Kathleen Battle News

Recently retired piano and conducting faculty member Frank Winkler has performed and taught a wide range of musical styles, from the classic to the contemporary, but he has found the people, from professional musicians to teaching colleagues to students of all ages, the most rewarding aspect of his career.

On Sunday night, the Tony Awards honored legendary orchestrator and arranger Harold Wheeler with one of three 2019 Lifetime Achievement Awards. Wheeler is currently represented on Broadway with AIN'T TOO PROUD - THE LIFE AND TIMES OF THE TEMPTATIONS. Watch Howard Wheeler accept the 2019 Lifetime Achievement Award here.

After an exciting week of classical guitar performances, Christopher Parkening and Pepperdine University announced the winner of the fifth quadrennial Parkening International Guitar Competition. The competition, the world's preeminent guitar competition, took place from Tuesday, May 28 through Saturday, June 1, 2019.

Compagnia de' Colombari, an international collective of performing artists founded and directed by Karin Coonrod, presents More Or Less I Am: a music-theater piece drawn entirely from Walt Whitman's revolutionary free verse long poem, 'Song of Myself,'one of the original twelve pieces that comprise his 1855 collection Leaves of Grass. The next performance in this series, spanning multiple venues throughout the five boroughs, will take place on Sunday, May 26, 2019, 7:30 pm at Fort Greene Park, Brooklyn.  

According to the New York Times, actress Rosemary Harris, musician Harold Wheeler and playwright Terrence McNally will all be honored with Lifetime Achievement Awards at the 2019 Tonys.

Compagnia de' Colombari, an international collective of performing artists founded and directed by Karin Coonrod,celebrates the bicentennial of the birth of America's most influential poet, Walt Whitman, with a revival of their acclaimed production More Or Less I Am. Performances begin May 18, 2019 at multiple venues throughout the five boroughs, with most performances being free and open to the public. More information can be found at www.colombari.org.

​​​​​​​Five Boroughs Music Festival (5BMF) and the Brooklyn Art Song Society (BASS) present collaborative pianist Martin Katz in a three-event series, entitled Hugo Wolf: The Complete Mörike-Lieder, featuring two presentations and a free masterclass (open to the public) on the following dates:

Five Boroughs Music Festival (5BMF) and the Brooklyn Art Song Society (BASS) present collaborative pianist Martin Katz in a three-event series, entitled Hugo Wolf: The Complete Morike-Lieder, featuring two presentations and a free masterclass (open to the public)

Steeped in old-school swing, Latin jazz, funk and Ray Charlesian soul-blues, bristling with hotshot soloists, the Christian McBride Big Band has redefined the sound of big band music for the 21st Century.  Now, iconic jazz bassist, composer and arranger, Christian McBride, brings to The Soraya stage his 17-piece nsemble for one-night only on Friday, April 26 at 8pm. 

Following yesterday's highly competitive semifinal competition, nine singers will advance to the final phase of the 65th annual Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, America's largest vocal competition. The winners will receive individual cash prizes of $15,000, while the remaining finalists will receive prizes of $7,500.

Dark Circles Contemporary Dance's 2018-19 Season continues with its Spring Series including the commission of a world premiere by the highly sought-after choreographer Sidra Bell, founder of the internationally recognized Sidra Bell Dance New York. A new creation by internationally award-winning choreographer and Dance Magazine "25 to Watch" Joshua L. Peugh featuring Tejas Dance-a Bharatanatyam Indian classical dance duo-closes the evening. Performances will run March 22 - 24, 2019 at WaterTower Theatre.

Composer, arranger, and conductor, David Berger, is recognized internationally as a leading authority on the music of Duke Ellington and the Swing Era. Conductor and arranger for the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra from its inception in 1988 through 1994, Berger has transcribed more than 750 full scores of classic recordings, including more than 500 works by Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn. Several of these transcriptions in addition to a number of original arrangements are featured in last season's Broadway hit, After Midnight.

Los Angeles Children's Chorus (LACC), one of the world's leading children's choirs, celebrates the holidays with its annual Winter Concert, entitled "Winter Wonderland: Sounds of the Season," which marks the first stand-alone program led by the Chorus' new Artistic Director, Fernando Malvar-Ruiz, on two consecutive Sundays, December 9 and 16, 2018, at 7:30 pm, at Pasadena Presbyterian Church. Some 250 choristers are featured in the multi-media vocal program, which is geared for people of all ages and includes an array of favorite carols, seasonal songs from Venezuela and winter-themed works by Bach, Kodaly, Elgar, Verdi, Saint-Saens and others.

World-renowned opera singer and Broadway star Alyson Cambridge will perform a special holiday solo concert, accompanied by pianist Michael Fennelly, at Carnegie Hall's beautiful Weill Recital Hall on Sunday, November 25 at 7:30PM.

Following four sold-out performances of Joshua L. Peugh's Aladdin, Habibi in the Elevator Project at AT&T Performing Arts Center in October, Dark Circles Contemporary Dance (which is being featured as WaterTower Theatre's Guest Company in Residence) moves to Addison Theatre Centre-the company's new home theatre for 2019-for a Winter Series featuring three world premieres centering on gay identity in America. The new works will explore gay narratives, themes, and ideas and will be performed by a mostly queer company of dancers. Dark Circles has commissioned budding gay choreographers Mark Caserta, Eoghan Dillon, and Mikey Morado for the program. A new creation by Peugh-in collaboration with queer multimedia artist Brian Kenny-closes the evening. Performances will run January 24 - 27, 2019 at Addison Theatre Centre.

Opera isn't my go-to art form, I'll admit it.  In fact, I don't know many people who truly appreciate opera music nor do they understand what it actually takes to become a successful opera singer.  It's an art that often goes unnoticed because of the stereotypes that it is long, boring, difficult to understand, unrelatable, and only for old, rich people.  But if music is a universal language, and I truly believe this to be true, then why do we insist that we cannot understand and then listen to all forms of music except for this one?  I recently had the honor of speaking with two artists who are radically trying to change the scene, and make opera music accessible to everyone.

Segerstrom Center for the Arts presents Rob and Friends - A Little Night Music, an evening of songs from Broadway and film musicals featuring Pacific Chorale Artistic Director Rob Istad, eight Pacific Chorale singers and an instrumental ensemble in three performances November 8-10, 2018 at 7:30pm. Rob and Friends - A Little Night Music follows last season's triumphant performances of 100 Years of Bernstein.

Nicole Cabell and Alyson Cambridge, celebrated American sopranos and close friends, record together for the first time on 'Sisters in Song,' a new Cedille Records album of opera duets and specially commissioned duet arrangements of classical songs, African-American spirituals, and a folk tune, accompanied by the Lake Forest Symphony conducted by Vladimir Kulenovic.

Dr. David DiChiera, Founder and long-time General Director of Michigan Opera Theatre (MOT), died today at his home in Detroit with his family by his side. He was 83 years old and had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in March, 2017.