John Williams News

The Oakland Symphony, Michael Morgan Music Director and conductor, will be joined by guest violinist Kelly Hall-Tompkins—currently on Broadway as the Fiddler in Fiddler on the Roof-- and members of its acclaimed Oakland Symphony Youth Orchestra for Lost Romantic Symphonies Friday, November 18, at 8 pm at the Paramount Theatre. The concert will feature Hall-Tompkins performing the U.S. premiere of Siegfried Matthus' new violin concerto, Dream of a Summer Night, along with John Williams' Theme from Schindler's List and Fiddler on the Roof. The program also includes Joachim Raff's rarely performedSymphony No. 3, and the Oakland Symphony Youth Orchestra, back from its Cuban Tour, will join the Symphony for Gershwin's Cuban Overture. The concert will be preceded by a talk by John Kendall-Bailey at 7 pm that is free to ticket holders and the entire evening is sponsored by The Grubb Company. Tickets are priced $25-$80 and may be purchased at www.oaklandsymphony.org or by calling 510-444-0802.

Showcasing its three original ensemble members--clarinetist Kathryne Pirtle, violinist Florentina Ramniceanu and pianist Diana Schmuck--The Orion Ensemble, winner of the prestigious Chamber Music America/ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming, presents 'Serenade by Three: Orion Beginnings.' Performances take place at First Baptist Church of GenevaNovember 6; the Music Institute of Chicago's Nichols Concert Hall in Evanston November 13; and the PianoForte Studios in downtown Chicago November 16.

Musica Viva NY-a chamber choir of thirty professionals and highly skilled volunteers dedicated to creating imaginative programs that offer joy, solace, renewal and inspiration in a busy world-presents Heroes and Dragons: J.S. Bach and the Epic Cantata on Sunday, December 4 at 5:00 p.m. at All Souls Church. 

It takes guts to write a parody of 1970s disaster movies. After all, AIRPLANE!, the parody of the AIRPORT series, is one of the most beloved comedies of all time. It also takes guts to write a 1970s jukebox musical. A show you may have heard of called MAMMA MIA! ran for nearly 14 years and 6,000 performances. Nevertheless, into this field of exclamation points flew DISASTER!, a parody of 1970s disaster movies...and a 1970s jukebox musical. The show, co-written by multi-hyphenate Seth Rudetsky (who also plays one of the main roles) and director Jack Plotnick, was perhaps a bit slim for the past Broadway season. Its silliness, specificity, and lack of original songs may have caused it to struggle amid the powerhouse shows surrounding it, and it closed in May after 72 performances. But it did receive some enthusiastic reviews, and in particular acclaim for the breakout performance of Jennifer Simard, who was nominated for a Tony for her performance of a nun with a gambling addiction. (Her big moment in the show, singing 'Never Can Say Goodbye' to a HAWAII FIVE-O-themed slot machine, can be viewed online.) Now Simard will be accompanying the show to London. In the meantime, we have Broadway Records' DISASTER! cast album, which contains 28 (!) songs from the show.

The Folk Music Society of NY presents John Doyle, in concert, Today, Oct. 14th, 2016 8:00PM (doors open 7:30) at St. John's Church, 81 Christopher Street, Manhattan. Contribution: $25; Folk Music Society of NY members, $20; children under 15, full time students $15. Tickets at the door or on line: http://johndoyle.eventbrite.com

For the first time in its history, EVITA, this revolutionary Andrew Lloyd Webber/Tim Rice musical is being produced by Cabrillo Music Theatre. 

The music may not be the first thought that comes to mind when it comes to the hit 1990 movie, "Home Alone"-the highest-grossing live-action-comedy film of all time in the U.S.-but it will soon! It's not just another "movie night" when Pacific Symphony's Pops brings the exemplary "Hollywood" sound of the orchestra to the hilarious and heart-warming comedy classic starring Macaulay Culkin as 8-year-old troublemaker, Kevin McCallister.

On Sunday, November 13, South African guitarist Derek Gripper will perform One Night on Earth, a program of West African kora-inspired music at the Princeton Symphony Orchestra's Fall Musicale fundraiser. The event will take place in one of the newest performance spaces in the area, the historic chapel at The Princeton Abbey.

Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the concert hall, Film Concerts Live! announces Jaws in Concert, the fourth in their series of blockbuster films by legendary director Steven Spielberg developed especially for presentation in concert venues

On Sunday, November 13, South African guitarist Derek Gripper will perform One Night on Earth, a program of West African kora-inspired music at the Princeton Symphony Orchestra's Fall Musicale fundraiser.

The award-winning Equity professional East Lynne Theater Company presents two events in time for Halloween: "Poe by Candlelight" on Saturday, October 22 at 8:00p.m. and the Alfred Hitchcock silent thriller "The Lodger" on Sunday, October 23 at 8:00p.m., both at The First Presbyterian Church, 500 Hughes Street in Cape May, where the theater is in residence.

The Sydney Symphony Orchestra announced today that they will perform Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone on the 27 & 28th of April as part of the Harry Potter Film Concert Series. The concert will feature the live symphony orchestra performing, to picture, every note from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.  Audiences will be able to relive the magic of the film in high-definition on a giant screen while hearing the orchestra perform John Williams' unforgettable score. Tickets go on sale Saturday 15 October at 9am via sydneysymphony.com and (02) 8215 4600.

Itzhak Perlman will return to the New York Philharmonic to conduct and perform Beethoven's Romances Nos. 1 and 2 for Violin and Orchestra, and to conduct Brahms's Symphony No. 4 and Academic Festival Overture, Tuesday, November 15, 2016, at 7:30 p.m.

Swashbucklers and superheroes have reason to celebrate Halloween in style this year with the Utah Symphony's pair of entertainment concerts in the month of October. Tickets start at $12 for "Spooktacular on the Seven Seas!" and $21 for "Superheroes!" and can be purchased at www.utahsymphony.org or by calling (801) 533-6683.

 On Saturday evening, November 5, 2016, The Cleveland Orchestra will join with Beachwood High School to dedicate the school's newly renovated auditorium and celebrate the school system's outstanding music education programs.  This concert is made possible by the Alfred Lerner In-School Performance Fund, created through a gift to The Cleveland Orchestra's endowment by Mrs. Norma Lerner and the Lerner Foundation.  Tickets for the free concert will be available on the Beachwood Schools website at www.beachwoodschools.org/clevelandorchestra.aspx. 

Music Director Alan Gilbert will conduct the New York Philharmonic in Beethoven's Symphony No. 5; Bartok's Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta; and Ligeti's Mysteries of the Macabre, for Trumpet and Orchestra, featuring Principal Trumpet Christopher Martin in his Philharmonic solo debut, Today, October 5, 2016, at 7:30 p.m.

The Oakland Symphony, Michael Morgan Music Director and conductor, will be joined by guest violinist Kelly Hall-Tompkins - currently on Broadway was as the Fiddler in Fiddler on the Roof -- and members of its acclaimed Oakland Symphony Youth Orchestra for Lost Romantic Symphonies Friday, November 18, at 8 pm at the Paramount Theatre.

Due to the ongoing strike by its musicians, upcoming concerts through October 27 must be canceled, Pittsburgh Symphony Inc. announced today.

POLICE COPS is pastiche on a grand scale, taking the buddy cop genre, putting a self-aware spin on it and playing tropes that were once taken extremely seriously to the very edge of sheer lunacy. The results are hilarious, as though THE MOD SQUAD were taking on IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT in the WILD WILD WEST at RUSH HOUR.

Today, the American Federation of Musicians, Local 60-471 negotiating committee representing musicians of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (PSO), rejected the last, best and final offer from the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Inc. (PSI) for a three-year contract.