James Conlon News

Conductor James Conlon will continue his three-year celebration of the music of composer Benjamin Britten throughout the remainder of the 2012-13 season and during the 2013-14 season with performances encompassing opera, orchestra and choral works including spearheading LA Opera's year-long, city-wide Britten 100/LA: A Celebration festival and returning to The Metropolitan Opera in October 2013 to conduct A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Placido Domingo, LA Opera's Eli and Edythe Broad General Director, announced today that James Conlon, the Company's Richard Seaver Music Director, has extended his contract with LA Opera through the end of the 2017/2018 season. "James has had an incredible impact on the artistic quality of LA Opera performances," said Mr. Domingo. "Since his arrival, he has conducted more than half of our mainstage performances, inspiring performers and audiences alike through his extraordinary talents. His vision for the company's future, like mine, is one of great ambition and optimism. We have so many exciting plans for LA Opera's seasons to come, and I am greatly looking forward to continuing our work together."

Placido Domingo, LA Opera's Eli and Edythe Broad General Director, announced today that James Conlon, the Company's Richard Seaver Music Director, has extended his contract with LA Opera through the end of the 2017/2018 season. "James has had an incredible impact on the artistic quality of LA Opera performances," said Mr. Domingo. "Since his arrival, he has conducted more than half of our mainstage performances, inspiring performers and audiences alike through his extraordinary talents. His vision for the company's future, like mine, is one of great ambition and optimism. We have so many exciting plans for LA Opera's seasons to come, and I am greatly looking forward to continuing our work together."

La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts continues its 2012-13 Programs for Young Audiences series with LA Opera's The Magic Dream, an original adaptation of Mozart's The Magic Flute. This 50-minute, high-energy introduction to opera is recommended for audiences ages 5 and up. Performances are today, February 17, 2013 at 1:00 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.

Commissions from three leading Los Angeles-based musical organizations have earned noted Icelandic composer Daniel Bjarnason two coveted nominations from the Icelandic Music Awards: Composer of the Year for his 2012 compositions The isle is full of noises, co-commissioned by the Los Angeles Children's Chorus and the American Youth Symphony, and Over Light Earth, commissioned by the Los Angeles Philharmonic; and Composition of the Year for The isle is full of noises. The works were premiered by the commissioning organizations at Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles on separate occasions last year. The Icelandic Music Awards are slated for Wednesday, February 20, 2013 in Reykjavik, Iceland.

New York City Opera opens its spring 2013 season with a new production of Powder Her Face (1995), composed by Thomas Ades (b.1971) to a libretto by Philip Hensher (b. 1965).

Tonight, February 6, medici.tv will present a live webcast of the historic world premiere production of The Perfect American, Philip Glass's new opera about Walt Disney. At 75, Glass is one of the towering figures of 20th-century music, and perhaps the most successful composer alive today. The world premiere of his new opera will take place at Madrid's Teatro Real, which commissioned the piece.

On February 6, medici.tv will present a live webcast of the historic world premiere production of The Perfect American, Philip Glass's new opera about Walt Disney. At 75, Glass is one of the towering figures of 20th-century music, and perhaps the most successful composer alive today. The world premiere of his new opera will take place at Madrid's Teatro Real, which commissioned the piece.

La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts continues its 2012-13 Programs for Young Audiences series with LA Opera's The Magic Dream, an original adaptation of Mozart's The Magic Flute. This 50-minute, high-energy introduction to opera is recommended for audiences ages 5 and up. Performances are Sunday, February 17, 2013 at 1:00 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.

Internationally acclaimed Grammy Award-winning conductor Helmuth Rilling, recipient of the 2011 Herbert von Karajan Music Prize, makes his 13th appearance with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra to guest conduct two performances of Mozart's sublime Requiem in D minor, K. 626, featuring soprano Stacey Tappan, alto Callista Hoffman, tenor Nicholas Phan, bass Michael Dean and the acclaimed USC Thornton Chamber Singers, under the direction of Jo Michael Scheibe, on Saturday, January 26, 8 pm, at the Alex Theatre in Glendale, and Sunday, January 27, 2013, 7 pm, at UCLA's Royce Hall. The all-Mozart program, which celebrates the legendary composer's 257th birthday, opens with his majestic Symphony No. 39 in E-flat major, K. 543.

LA Opera announces the 2013-2014 season, including Bizet's Carmen, Verdi's Falstaff, Mozart's The Magic Flute, Britten's Billy Budd, Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor, Massenet's Thaïs, L.A. premiere of Wilson/Glass collaboration Einstein on the Beach.

New York City Opera opens its spring 2013 season with a new production of Powder Her Face (1995), composed by Thomas Adès (b.1971) to a libretto by Philip Hensher (b. 1965).

New York City Opera has announced the appointment of Myra Huang, whom Opera News has praised as 'among the top accompanists of her generation' and 'a colouristic tour de force,' as Head of Music Staff. The announcement comes on the eve of a 2013 season full of new productions, beginning with Thomas Adès' Powder Her Face, directed by Jay Scheib, February 15-23 at BAM.

Ravinia Festival today presented a "sneak peek" at its 2013 classical music concert season, which includes a performance of Vaughan Williams's Serenade to Music in celebration of the 25th th anniversary of Ravinia's Steans Music Institute, performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and vocalists from the festival's summer conservatory along with Itzhak Perlman on the same program; the return of pianist Lang Lang to the gala stage that launched him to superstardom; a commemoration of Verdi's bicentennial with Ravinia Festival Music Director James Conlon conducting the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus in a complete concert performance of Aida, this year's One Score, One Chicago selection; and the CSO performing Howard Shore's score to The Lord of the Rings-The Two Towers, while the entire film is broadcast on video screens in the pavilion and on the lawn-this has been the most requested CSO concert at Ravinia in decades, following the popularity of the trilogy's first film in concert here two summers ago.

Manhattan Saxophone Quartet, along with special guest performers Mika Godbole and Aleksandr Karjaka, will perform works by composers Jacob T.V., Lee Hyla, Quinn Collins, David Noon, and Inhyun Kim at the Leonard Nimoy Thalia theater at Symphony Space, (2537 Broadway, New York City) tonight, November 10th, 2012 at 7:30 pm.

Manhattan Saxophone Quartet, along with special guest performers Mika Godbole and Aleksandr Karjaka, will perform works by composers Jacob T.V., Lee Hyla, Quinn Collins, David Noon, and Inhyun Kim at the Leonard Nimoy Thalia theater at Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway, New York City on Saturday, November 10th, 2012 at 7:30 pm.

Manhattan Saxophone Quartet, along with special guest performers Mika Godbole and Aleksandr Karjaka, will perform works by composers Jacob T.V., Lee Hyla, Quinn Collins, David Noon, and Inhyun Kim at the Leonard Nimoy Thalia theater at Symphony Space, (2537 Broadway, New York City) on Saturday, November 10th, 2012 at 7:30 pm.

During the Los Angeles Philharmonic's 2012/13 season, four conductors will participate in the Dudamel Fellowship Program - Mirga Grazinyte-Tyla, Christopher Lees, Dietrich Paredes and Rafael Payare. Music Director Gustavo Dudamel, together with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, created the Dudamel Fellowship Program in 2009 to provide a unique opportunity for promising young conductors from around the world to develop their craft and enrich their musical experience through personal mentorship and participation in the LA Phil's orchestral, education and community programs.

The Collegiate Chorale, led by music director James Bagwell, announces its 71st Season, which will include three Chorale-presented concerts, five collaborative concerts, and a summer tour to the Verbier Festival.