Georges Bizet News

Iconic television star Carol Burnett is once again lending her unique gifts to the Music Academy of the West's Cabaret gala tonight, serving as creative director of the annual fundraiser benefiting the Music Academy's full-scholarship program. The beloved performer is teaming up with legendary mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne for coaching sessions on the art of musical comedy with the young vocalists headlining this year's Cabaret, which takes place tonight, Thursday, August 7, in the Plaza del Sol rotunda of Fess Parker's DoubleTree Resort in Santa Barbara.

The Music Academy of the West will live stream the world premiere of we do it to one another, cellist extraordinaire Joshua Roman's new setting of verse from Tracy K. Smith's Pulitzer Prize-winning collection Life on Mars, at 8 pm tonight, August 2.

The Music Academy of the West will present a new, fully staged production of Georges Bizet's timeless opera Carmen in honor of celebrated mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne's 80th birthday at Santa Barbara's historic Granada Theatre. Directed by David Paul and conducted by James Gaffigan, the performances will take place at 7:30 pm tonight, August 1, and at 2:30 pm on Sunday, August 3. Tickets start at $15.

Thomas Adès, the brilliant British pianist, conductor, and composer who has been hailed as among “the most imposing figures in contemporary music” (The New Yorker), will lead the Academy Festival Orchestra in its final concert of the 2014 Summer Festival season at Santa Barbara's historic Granada Theatre on Saturday, August 9. Featuring Stravinsky's dramatic and innovative ballet Petrushka (1947 version) as well as Ives' Variations on “America,” Mr. Adès' own work Polaris: Voyage for Orchestra, and “Four Sea Interludes” from Britten's Peter Grimes, the concert will begin at 8 pm. Tickets start at $15.

The Music Academy of the West will live stream the world premiere of we do it to one another, cellist extraordinaire Joshua Roman's new setting of verse from Tracy K. Smith's Pulitzer Prize-winning collection Life on Mars, at 8 pm on Saturday, August 2. Also featuring works by exciting young composers Sean Friar and Christopher Cerrone, the performance will take place in the Music Academy's Hahn Hall, with streaming viewable at www.musicacademy.org.

The future of the arts takes center stage today, July 25 at Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts, when Wolf Trap Opera unveil Figaro Systems' new supertitle technology that allows audiences to follow the narrative of a performance from their mobile, tablet or Google Glass. Today's production, Bizet's classic opera Carmen, will also feature technology journalist and opera aficionado David Pogue as an onstage 'extra' outfitted in costume and Google Glass to give the Wolf Trap audience a first-of-its-kind perspective of the Filene Center stage. See below for production and ticketing information.

Iconic television star Carol Burnett is once again lending her unique gifts to the Music Academy of the West's Cabaret gala, serving as creative director of the annual fundraiser benefiting the Music Academy's full-scholarship program. The beloved performer is teaming up with legendary mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne for coaching sessions on the art of musical comedy with the young vocalists headlining this year's Cabaret, which will take place on Thursday, August 7, in the Plaza del Sol rotunda of Fess Parker's DoubleTree Resort in Santa Barbara.

The Music Academy of the West will present a new, fully staged production of Georges Bizet's timeless operaCarmen in honor of celebrated mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne's 80th birthday at Santa Barbara's historic Granada Theatre. Directed by David Paul and conducted by James Gaffigan, the performances will take place at 7:30 pm on Friday, August 1, and at 2:30 pm on Sunday, August 3. Tickets start at $15.

Having bested the field at this year's Concerto Competition Finals, three accomplished instrumentalists will take featured turns as soloists with the Academy Festival Orchestra under the baton of New York Philharmonic Assistant Conductor Joshua Weilerstein at the Granada Theatre tonight, July 19. Beginning at 8 pm, the concert will conclude with a performance of Tchaikovsky's soaring Symphony No. 5 in E Minor, Op. 64. Tickets start at $15.

Having bested the field at this year's Concerto Competition Finals, three accomplished instrumentalists will take featured turns as soloists with the Academy Festival Orchestra under the baton of New York Philharmonic Assistant Conductor Joshua Weilerstein at the Granada Theatre on Saturday, July 19. Beginning at 8 pm, the concert will conclude with a performance of Tchaikovsky's soaring Symphony No. 5 in E Minor, Op. 64. Tickets start at $15.

Gifted pianist Jeremy Denk - the recipient of a 2013 MacArthur 'Genius' Grant and this year's Avery Fisher Prize - will perform Beethoven's elegant and soulful First Piano Concerto with the Music Academy of the West's Academy Festival Orchestra under the baton of guest conductor Edward Gardner at the Granada Theatre in Santa Barbara tonight, July 12. Also featuring Strauss' Also sprach Zarathustra and Suite No. 2 of Ravel's Daphnis et Chloe, the concert will begin at 8 pm. Tickets start at $15.

Gifted pianist Jeremy Denk - the recipient of a 2013 MacArthur "Genius" Grant and this year's Avery Fisher Prize - will perform Beethoven's elegant and soulful First Piano Concerto with the Music Academy of the West's Academy Festival Orchestra under the baton of guest conductor Edward Gardner at the Granada Theatre in Santa Barbara on Saturday, July 12. Also featuring Strauss' Also sprach Zarathustra and Suite No. 2 of Ravel's Daphnis et Chloe, the concert will begin at 8 pm. Tickets start at $15.

The future of the arts takes center stage on July 25 at Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts, when Wolf Trap Opera unveil Figaro Systems' new supertitle technology that allows audiences to follow the narrative of a performance from their mobile, tablet or Google Glass. The July 25 production, Bizet's classic opera Carmen, will also feature technology journalist and opera aficionado David Pogue as an onstage “extra” outfitted in costume and Google Glass to give the Wolf Trap audience a first-of-its-kind perspective of the Filene Center stage. See below for production and ticketing information.

Celebrated conductor Larry Rachleff will lead the Academy Festival Orchestra in a performance of Beethoven's iconic Fifth Symphony as well as Richard Strauss' rousing Vienna Philharmonic Fanfare and Prokofiev's high-energy Symphony No. 5 at Santa Barbara's historic Granada Theatre beginning at 8 pm today, June 28. Tickets start at $15.

The DCR's Hatch Shell on the Esplanade comes alive with orchestral splendor on Wednesday evenings during July and August, as the Boston Landmarks Orchestra returns for its 2014 main series.

Virtuoso violinist Daniel Hope - described as 'adventurous and brilliant' by The New York Times and 'a force to be reckoned with' by Gramophone - will lead a chamber orchestra of Academy faculty and Fellows in a program of works by Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber, Alfred Schnittke, Erwin Schulhoff, and Max Richter beginning at 8 pm on Saturday, July 5, in Hahn Hall. Mr. Hope will lead from the violin in performances of Biber's Passacaglia, Schnittke's A Paganini, Schulhoff's Solo Sonata, and Mr. Richter's enthralling Recomposed: Vivaldi's Four Seasons - a reimagining of the well-known Baroque masterpiece. Tickets cost $50.

Florida Grand Opera (FGO) announces its 74th continuous season of producing opera featuring four mainstage productions for its 2014-15 Season, which will include Giacomo Puccini's Madama Butterfly, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Cosi Fan Tutte, Georges Bizet's The Pearl Fishers (Les Pecheurs de Perles), and Gian Carlo Menotti's The Consul.

Celebrated conductor Larry Rachleff will lead the Academy Festival Orchestra in a performance of Beethoven's iconic Fifth Symphony as well as Richard Strauss' rousing Vienna Philharmonic Fanfare and Prokofiev's high-energy Symphony No. 5 at Santa Barbara's historic Granada Theatre beginning at 8 pm on Saturday, June 28. Tickets start at $15.

Esta adaptación no lírica trasladada a nuestros días y ambientada en la discoteca de un polígono industrial, cuenta con una orquesta sinfónica formada por doce músicos dirigida por Xavi Torras y la dirección escénica de Víctor Álvaro.

Ballet San Jose will conclude its 2014 repertory season-the first under the leadership of new Artistic Director José Manuel Carreño-with Roland Petit's iconic story ballet, Carmen, and Twyla Tharp's masterful In the Upper Room in three performances this weekend, May 9-11 at the San Jose Center for the Performing Arts.