James Conlon News

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.

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the crown jewel of Ravinia's summer classical programming, closes out their Ravinia summer residency in a concert led by Ravinia Music Director James Conlon in the Martin Theatre at 8 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 20. The performance features CSO soloists and includes Spohr's Nonet in F Major, Op. 31 and Schubert's Octet in F Major, D. 803. The concert also features a ticket and dining package for a special price of $75.

The editors of Opera News have announced the honorees for the 2012 Opera News Awards, paying tribute to five superb artists who have made an invaluable contribution to the art form: sopranos Mirella Freni and Dawn Upshaw, countertenor David Daniels, baritone Simon Keenlyside, and bass-baritone Eric Owens. The eighth annual Opera News Awards ceremony will take place on Sunday, April 21 at The Plaza in New York City. All the winners - and a host of the city's cultural, civic, and social luminaries - will be present at the gala awards dinner, which will feature celebrity presenters speaking about the awardees and introducing video performance clips.

Ravinia Music Director James Conlon leads a program with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and piano virtuoso Jean Yves Thibaudet at 8 p.m. tonight, Aug. 7, in all-French repertoire including Debussy's Two Nocturnes and La mer; and Ravel's Piano Concerto in G Major and Piano Concerto in D Major for the Left Hand. Thibaudet, who has appeared as a soloist with the world's greatest orchestras, was recently inducted into the Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame. The concert also features a ticket and dining package for a special price of $75.

Ravinia Music Director James Conlon leads a program with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and piano virtuoso Jean Yves Thibaudet at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 7, in all-French repertoire including Debussy's Two Nocturnes and La mer; and Ravel's Piano Concerto in G Major and Piano Concerto in D Major for the Left Hand. Thibaudet, who has appeared as a soloist with the world's greatest orchestras, was recently inducted into the Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame. The concert also features a ticket and dining package for a special price of $75.

Jon Kimura Parker and Vladimir Feltsman will step in for Denis Matsuev, who has cancelled his July 29 and July 30 Ravinia performances due to illness. Parker will perform a Martin Theatre recital at 8 p.m. on Monday, July 30, in a program featuring Prokofiev's Piano Sonata No. 3; his own arrangement of music from Stravinsky's Petrushka; Rachmaninoff' Prelude in G Minor; and Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition.

At 5 p.m. on Sunday, July 29, Ravinia Music Director James Conlon leads an all-Tchaikovsky program with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and piano virtuoso Denis Matsuev. Violin virtuoso Joshua Bell returns to perform with the CSO at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, July 25. The program will include the Overture to Barber's The School for Scandal, Op. 5, and Violin Concerto Op. 14; Shostakovich's Symphony No. 9 in E-flat Major, Op. 70; and Ravel's Tzigane Concert Rhapsody. Bell, who debuted with Riccardo Muti and the Philadelphia Orchestra at the age of 14, is a Grammy Award-winner and a Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame inductee. Soloists from the CSO appear in an intimate Martin Theatre concert at 8 p.m. on Monday, July 23, led by Conlon and featuring soprano Rachel Schutz in her Ravinia debut.

At 5 p.m. on Sunday, July 29, Ravinia Music Director James Conlon leads an all-Tchaikovsky program with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and piano virtuoso Denis Matsuev. Violin virtuoso Joshua Bell returns to perform with the CSO at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, July 25. The program will include the Overture to Barber's The School for Scandal, Op. 5, and Violin Concerto Op. 14; Shostakovich's Symphony No. 9 in E-flat Major, Op. 70; and Ravel's Tzigane Concert Rhapsody. Bell, who debuted with Riccardo Muti and the Philadelphia Orchestra at the age of 14, is a Grammy Award-winner and a Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame inductee. Soloists from the CSO appear in an intimate Martin Theatre concert at 8 p.m. on Monday, July 23, led by Conlon and featuring soprano Rachel Schutz in her Ravinia debut.

Tonight, July 19, one of the highlights of James Conlon's 2012 season at Ravinia will be the American premiere of Kurt Weill's first completed stage work, Magical Night. The pantomime will be staged by T. Daniel Productions (TDP) and is based on a scenario by Russian writer Wladimir Boritsch.

Segerstrom Center for the Arts will present LA Opera's Off Grand in a special concert performance of Giuseppe Verdi's The Two Foscari (I Due Foscari) on Monday, October 1 at 7:30 p.m. in the Renee and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall.

The latest in unauthorized gossip and buzz from the heart of Chicago's showtune video bars, and musical theater news from Chicago to Broadway. Patti LuPone, composer tributes, new musicals in Chicago and New York, 'Beauty And The Beast' and 'The Jungle Book,' yet another 'Reefer Madness' and more....

On July 19, one of the highlights of James Conlon's 2012 season at Ravinia will be the American premiere of Kurt Weill's first completed stage work, MAGICAL NIGHT. The pantomime will be staged by T. Daniel Productions (TDP) and is based on a scenario by Russian writer Wladimir Boritsch. Soprano Janai Brugger will perform in her Ravinia debut. Schreker's THE WIND will also be performed on this concert.

Ravinia's 2012 Gala Benefit Evening, entitled "Leading Ladies" and featuring celebrated stars Patti LuPone and Patricia Racette, honors the 50th anniversary of the festival's Women's Board at 7 p.m. on Saturday, July 21.

Fresh from a triumphant spring crowned by her 2012 Richard Tucker Award win, Ailyn Perez will spend her summer in the spotlight, headlining major productions with leading companies on both sides of the Atlantic. Her tour begins in Moscow, where she sings the role of Suzel in Mascagni's L'amico Fritz at the Moscow State Philharmonic Society (June 25). A brief stop in New York is highlighted by a special performance at the Greene Space (June 27) celebrating her Tucker Award win. From there, she heads to Ohio to sing Violetta in Verdi's La traviata at Cincinnati Opera (July 25-29), followed by performances as Pamina in Mozart's Die Zauberflote with the Chicago Symphony at Ravinia (Aug 16-18). The summer comes to a peak at the Salzburg Festival (Aug 23), when the lyric soprano reprises her star turn as Mimi in Puccini's La boheme.

Fresh from a triumphant spring crowned by her 2012 Richard Tucker Award win, Ailyn Perez will spend her summer in the spotlight, headlining major productions with leading companies on both sides of the Atlantic. Her tour begins in Moscow, where she sings the role of Suzel in Mascagni's L'amico Fritz at the Moscow State Philharmonic Society (June 25). A brief stop in New York is highlighted by a special performance at the Greene Space (June 27) celebrating her Tucker Award win. From there, she heads to Ohio to sing Violetta in Verdi's La traviata at Cincinnati Opera (July 25-29), followed by performances as Pamina in Mozart's Die Zauberflote with the Chicago Symphony at Ravinia (Aug 16-18). The summer comes to a peak at the Salzburg Festival (Aug 23), when the lyric soprano reprises her star turn as Mimi in Puccini's La boheme.

In a return engagement with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO), The Collegiate Chorale will perform 11 concerts in Tel Aviv and Haifa with the IPO under the baton of renowned conductors Zubin Mehta and Riccardo Muti. They will then travel with the IPO to Austria to make their Salzburg Festival debut, the first performance there by an American choir since the Chicago Symphony Chorus appeared in 1989.

The Collegiate Chorale presents Contemporary Voices tonight, May 21, 2012 at 7pm at St. Bartholomew's Church, 325 Park Avenue, NYC. The concert features five musical gems by 20th and 21st Century masters of choral composition. Single tickets start at $20 and are available online at collegiatechorale.org or by phone at The Chorale office at (646) 435-9465.