Jessye Norman News

10 On Tuesday with Doug Peck

Classical Roots is an important Detroit Symphony Orchestra tradition.  For 37 years, the Classical Roots concert has celebrated African-American contributions to classical music.  Tonight, guest conductor Roderick Cox leads NEA Jazz Master Branford Marsalis and soprano Laquita Mitchell in paying tribute to Jessye Norman and the late Dr. Silas Norman Jr, with a program featuring Gershwin, Marsalis' own composition, and more.

Paper Mill Playhouse has announced casting for its spring musical, Pump Boys and Dinettes. This Tony Award nominee features James Barry (Jim), Gabe Bowling (Jackson), Julie Foldesi (Prudie), Jason Ostrowski (L.M.), Alysha Umphress (Rhetta) and Sam Weber (Eddie).  Pump Boys and Dinettes is conceived and written by John Foley, Mark Hardwick, Debra Monk, Cass Morgan, John Schimmel and Jim Wann. Pump Boys and Dinettes will be directed by John Foley with choreography by JoAnn M. Hunter. Pump Boys and Dinettes will run eight times a week at the Millburn, New Jersey, theater from April 6 through May 1, 2016. The official press opening night is Sunday, April 10, at 7:00pm. Paper Mill Playhouse's 2015-2016 Season is proudly sponsored by Investors Bank.

The New York chapter of the National Society for Arts and Letters is holding a musical theatre competition for young performers between the ages of 18 and 26. First place chapter winners will be sent, all expenses paid, to the national competition in Phoenix, Arizona, May 19-22, 2016. Those who compete at the national competition have the opportunity to win a first place award of $10,000, along with a series of other significant awards. Performers must demonstrate exceptional talent and promise of future success.

Following a worldwide search for the most outstanding young talents in dance, literature, theatre and visual arts, Rolex recently announced the finalists who will be introduced to the respective mentors - Ohad Naharin (dance), Mia Couto (literature), Robert Lepage (theatre) and Joan Jonas (visual arts) - in the 2016-2017 Rolex Mentor and Protege Arts Initiative.

(WASHINGTON)—Washington National Opera (WNO) continues its 60th anniversary season with Leah Crocetto in Recital, featuring the celebrated star of last season's Dialogues of the Carmelites, today, February 26, 2016 at 7 p.m. in the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater. Accompanied by acclaimed pianist Mark Markham, Ms. Crocetto will perform art songs by Strauss, Duparc, and Barber, as well as popular opera arias and a few of her favorite jazz standards.

  Grammy Award-winning pianist Emanuel Ax returns to Carnegie Hall for four performances this spring, first joining celebrated violinist Pamela Frank for a program of Mozart violin sonatas on Tuesday, March 15 at 7:30 p.m. in Zankel Hall.

Vancouver Bach Choir concludes its monumental 85th anniversary season with J. S. Bach's St. Matthew Passion, March 19, 7:30pm at The Orpheum. Celebrated as a pinnacle accomplishment in music history, 'The Great Passion' will be gloriously illuminated by the venerable symphonic choir alongside the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, and a cast of internationally acclaimed soloists.

Acclaimed American soprano Renee Fleming performs in recital with pianist Olga Kern on Wednesday, March 9 at 8:00 p.m. in Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage. The program includes Robert Schumann's Frauenliebe und -leben, Op. 42, Debussy's Ariettes oubliees, and a selection of songs by Rachmaninoff. Ms. Fleming and Ms. Kern close their program with five songs by jazz musician and composer Patricia Barber.

(WASHINGTON)—Washington National Opera (WNO) continues its 60th anniversary season with Leah Crocetto in Recital, featuring the celebrated star of last season's Dialogues of the Carmelites, on Friday, February 26, 2016 at 7 p.m. in the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater. Accompanied by acclaimed pianist Mark Markham, Ms. Crocetto will perform art songs by Strauss, Duparc, and Barber, as well as popular opera arias and a few of her favorite jazz standards.

Milwaukee's Next Act theater needs to be filled to overflowing and sold out each performance this winter for their new production: Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992. Artistic Director David Cecsarini co-directs the play with Jonathan Smoots in a compelling evening where 37 characters, individuals, appear on stage courtesy of a spectacular theatrical company  The six actors represent the diverse human milieu affected by the Rodney King beating, and then the subsequent looting and riots devastating Los Angeles in 1992. 

The Los Angeles Master Chorale, led by Artistic Director Grant Gershon, presents two performances of Verdi's towering Requiem, a work National Public Radio calls a 'thrilling opera in disguise,' with acclaimed guest soloists Amber Wagner, soprano, Michelle DeYoung, mezzo soprano, Issachah Savage, tenor, and Morris Robinson, bass, today, January 30, 2 pm, and tomorrow, Sunday, January 31, 2016, 7 pm, at Walt Disney Concert Hall. A stunningly theatrical staple of the choral repertoire, Verdi's work is a tumultuous, tortured, terrifying spectacle that has thrilled audiences since its debut in 1874.

The Los Angeles Master Chorale, led by Artistic Director Grant Gershon, presents two performances of Verdi's towering Requiem, a work National Public Radio calls a "thrilling opera in disguise," with acclaimed guest soloists Amber Wagner, soprano, Michelle DeYoung, mezzo soprano, Issachah Savage, tenor, and Morris Robinson, bass, on Saturday, January 30, 2 pm, and Sunday, January 31, 2016, 7 pm, at Walt Disney Concert Hall.  A stunningly theatrical staple of the choral repertoire, Verdi's work is a tumultuous, tortured, terrifying spectacle that has thrilled audiences since its debut in 1874.  

On Sunday, January 17, Opera Index will present its 37th Distinguished Achievement Award to Dolora Zajick, a true dramatic mezzo-soprano, acclaimed by The New York Times as “a mezzo in a class by herself,” at a gala evening beginning at 6 p.m. at JW Marriott Essex House, 160 Central Park South.

JCC Manhattan presents the fall season finale of PREformances with Allison Charney on Monday, December 14th at 12:30pm. In this unique concert series, you will hear celebrated classical musicians just before their performances on the world's most prestigious stages removing traditional barriers between performer and audience.

Paper Mill Playhouse (Mark S. Hoebee-Producing Artistic Director, Todd Schmidt-Managing Director) released a block of great seats today for the final two weeks of the holiday hit, A Christmas Story: The Musical. The musical will run eight times a week at the Millburn, New Jersey theater and has best availability from December 23, 2015 thru January 3, 2016. Based on the popular 1983 film, A Christmas Story: The Musical has a book by Joseph Robinette with music and lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul.  A Christmas Story: The Musical will be directed by Brandon Ivie and choreographed by Mara Newbery Greer. Paper Mill Playhouse's 2015-2016 Season is proudly sponsored by Investors Bank.

Today, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation's largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) civil rights organization, announced that the multi-talented artist Bill T. Jones will be honored at the 2016 Greater New York Gala Dinner

MasterVoices, formerly The Collegiate Chorale, was honored at the Martina Arroyo Foundation's11th Annual Gala.MasterVoices was recognized along with American couture designer Joanna Mastroianni and The Michel Maurel award-winner Ernst Rieser. Brian Kellow and Terrance McKnight hosted the gala, with performances by the young artists of Prelude to Performance, Jennifer Rowley, Michele Angelini and Cecilia Violetta Lopez (both featured in the October issue of Opera News), as well as other special guests.

Paper Mill Playhouse's holiday show, A CHRISTMAS STORY: THE MUSICAL, based on the popular 1983 film, has a book by Joseph Robinette with music and lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul. A CHRISTMAS STORY: THE MUSICAL will be directed by Brandon Ivie and choreographed by Mara Newbery Greer. A CHRISTMAS STORY: THE MUSICAL will run eight times a week at the Millburn, New Jersey, theater from tonight, November 25, 2015, through January 3, 2016. The official press opening night is Sunday, November 29, at 7:00pm.

Both sides of this versatile performer can be seen onstage in his upcoming Act of a Lifetime - Cheaper Than Therapy at Manhattan's premier cabaret club, Don't Tell Mama. Accompanied by music director Christopher Howatt, Al will regale audiences with stories and anecdotes from his career as an actor and performer, drawing on standards from the stage and screen to tell his story.