Leon Botstein News

The 27th annual Bard Music Festival - an exploration of 'Puccini and His World' - opens this Today, August 5 with Weekend One: Puccini and Italian Musical Culture.

The 27th annual Bard Music Festival - an exploration of 'Puccini and His World' - opens this Friday, August 5 with Weekend One: Puccini and Italian Musical Culture.

The Orchestra Now (TON), the visionary master's degree program and pre-professional training orchestra founded in 2015 by Bard College and conductor, educator, and music historian Leon Botstein, will open its impressive second season, comprising five series, at Bard College on September 24.

The New Amsterdam Singers (NAS), led by Music Director Clara Longstreth, will present its final program of the season, titled The Good Earth: New Music for the Land and Its Fragile Glory, with concerts Sunday, May 22, 2016 at 4:00 P.M. at the Church of the Holy Trinity, 316 East 88th Street, and Wednesday, May 25, 2016 at 8:00 P.M. at Saint Ignatius of Antioch Episcopal Church, 554 West End Avenue (at 87th Street.)

-This summer marks another historic milestone for the annual Bard SummerScape festival. For the first time since its founding, this season's focus is on the music and culture of Italy, with seven weeks of music, opera, theater, dance, film, and cabaret keyed to the theme of the 27th Bard Music Festival, "Puccini and His World." This intensive examination of the life and times of Giacomo Puccini opens a window onto Italy's rich musical heritage from Palestrina to Menotti, by way of the most popular and successful - yet, paradoxically, frequently critically underrated - opera composer of all time. Complementing the music festival, some of the Tuscan master's most compelling compatriots provide other key SummerScape highlights.

This summer marks another historic milestone for the annual Bard SummerScape festival. For the first time since its founding, this season's focus is on the music and culture of Italy, with seven weeks of music, opera,theater, dance, film, and cabaret keyed to the theme of the 27th Bard Music Festival, "Puccini and His World." This intensive examination of the life and times of Giacomo Puccini opens a window onto Italy's rich musical heritage from Palestrina to Menotti, by way of the most popular and successful - yet, paradoxically, frequently critically underrated - opera composer of all time. Complementing the music festival, some of the Tuscan master's most compelling compatriots provide other key SummerScape highlights. These include a rare, fully staged production of Iris, a forerunner of Madama Butterfly by Puccini's close contemporary Pietro Mascagni; the world premiere of Demolishing Everything with Amazing Speed, four newly unearthed puppet plays from leading Italian Futurist Fortunato Depero, as reimagined by Dan Hurlin;the world premiere of Fantasque, a new ballet set to the music of Respighi and Rossini by John Heginbotham and Amy Trompetter; a film series on "Puccini and the Operatic Impulse in Cinema"; and the return of Bard's authentic and sensationally popularSpiegeltent,hosted by the inimitable Mx. Justin Vivian Bond. Taking place between July 1 and August 14 in the Frank Gehry-designed Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts and other venues on Bard College's stunning Hudson River campus, SummerScape's 2016 offerings provide new opportunities to discover that, as Time Out New York puts it, "the experience of entering the Fisher Center and encountering something totally new is unforgettable and enriching." Tickets go on sale on Monday, February 15; click here for more information.

Next week at the Metropolitan Museum will be a premiere inspired by the Met's Percussion Collection, and a performance of Lincoln's Favorite Shakespeare.

Next week at the Metropolitan Museum will be a premiere inspired by the Met's Percussion Collection, and a performance of Lincoln's Favorite Shakespeare.

The New Amsterdam Singers, led by Music Director Clara Longstreth, will present a program titled The Mass, The Dance, The Feast: Celebrations from Bach to Britten, Today, December 11, 2015 at 8:00 p.m., and Sunday, December 13, 2015, at 4:00 p.m. at Immanuel Lutheran Church, 122 East 88th Street.

The New Amsterdam Singers, led by Music Director Clara Longstreth, will present a program titled The Mass, The Dance, The Feast: Celebrations from Bach to Britten, Friday, December 11, 2015 at 8:00 p.m., and Sunday, December 13, 2015, at 4:00 p.m. at Immanuel Lutheran Church, 122 East 88th Street.

Following the success of its first series at City Winery in the 2014-15 season, cp2 (Chicago Philharmonic Chamber Players) returns to the venue for a fall series pairing unique mixed instrumental groups with vocalists. Three one-hour programs at noon on October 25, November 22, and December 20 each feature a different singer showcasing styles including classical, soul, and jazz. Brunch will be available for purchase before and during the performances, and patrons are encouraged to dress casually.

Following the success of its first series at City Winery in the 2014-15 season, cp2 (Chicago Philharmonic Chamber Players) returns to the venue for a fall series pairing unique mixed instrumental groups with vocalists. Three one-hour programs at noon on October 25, November 22, and December 20 each feature a different singer showcasing styles including classical, soul, and jazz. Brunch will be available for purchase before and during the performances, and patrons are encouraged to dress casually.

Simon Ghraichy, the 29-year-old, prize-winning, Paris-based, Lebanese-Mexican pianist, is set to appear at The Bard Music Festival today, August 8, through August 16. Additionally, Simon will be launching a new CD, 'DUELS,' on September 30, and making his Carnegie Hall debut Thursday, October 15.

Simon Ghraichy, the 29-year-old, prize-winning, Paris-based, Lebanese-Mexican pianist, is set to appear at The Bard Music Festival August 8 - 16. Additionally, Simon will be launching a new CD, 'DUELS,' on September 30, and making his Carnegie Hall debut Thursday, October 15.

The New York Philharmonic will present the U.S. Premiere of director Co?me de Bellescize's staging of Honegger's dramatic oratorio Joan of Arc at the Stake in season-finale performances conducted by Alan Gilbert and starring Academy Award-winning actress Marion Cotillard as Joan of Arc.

American Symphony Orchestra's AMERICAN VARIATIONS concert will celebrate the centenary of Pulitzer Prize-winning American composer George Perle in a special program.

American Symphony Orchestra's AMERICAN VARIATIONS concert will celebrate the centenary of Pulitzer Prize-winning American composer George Perle in a special program.

Conductor K. Scott Warren, the acclaimed Choir and Orchestra of St. Ignatius Loyola and a lineup of exceptional vocal soloists perform one of classical music's most revered works.

Conductor K. Scott Warren, the acclaimed Choir and Orchestra of St. Ignatius Loyola and a lineup of exceptional vocal soloists perform one of classical music's most revered works.

The critically acclaimed young cellist Nicholas Canellakis will make his Carnegie Hall Stern Auditorium debut on April 19, 2015, at 2pm as soloist with the American Symphony Orchestra under its music director, Leon Botstein.