Dirait-on, Eric Whitacre's Seal Lullaby, Antoine Busnoys' "A que ville" (with soloist Lisa Bielawa, new Artistic Director of the San Francisco Girls Chorus) and works by other composers. For more information, visit www.sfgirlschorus.org .

Internationally acclaimed vocal ensemble The Tallis Scholars will perform for one night only on Saturday 26 October in QPAC's Concert Hall, promising a vocal experience that is not-to-be-missed.

Get ready, mouth-frothing friends — it's time to vote! The O Music Awards kick off TODAY, May 16, with a whole passel of new categories and nominees on OMusicAwards.com. Did your favorite band/app/whatever get a nod? Find out below!

Great Music at St. Bart's will present The Nordic Choir from Luther College in Decorah, IA in concert on Tuesday, January 22 at 7:30 pm.

Complexions Contemporary Ballet returns to The Joyce Theater for its annual two-week engagement, today, November 13-25, 2012, featuring two world premieres and two New York premieres.

On Friday, November 30, The Metropolitan Museum of Art will offer a live webcast of the first of five performances of an updated version of the 16th-century Chinese Kunqu opera masterpiece Peony Pavilion that will take place in the Met's Astor Court, the courtyard modeled on a 17th-century Chinese garden. This 70-minute version of the opera has been developed and directed by celebrated composer Tan Dun, with a new score by Mr. Tan and choreography by Huang Doudou, one of China's most prominent dancers. It will be performed by Zhang Jun, one of China's most respected Kunqu performers, and the Shanghai Zhang Jun Art Center Company.

Complexions Contemporary Ballet returns to The Joyce Theater for its annual two-week engagement, November 13-25, 2012, featuring two world premieres and two New York premieres.

The opening program of the 2012 Bach Festival Society Choral Masterworks series presents music by six contemporary composers and celebrates the themes of peace and light in two performances by the renowned Bach Festival Choir and Orchestra. The works on the program were selected to highlight some of the most accomplished choral and orchestra composers working today.

The Hartt School Community Division (HCD) announces Celesti Sondato's 4th season and a new music director, Bryan Zaros of Avon, Conn. An accomplished and award winning conductor, Mr. Zaros has conducted choirs in nine different countries and has performed at some of the most celebrated performance venues, including the Metropolitan Opera House, Avery Fisher Hall, Carnegie Hall, and on NBC's Today show. Celesti Sondato is the HCD Adult Chamber Choir, an auditioned SATB ensemble with a tradition of performing varied choral literature, premiering new works, and collaborating with local ensembles throughout the year.

Five-time Academy Award-winner and renowned composer John Williams returns to the Hollywood Bowl stage to lead the Los Angeles Philharmonic in a weekend of his movie music and accompanying film clips in John Williams.

Five-time Academy Award-winner and renowned composer John Williams returns to the Hollywood Bowl stage to lead the Los Angeles Philharmonic in a weekend of his movie music and accompanying film clips in John Williams.

Seattle Women's Chorus (SWC) kicks off its 2012-2013 Season with their Fall concert, How Sweet the Sound (October 12-20, 2012) in a spectacular new venue, Saint Mark's Cathedral on Capitol Hill. SWC celebrates 10 years of big, bold, beautiful music and their 200+ voices will fill the Cathedral as they pay tribute to the choral tradition and create new rhythms and sounds.

Summer in Chicago continues this month with the Grant Park Music Festival, led by Artistic Director and Principal Conductor Carlos Kalmar and the Grammy Award-nominated Grant Park Orchestra, along with Chorus Director Christopher Bell and the Grant Park Chorus in the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Chicago's Millennium Park. The Festival will bring performances by outstanding guest conductors and guest artists from around the world, in a month of exciting programming that includes a world premiere commission, a live concert screening of Frozen Planet, the latest hit series from BBC/Discovery Channel, a tribute concert to Broadway and Hollywood legend, Frank Loesser and other Festival favorites.

Kent Kritle's 2012-2013 season marks his 30th year conducting in New York City. The landmark season includes Britten's War Requiem with the Oratorio Society of New York, Bach's Mass in B Minor with at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, Mendelssohn's Elijah at the Manhattan School of Music, and travels across the U.S. for Carnegie Hall's National High School Choral Festival. See full details below.

Kent Kritle's 2012-2013 season marks his 30th year conducting in New York City. The landmark season includes Britten's War Requiem with the Oratorio Society of New York, Bach's Mass in B Minor with at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, Mendelssohn's Elijah at the Manhattan School of Music, and travels across the U.S. for Carnegie Hall's National High School Choral Festival. See full details below.