James Conlon News

Grammy Award-winning mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato and Tony and Emmy Award-winning actor David Hyde Pierce will take a star turn together when they co-host the Ninth Annual Opera News Awards, set to take place on Sunday, April 13, 2014, in the Grand Ballroom of The Plaza Hotel in New York City. They will be joined by a distinguished line-up of presenters – Luca Pisaroni, Susan Graham, Renata Scotto, Eva Wagner-Pasquier and Francesca Zambello – who will pay tribute to five superb artists who have made an invaluable contribution to the art form: the late director Patrice Chéreau, tenor Juan Diego Flórez, mezzo-soprano Christa Ludwig,bass-baritone James Morris, and soprano Nina Stemme. First introduced in 2005, the Opera News Awards gala dinner, which features the hosts and presenters speaking about the awardees and introducing video performance clips, has become one of the most anticipated opera events of the season: an evening of celebration, appreciation, reuniting and celebrity-spotting that is without parallel in the industry.

The centenary of British composer Benjamin Britten (1913-1976) has been observed around the world by musicians and institutions of every kind. Music Director James Conlon, whose lifelong fascination with Britten is reflected in his personal three-year performance cycle of the composer's works in America and Europe, is the inspiration for LA Opera's Britten 100/LA: A Celebration, an extensive collaboration featuring performances, conferences and exhibitions presented by a host of organizations throughout the Southland. Britten's centenary year may be drawing to an end, but Britten 100/LA events will continue into early 2014, culminating in LA Opera's February and March performances of Billy Budd.

Sel Kardan, President and CEO of The Colburn School, announced today the establishment of The Ziering-Conlon Initiative for Recovered Voices at the Colburn School. Los Angeles philanthropist Marilyn Ziering has made the Initiative possible with a generous $1 million gift to Colburn. The Initiative builds upon the Recovered Voices project at LA Opera, established to support conductor James Conlon's long-term commitment to bring attention to the works of important composers whose music was suppressed during the Nazi years in Europe.

The New York Philharmonic Young People's Concerts (YPCs) continue with a focus on Mozart's Symphony No. 41, Jupiter, led by Philharmonic Assistant Conductor Case Scaglione, today, December 7, 2013, at 2:00 p.m. This is the second program in this season's series, Points of Entry, in which each concert explores facets of music and the orchestra itself through an influential score. The concert will also feature selections from Mozart's Symphonies Nos. 1 and 33 and his Missa Brevis in F; Pachelbel's Canon; and Arvo Part's Cantus in Memoriam Benjamin Britten.

Conductor James Conlon, Music Director of LA Opera, will lead a series of Britten performances across the Southland as part of the Britten 100/LA celebration, in commemoration of the 2013 Benjamin Britten centenary.

Two distinguished American pianists-Ursula Oppens and Robert Levin-will team up to perform selections of piano works by the celebrated British-American composer Bernard Rands this evening, December 5th at 7:30 p.m. at the Leonard Nimoy Thalia at Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway, New York, NY.

Throughout 2013, the centenary of British composer Benjamin Britten (1913-1976) has been observed around the world by musicians and institutions of every kind. Music Director James Conlon, whose lifelong fascination with Britten is reflected in his personal three-year performance cycle of the composer's works in America and Europe, is the inspiration for LA Opera's Britten 100/LA: A Celebration, an extensive collaboration featuring performances, conferences and exhibitions presented by a host of organizations throughout the Southland. Britten's centenary year may be drawing to an end, but Britten 100/LA events will continue into early 2014.

Ethereal swaths of smoke combine to form familiar yet odd images: flowers that grow in slow motion as if by magic, elephants floating in cocktail glasses, flying flutes, dancing bells, an enigmatic black cat-anything is possible in LA Opera's new staging of Mozart's The Magic Flute. Created by the British theater group 1927 in collaboration with Barrie Kosky, artistic director of the Komische Oper in Berlin, the staging had its production premiere in that city last year, playing to sold-out houses and rave reviews. London's The Guardian described 1927's distinctive aesthetic: 'A perfect mixture of all the things worth loving: silent films, the cabaret of the Weimar Republic, David Lynch and the Brothers Grimm.' To view a video preview, please click here.

Conductor James Conlon, Music Director of LA Opera, will lead a series of Britten performances across the Southland as part of the Britten 100/LA celebration, in commemoration of the 2013 Benjamin Britten centenary.

Events coming up in the next few weeks for the LA Opera include special celebrations tonight, November 22, Britten's 100th birthday.

For its 2014 season, the Oregon Bach Festival has just announced the appointment of organist Paul Jacobs to lead a newly-created Organ Institute. It is arguably the first major festival to add a component devoted exclusively to the study and performance of the organ, which figured so prominently in the compositions and performance life of J. S. Bach.

The New York Philharmonic Young People's Concerts (YPCs) continue with a focus on Mozart's Symphony No. 41, Jupiter, led by Philharmonic Assistant Conductor Case Scaglione, Saturday, December 7, 2013, at 2:00 p.m. This is the second program in this season's series, Points of Entry, in which each concert explores facets of music and the orchestra itself through an influential score. The concert will also feature selections from Mozart's Symphonies Nos. 1 and 33 and his Missa Brevis in F; Pachelbel's Canon; and Arvo Part's Cantus in Memoriam Benjamin Britten.

In response to strong ticket demand, General Director Plácido Domingo has announced today that LA Opera has scheduled an additional performance of Mozart's The Magic Flute, conducted by Music Director James Conlon, on December 13 at 8:30pm to accommodate audiences who would otherwise be left out.

The New York String Orchestra, an ensemble of young players ages 16–23 from around the world, who come together each year for a seminar of rehearsals and performance preparation, celebrates the 20th anniversary of its Music Director Jaime Laredo with two annual concerts in Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage. In addition, the New York String Orchestra Seminar celebrates its 45th anniversary.

(Los Angeles) November 8, 2013 — Today, Bridge Records releases a CD of Franz Schreker's haunting 1915 masterpiece Die Gezeichneten (The Stigmatized) in a live recording from LA Opera conducted by James Conlon. LA Opera presented the work in 2010 as part of its Recovered Voices series, dedicated to reviving operas by composers who were suppressed by the Holocaust. The three-disc set features a complete libretto of the opera in German and English, and annotation by Christopher Hailey.

Two distinguished American pianists-Ursula Oppens and Robert Levin-will team up to perform selections of piano works by the celebrated British-American composer Bernard Rands on Thursday evening, December 5th at 7:30 p.m. at the Leonard Nimoy Thalia at Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway, New York, NY.

Bernard Labadie will return to the New York Philharmonic to conduct Mozart's Requiem; J.S. Bach's Cantata No. 51, Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen!; and Handel's 'Let the Bright Seraphim' from Samson. The program's soloists will include soprano Miah Persson, mezzo- soprano Stephanie Blythe, tenor Frederic Antoun in his Philharmonic debut, bass Andrew Foster- Williams, Philharmonic Principal Trumpet Philip Smith, and the New York Choral Artists directed by Joseph Flummerfelt. The concerts will take place tonight, November 7, 2013, at 7:30 p.m.; Friday, November 8 at 8:00 p.m.; and Saturday, November 9 at 8:00 p.m.

The LAO Wig Shop (currently known as 'Ye Olde Wig Shoppe') is typically the hairiest of work environs at LA Opera. But for Falstaff, some of their space doubles as a special effects make-up shop for facial prosthetics. Here, an epoxy casting of singer Rodell Rosel's face is matched up with a corresponding casting of a sculpted fake nose. Known as the 'positive' and 'negative' molds, they'll be used to cast a silicone or rubber prosthesis to be worn on stage.

The Collegiate Chorale presents its first concert of the season, Mefistofele, by Arrigo Boito tonight, November 6, 2013 at 8pm at Carnegie Hall, 881 7th Avenue, NYC. The Collegiate Chorale will hold its Annual Fall Gala immediately following the concert.

(Los Angeles) October 31, 2013 — Ethereal swaths of smoke combine to form familiar yet odd images: flowers that grow in slow motion as if by magic, elephants floating in cocktail glasses, flying flutes, dancing bells, an enigmatic black cat—anything is possible in LA Opera's new staging of Mozart's The Magic Flute. Created by the British theater group 1927 in collaboration with Barrie Kosky, artistic director of the Komische Oper in Berlin, the staging had its production premiere in that city last year, playing to sold-out houses and rave reviews. London's The Guardian described 1927's distinctive aesthetic: “A perfect mixture of all the things worth loving: silent films, the cabaret of the Weimar Republic, David Lynch and the Brothers Grimm.” To view a video preview, please click here.