Francis Poulenc News

October 21 marks the release of HERE/AFTER: Songs of Lost Voices, a two-CD set of recent songs and music by Jake Heggie, “the finest American art song composer of his generation” (John von Rhein, Classical Review), to texts by the Grammy Award-nominated Gene Scheer. The generous PentaTone Classics collection features more than two hours of music from the composer and librettist of the operas Moby-Dick and Three Decembers, with performances by some of the foremost exponents of their work, including soprano Talise Trevigne, mezzo Joyce DiDonato, tenor Stephen Costello, baritone Nathan Gunn, flutistCarol Wincenc, and the Alexander String Quartet. Recorded at LucasFilm's Skywalker Ranch and produced by Grammy Award-winner Steve Barnett,HERE/AFTER seeks to give voice to silenced individuals whose stories deserve to be heard, including victims and survivors of 9/11 (Pieces of 9/11) and the great French sculptor Camille Claudel (Camille Claudel: Into the Fire). The composer explains that he and Scheer set out to capture “the hope and newness that can come from grief,” and, as the Associated Press recently recognized, HERE/AFTER succeeds in transmuting “memories of grief into survivor songs – some of them surprisingly joyous.” Video trailers featuring excerpts from five of the songs may be viewed here.

Houston Chamber Choir opens its 18th Season with a concert entitled Musica Divina today, September 15 at 4 pm at Holy Rosary Catholic Church (1416 George Street, Rosenberg, Texas 77471), presented by Imperial Arts, and Tuesday, September 17 at 7:30 pm at the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart (1111 St. Joseph Parkway, Houston, Texas 77002.) The concert is inspired by the recent historic election of Pope Francis as head of the Roman Catholic Church and features works associated with the papacy.

This year's The Outstanding Filipino Americans in New York Heritage Award recipient The Foundation for Filipino Artists Inc., together with executive committee members Loida Nicolas Lewis, Aida Bartolome, Jerry Sibal, Michael Dadap, Dr. Angie Cruz, Edwin Josue and Robert Perlstein, brings to New York Felipe Padilla de Leon, Philippine National Artist for Music, and Guillermo Tolentino's 1957 opera 'Noli Me Tangere,' based on the 1887 classic romantic novel by Dr. Jose Rizal, the Philippines' national hero.

Kansas City Ballet's 56th season opens with a Fall program featuring a new work by Los Angeles-based choreographer Jodie Gates, George Balanchine's Allegro Brillante, Jerome Robbins' hugely popular Fancy Free with music byLeonard Bernstein, a recent work by William Whitener, and Opus One, a world premiere by newly appointed Kansas City Ballet Artistic Director Devon Carney. The Fall program will be accompanied by Kansas City Symphony and conducted by Kansas City Ballet Music Director Ramona Pansegrau.

Houston Chamber Choir opens its 18th Season with a concert entitled Musica Divina Sunday, September 15 at 4 pm at Holy Rosary Catholic Church in Rosenberg (1416 George Street, Rosenberg, Texas 77471) and Tuesday, September 17 at 7:30 pm at the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in downtown Houston (1111 St. Joseph Parkway, Houston, Texas 77002). The concert is inspired by the recent historic election of Pope Francis as head of the Roman Catholic Church and features works associated with the papacy, including Palestrina's Pope Marcellus Mass, Four Prayers of St. Francis of Assisi for men's voices by Francis Poulenc, and settings of Tu es Petrus.

Following the tremendous success of last summer's first celebration, the second edition of the Orchestre symphonique de Montreal's A Cool Classical Journey will be held over two days, tonight, August 16 and Saturday, August 17.

'Stravinsky Re-invented: From Paris to Los Angeles,' the second and final weekend of the 24th annual Bard Music Festival in New York'sAnnandale-on-Hudson, follows Igor Stravinsky from Europe to post-war Hollywood, investigating his subsequent shift in style from neoclassicism to serialism. The weekend opens tonight, August 16, with a screening of film clips that document the great Russian innovator, with commentary by Professor Charles M. Joseph, author of Stravinsky Inside Out. This special session is followed by the weekend's first concert, 'Against Interpretation and Expression: The Aesthetics of Mechanization,' a program of postmodernist ensemble classics by Stravinsky, Bartók, Varèse, Hindemith, and Messiaen; soloists include Grammy-nominated pianist Peter Serkin and So Percussion's Eric Beach.

Edouard Lock's new work, which was to form part of Scottish Ballet's Dance Odysseys tonight, Friday 16 August, has been cancelled due to family illness. In its place, Scottish Ballet will now perform two works, Kenneth MacMillan's Sea of Troubles and Christopher Hampson's Silhouette on the main stage of the Festival Theatre in an evening performance starting at 8.00pm.

'Stravinsky Re-invented: From Paris to Los Angeles,' the second and final weekend of the 24th annual Bard Music Festival in New York's Annandale-on-Hudson, follows Igor Stravinsky from Europe to post-war Hollywood, investigating his subsequent shift in style from neoclassicism to serialism. The weekend opens on Friday, August 16, with a screening of film clips that document the great Russian innovator, with commentary by Professor Charles M. Joseph, author of Stravinsky Inside Out. This special session is followed by the weekend's first concert, 'Against Interpretation and Expression: The Aesthetics of Mechanization,' a program of postmodernist ensemble classics by Stravinsky, Bartók, Varèse, Hindemith, and Messiaen; soloists include Grammy-nominated pianist Peter Serkin and So Percussion's Eric Beach.

New York City Center is celebrating the 10th Anniversary of the Fall for Dance Festival with a very special season, beginning with two free evenings of dance at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park, hosted by The Public Theater, on September 16 and 17 (rain date, September 18). The Festival will continue at City Center from September 25 - October 5 with performances by 20 acclaimed dance companies and artists from around the world, including three new works from today's most exciting young choreographers, commissioned by New York City Center in celebration of the tenth anniversary.

Houston Chamber Choir opens its 18th Season with a concert entitled Musica Divina Sunday, September 15 at 4 pm at Holy Rosary Catholic Church (1416 George Street, Rosenberg, Texas 77471), presented by Imperial Arts, and Tuesday, September 17 at 7:30 pm at the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart (1111 St. Joseph Parkway, Houston, Texas 77002.) The concert is inspired by the recent historic election of Pope Francis as head of the Roman Catholic Church and features works associated with the papacy.

Maine State Music Theatre is thrilled to present a one night only concert starring Suzanne Nance and Friends tonight, July 29 at 7:30 p.m.

Edouard Lock's new work, which was to form part of Scottish Ballet's Dance Odysseys on Friday 16 August, has been cancelled due to family illness. In its place, Scottish Ballet will now perform two works, Kenneth MacMillan's Sea of Troubles and Christopher Hampson's Silhouette on the main stage of the Festival Theatre in an evening performance starting at 8.00pm.

Robert Simpson, Founder and Artistic Director of the Houston Chamber Choir announces the Choir's 18th season, Where Class Meets Cool. The 2013-2014 season includes masterpieces by Brahms, Handel, Palestrina, and Durufle, along with works by today's leading composers including a newly commissioned piece by Jocelyn Hagen, recent winner of the McKnight award.

Maine State Music Theatre is thrilled to present a one night only concert starring Suzanne Nance and Friends on Monday, July 29 at 7:30 p.m. This intimate evening of song will showcase a variety of songs from opera including George Gershwin's, 'Summertime' from PORGY AND BESS; Leo Delibe's 'Lakme Duet (Flower Duet)' from LAKME; George Bizet's 'Au fond du temple saint' from THE PEARL FISHERS; Giacomo Puccini's 'O Soave Faciulla' from LA BOHEME; Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's 'La ci darem la mano' from DON GIOVANNI; and Gioacchino and Rossini's 'The Cat Duet.'

This Bastille Day, the little OPERA theatre of ny, in partnership with Socrates Sculpture Park, will present an afternoon of free French opera with LIBERTE, EGALITE, et FRATERNITE. On Sunday, July 14th, at 3:00pm the concert will take place on the Long Island City waterfront at Socrates Sculpture Park, and feature scenes from operas that voice the spirit of the French revolution. (Rain date: Monday, July 15 at 6:30pm.)

Following the tremendous success of last summer's first celebration, the second edition of the Orchestre symphonique de Montreal's A Cool Classical Journey will be held over two days, on Friday, August 16 and Saturday, August 17. Thirty 45-minute concerts will feature masterpieces and favorites from the classical repertoire. Accessible to all, A Cool Classical Journey is intended for a broad audience including music lovers, tourists discovering the lively music scene of Montreal, and audiences connecting with classical music for the first time.

The Modell Performing Arts Center at The Lyric's Artistic Director James Harp has announced the third annual opera season at the new Modell Lyric. Two grand operas will be featured-Puccini's Tosca and Verdi's Nabucco-and Toujours L'Amour, the third in our gala concert series celebrating French grand opera.

Seattle Opera's 2012/13 season concludes in May with a double bill of compelling twentieth-century operas, both new to the company: La Voix Humaine, by Francis Poulenc, and Giacomo Puccini's Suor Angelica. Both these one-act operas follow fascinating women who must grapple with despair as they meet their fate; but the two works, like the composers who created them, are extremely different. In Poulenc's sensual monodrama, a woman stumbles through a minefield of emotions as she attempts to stay connected to her ex-lover over the telephone. Puccini's mystical tragedy tells the story of a young nun who learns of the death of the son she was forced to abandon. She kills herself yet miraculously passes into a state of grace. Performances begin tonight, May 4 and run through May 18.

Paul Taylor is the last living member of the pantheon that created America's indigenous art of modern dance. At an age when most artists' best work is behind them, Taylor continues to win acclaim for the vibrancy, relevance and power of his recent dances as well as his classics.