Justin Hopkins News

With thrilling acrobatics, classic films and timeless music, the sublime sounds of the holidays from the Grand Rapids Pops are sure to make spirits bright.

Back by popular demand, The Snowman, the classic animated film, returns to Grand Rapids to inspire children of all ages and open the Grand Rapids Symphony's 2018-19 DTE Energy Foundation Family Series.

Bridge Records is issuing the first complete recording of Marc Blitzstein's signature creation, the opera The Cradle Will Rock.  The new recording features Blitzstein's original 1937 orchestrations and was recorded live at Opera Saratoga in July 2017. The performance features a stellar cast including Ginger Costa-Jackson as Moll; Keith Jameson as Harry Druggist; Christopher Burchett as Larry Foreman; Audrey Babcock as Mrs. Mister; and Matt Boehler as Mr. Mister.

This year's Wawa Welcome America festival, a weeklong July 4 celebration, will honor the 40th anniversary of The Philly POPS and its contributions to the community through its music education program and concert series honoring the military, veterans, and first responders.

This year's Wawa Welcome America festival, a weeklong July 4 celebration, will honor the 40th anniversary of The Philly POPS and its contributions to the community through its music education program and concert series honoring the military, veterans, and first responders.

A pillar of the choral repertoire, Brahms' Ein deutsches Requiem, Op. 45, is paired with contemporary works by Pulitzer Prize-winning composers David Lang and Caroline Shaw in the Los Angeles Master Chorale's final concerts of its 2017/18 season on Saturday, June 9 at 2 PM and Sunday, June 10 at 7 PM at Walt Disney Concert Hall. The concerts will feature the West Coast premiere of Lang's where you go and open with Shaw's Fly Away I. The performances will be conducted by Grant Gershon, Kiki & David Gindler Artistic Director, and feature the full 100-voice chorus and LA Master Chorale Orchestra.

The Philly POPS announced today that Memorial Salute - Philadelphia's only concert in honor of Memorial Day - returns to the Mann Center for the Performing Arts on May 26, 2018 and the public may sign-up for FREE tickets.

On December 1, the Philly POPS will open its Christmas concert season with the Fourth Annual Comcast NBCUniversal I'll Be Home for Christmas: A Salute to the Military and First Responders. At this annual benefit concert, the POPS hosts 2,000 members of the military, veterans, police and fire departments, and their families. The concert is presented in partnership with the USO, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the City of Philadelphia, and the Philadelphia Police and Fire Departments.

Philly's favorite holiday tradition KeyBank presents A Philly POPS Christmas: Spectacular Sounds of the Season returns to the Kimmel Center stage with eleven performances December 1-19. POPS Music Director Michael Krajewski will conduct an all-new, festive musical program, featuring the 65-piece POPS orchestra, Philly's own guest vocalist Justin Hopkins, Macy's organist Peter Richard Conte, the Philly POPS Festival Chorus, the Philadelphia Boys Choir and the African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas Gospel Choir. Santa is also expected to arrive with gifts and song.

On December 1, the Philly POPS will open its Christmas concert season with the Fourth Annual Comcast NBCUniversal I'll Be Home for Christmas: A Salute to the Military and First Responders. At this annual benefit concert, the POPS hosts 2,000 members of the military, veterans, police and fire departments, and their families. The concert is presented in partnership with the USO, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the City of Philadelphia, and the Philadelphia Police and Fire Departments.

Opera Saratoga's Artistic and General Director Lawrence Edelson announced today complete casting for the three exciting new productions that will comprise the company's 2017 Summer Festival, which will build on the company's commitment to producing masterpieces from the operatic cannon, important American works, and works in which dance plays an integral role. In addition, a wide variety of free and ticketed concert events will be presented from May 28th through July 16th at venues throughout the region.

Opera Saratoga presents a new production of Marc Blitzstein's The Cradle Will Rock, directed and choreographed by Lawrence Edelson, and conducted by noted Maestro John Mauceri (company debut), who has been responsible for many significant operatic restorations, including Blitzstein's Regina.

Opera Saratoga's Artistic and General Director Lawrence Edelson announced today complete casting for the three exciting new productions that will comprise the company's 2017 Summer Festival, which will build on the company's commitment to producing masterpieces from the operatic cannon, important American works, and works in which dance plays an integral role. In addition, a wide variety of free and ticketed concert events will be presented from May 28th through July 16th at venues throughout the region.

Opera Saratoga's Artistic and General Director Lawrence Edelson announced today complete casting for the three exciting new productions that will comprise the company's 2017 Summer Festival, which will build on the company's commitment to producing masterpieces from the operatic cannon, important American works, and works in which dance plays an integral role. In addition, a wide variety of free and ticketed concert events will be presented from May 28th through July 16th at venues throughout the region.

Opera Saratoga's Artistic and General Director Lawrence Edelson announced today complete casting for the three exciting new productions that will comprise the company's 2017 Summer Festival, which will build on the company's commitment to producing masterpieces from the operatic cannon, important American works, and works in which dance plays an integral role. In addition, a wide variety of free and ticketed concert events will be presented from May 28th through July 16th at venues throughout the region.

Opera Saratoga's Artistic and General Director Lawrence Edelson announced today complete casting for the three exciting new productions that will comprise the company's 2017 Summer Festival, which will build on the company's commitment to producing masterpieces from the operatic cannon, important American works, and works in which dance plays an integral role. In addition, a wide variety of free and ticketed concert events will be presented from May 28th through July 16th at venues throughout the region.  

The Philly POPS announced its 2017/18 concert season today. Subscriptions for the new season go on sale at noon.

Opera Saratoga's Artistic and General Director Lawrence Edelson announced today complete casting for the three exciting new productions that will comprise the company's 2017 Summer Festival, which will build on the company's commitment to producing masterpieces from the operatic cannon, important American works, and works in which dance plays an integral role. In addition, a wide variety of free and ticketed concert events will be presented from May 28th through July 16th at venues throughout the region.

I first heard about Kurt Weill's final musical masterpiece, LOST IN THE STARS, when I was studying his body of work during my senior year at CSUN. It was at a time, such as now, when society was being torn apart by opposing political forces, protests filled the streets, and racial inequality was being challenged in the wake of Dr. Martin Luther King's assassination. And I have been waiting since then to see a production of the "musical tragedy" which opened on Broadway in 1949, just one year prior to Weill's death at age 50, at a time when segregation was still rampant in America. I am thrilled to report my wish came true last weekend at UCLA's Royce Hall when the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, in partnership with CAP UCLA, presented the first Los Angeles performance since the 1950s of LOST IN THE STARS.

Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, in partnership with CAP UCLA, presents the first Los Angeles performance since the 1950s of LOST IN THE STARS Kurt Weill's powerful, uncompromising social indictment of apartheid-era South Africa, on Today, January 28, 8 pm, and Sunday, January 29, 2017, 7 pm, at UCLA's Royce Hall.