John Adams News

Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra (LACO) Music Director and celebrated pianist Jeffrey Kahane performs Bach's timeless Goldberg Variations, BWV 988, one of the most important and well-known works of the variation form ever composed, in LACO's Baroque Conversations series on Thursday, May 1, 2014, 7 pm, at Zipper Hall in downtown Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Times described a previous performance of this work by Kahane as a "luminous rendering [that] created an open window into the music's inner majesty, illuminating the complexities of Bach's compositional thinking while cruising impressively across its often stormy technical demands." A complimentary wine reception for all ticket holders begins at 6 pm.

The Colony Theatre is thrilled to present Ian Buchanan and Mariette Hartley starring in THE LION IN WINTER, written by James Goldman and directed by Stephanie Vlahos. THE LION IN WINTER will preview tonight, April 16; Thursday, April 17; and Friday, April 18 at 8:00pm and will open on Saturday, April 19 at 8:00pm and continue through Sunday, May 18 at The Colony Theatre, 555 N. Third Street (at Cypress) adjacent to the Burbank Town Center Mall.

Max McLean, Artistic Director of Fellowship for Performing Arts, announces that C.S. Lewis' THE GREAT DIVORCE will be presented from Thursday, June 5, through Sunday, June 15, at the Alliance Theatre, Woodruff Arts Center, 1280 Peachtree St. NE in Atlanta. This journey to Heaven and Hell is a provocative exploration of human nature, featuring vivid characters drawn with Lewis' trademark wit.

Usdan Center for the Creative and Performing Arts, the renowned summer arts day camp which has introduced the arts to more than 60,000 children, will present a special on-campus workshop on Thursday April 24 from 8 AM to 12 Noon at the Maurice Hexter Center, titled "A Morning of Clarinet 2014." The unique event, to be attended by 45 clarinet students from several Suffolk County school districts, will be taught by Liam Burke, an award-winning and fast-rising young clarinetist who has performed with the New York Philharmonic, the Mostly Mozart Orchestra, the Orchestra of St. Luke's and other major ensembles. Usdan Center is at 185 Colonial Springs Road in Wheatley Heights (Huntington), Long Island.

The opening concert of the University of Adelaide's Evenings@Elder Hall 6.30pm tonight, 12 April is an evening of piano wizardry delivered by two exceptional exponents of the keyboard, Clemens Leske and Daniel Herscovitch.

Music Theatre of Connecticut MainStage, Fairfield County's award-winning professional theatre company, concludes its 2013/2014 Season with 'The Fantasticks' a musical with book by Tom Jones, music by Harvey Schmidt, lyrics by Tom Jones and based on 'Les Romanesques' by Edmond Rostand. Performances are April 11 - May 4, Todays and Saturdays at 8pm, with matinees Saturdays at 4pm and Sundays at 2pm, at MTC MainStage Studio Theatre, 246 Post Road East (Colonial Green/Lower Level) in downtown Westport, CT. Tickets range from $25-$45 ($5 discount for seniors/students) and are available by calling 203.454.3883 or visiting www.musictheatreofct.com.

Miller Theatre at Columbia University School of the Arts concludes the 2013-14 Composer Portraits series with the music of Australian composer, Liza Lim, featuring International Contemporary Ensemble: Karina Cannellakis, conductor, Tony Arnold, soprano, Gareth Flowers, trumpet, Ross Karre, percussion, and Michael Nicolas, cello. The show is tonight, April 10, 2014 at 8:00 p.m. at the Miller Theatre.

The Los Angeles County Arts Commission announces the Ford Theatres 2014 summer season. Presented in the John Anson Ford Amphitheatre, the Ford lineup features returning favorites, exciting new additions, family friendly performances and fun interactive events. The season opens May 12 and runs through September 13. The full schedule is detailed below. Tickets can be purchased at FordTheatres.org or by calling (323) 461-3673.

Pacific Symphony's critically-acclaimed American Composers Festival (ACF) continues for the 14th year with "From Screen to Score: New Concert Music by Famous Film Composers"-who happen to be four of today's biggest Hollywood heavy-hitters: John Williams ("Star Wars," "Raiders of the Lost Ark," "E.T., the Extra Terrestrial"), Howard Shore ("Lord of the Rings," "The Hobbit," "Hugo"), James Horner ("Titanic," "Star Trek," "Apollo 13") and Elliot Goldenthal ("Alien 3," "Batman Forever" and "Batman and Robin"). Together, these iconic composers boast 11 Oscars and countless billions of box office dollars. They also hold the ironic position of simultaneously being the most-heard orchestral composers ever (the soundtrack for "Titanic" sold 30 million copies), yet their music is the least performed.

Spectrum presents composer/violinist Mari Kimura performing her own multi-lingual, interactive audio/visual mini-opera entitled ONE, joined by multi-lingual vocalist Jin-Xiang Yu and Cassatt String Quartet on Saturday, April 26th at 7:30pm.

Bernard Haitink will return to the New York Philharmonic to conduct two weeks of performances highlighting works by Austrian composers - Berg, Webern, and Mahler - and Beethoven, who spent much of his career in Austria. In the first program, Mr. Haitink will conduct Webern's Im Sommerwind, Berg's Violin Concerto with Leonidas Kavakos, and Beethoven's Symphony No. 3, Eroica, on Thursday, May 8, 2014, at 7:30 p.m.; Friday, May 9 at 8:00 p.m.; and Saturday, May 10 at 8:00 p.m. Bernard Haitink's appearances are part of an international, season-wide celebration of the 60th anniversary of his conducting debut with the Netherlands Radio Union Orchestra (now the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra) and his 85th birthday.

The Colony Theatre is thrilled to present Ian Buchanan and Mariette Hartley starring in THE LION IN WINTER, written by James Goldman and directed by Stephanie Vlahos. THE LION IN WINTER will preview on Wednesday, April 16; Thursday, April 17; and Friday, April 18 at 8:00pm and will open on Saturday, April 19 at 8:00pm and continue through Sunday, May 18 at The Colony Theatre, 555 N. Third Street (at Cypress) adjacent to the Burbank Town Center Mall.

Celebrating its 35th anniversary, the Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival will present a concert open to the public for the first time in New York this evening, April 8, 2014 at 7:45 p.m. at the DiMenna Center for Classical Music, Cary Hall, 450 West 37th Street, between Ninth and Tenth Avenues.

Conductor Michael Tilson Thomas, Boosey & Hawkes, the New World Symphony, and the San Francisco Symphony today announced composer Ted Hearne as the third annual New Voices composer. A recipient of the Gaudeamus Prize; ASCAP's Leonard Bernstein Award and Morton Gould Award; fellowships from the Barlow Endowment, the Fromm Music Foundation, and the American Academy of Arts and Letters; and two residencies at the MacDowell Colony, Ted Hearne has captured the attention of the classical, pop, and rock worlds. His collaborations with ensembles such as the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Brooklyn Philharmonic, and the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), and artists like Erykah Badu have earned him praise from musicians and critics. Also a singer, Hearne has been called a 'vocal hellion' by Time Out Chicago, and The Los Angeles Times has said, 'No single artist embodies the post-genre Brooklyn scene, but Hearne may be its most zealous auteur.'

Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra's (LACO) Music Director Jeffrey Kahane conducts the world premiere of This Ease by composer Hannah Lash as well as the LACO debut of Natasha Paremski, proclaimed a 'spectacular pianist' (American Record Guide), performing Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 2 in F minor, Op. 21, on Saturday, April 26, 8 pm, at Glendale's Alex Theatre, and Sunday, April 27, 2014, 7 pm, at UCLA's Royce Hall. Also on the program is Haydn's buoyant Symphony No. 102 in B-flat major. USC Thornton School of Music violin performance major Kenneth Liao, winner of the annual LACO-Thornton Strings Mentorship Audition, joins LACO's violin section for these concerts.

Max McLean, Artistic Director of Fellowship for the Performing Arts, announces that C.S. Lewis' THE GREAT DIVORCE will be presented at the Capitol Theatre at the Riffe Center, 77 South High Street in Columbus, for three performances only on Friday, April 11 at 8 p.m. and Saturday, April 12 at 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. This journey to Heaven and Hell is a provocative exploration of human nature, featuring vivid characters drawn with Lewis' trademark wit.

The 2014 New York Philharmonic Concerts in the Parks, presented by Didi and Oscar Schafer, will return for the 49th season with five free outdoor concerts, conducted by Music Director Alan Gilbert, in Prospect Park, Brooklyn (July 9); Cunningham Park, Queens (July 10); the Great Lawn in Central Park, Manhattan (July 11 and 14); and Van Cortlandt Park, Bronx (July 15). In addition, New York Philharmonic musicians will perform a Free Indoor Concert at the Center for the Arts, College of Staten Island, CUNY (July 13).

The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and Music Director Edo de Waart conclude the 2014 Beethoven Festival with Beethoven's Symphony No. 7 on April 4-6, 2014 at the Pabst Theater. The performances also include Stravinsky's Symphonies of Wind Instruments (1947 revision) and John Adams's Violin Concerto featuring violinist Leila Josefowicz.

Yale Repertory Theatre, in a co-production with Berkeley Repertory Theatre, presents the world premiere of The House that will not Stand by Marcus Gardley, directed by Patricia McGregor. The House that will not Stand will be performed at Yale Repertory Theatre (1120 Chapel Street) April 18-May 10. Opening Night is Thursday, April 24.