Mark Anthony News

Well, it's that time of the year again--time for a look-back on what was worth making note of during the calendar year that's about to come to an end. It's from a totally personal, subjective point of view, of course, but frankly that's the way opera-lovers always seem to like it, n'est-ce pas? The productions worth noting come from places big, small and in-between, from composers old as the hills to freshly minted or somewhere in between (likewise the performers), from traditional or boldly modern to simply stand up and sing.

I hope somebody from New York City Opera was at BAM last weekend, because Mark-Anthony Turnage's GREEK--a modern retelling of the Oedipus myth from Scottish Opera/Opera Ventures, presented by BAM's Next Wave Festival--is just what the doctor ordered for that company. A great story, a small cast, a score that maybe won't leave you humming but moves like gangbusters, a simple production that doesn't look cheesy (except maybe in a mozzarella-ish way). And, oh yes, a happy audience for a work that deserves greater reach on these shores.

The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center starts its 2019 winter/spring season in Alice Tully Hall with two exciting performances. The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses, a Meet the Music!concert for families based on Paul Goble's haunting tale of a Native American girl who understands horses on a mystical level, will be presented on January 13. Led by series creator and host Bruce Adolphe, the performance features flutist Sooyun Kim, clarinetist Romie de Guise-Langlois, cellist Mihai Marica, pianist David Kaplan, percussionist Eduardo Leandro, and a free instrumental petting zoo in the lobby for kids. It will be followed by Esteemed Ensemble, which reunites close friends and colleagues pianist Wu Han, violinist Daniel Hope, violist Paul Neubauer, and cellist David Finckel,performing piano quartet classics by Suk, Brahms, and Dvo?ak on January 27 and 29.

Long-time westsider musicians Mari Kimura (violinist/composer) and Bruce Brubaker (piano) will join up for 'CODEX to CAGE' an eclectic concert program in the heart of Upper West Side on Monday, December 10 at 7:30 PM at North of History, 445 Columbus Avenue (81-82 Street).  Kimura will perform solo violin works ranging from Bach to Ioanis Xenakis to works of her own. Brubaker, who heads the Piano program at the New England Conservatory and is a renowned interpreter of Philip Glass and Terry Riley, will perform works from his repertoire, including 'Codex Faenza,' a 15th-century manuscript that Brubaker has arranged. Kimura and Brubaker will join forces in their interpretation of John Cage's 'Fontana Mix' to conclude the concert.

John Berry CBE is proud today to announce Scenario Two, a brand-new commercial theatre venture created with fellow creative industries heavyweight Anthony Lilley OBE, with support from Stephen Garrett and Max Hole CBE.

On the streets of north London, Eddy, a modern-day Oedipus, dreams of a better life. After hearing a fortune teller's disturbing prediction, he resolves at all costs to avoid shagging his own mum. But sure enough he finds himself in the prophetically maternal arms of an East End café manager and the very incestuous bed he sought to avoid.

The Royal Opera presents a stunning new production of Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel - the perfect operatic treat for the festive period. This exquisite adaptation of the well-known Brothers Grimm fairytale is staged by director and designer Antony McDonald, who crafts a picture-book production to bring this darkly enchanting story to vivid life.

The Boston Symphony Orchestra returns to Carnegie Hall's Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage this season, led by Music Director and Conductor Andris Nelsons, for two concerts featuring notable soloists.

Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts announced today that Kim Pensinger Witman, Vice President of Opera and Classical Programming, has announced her intention to retire in February 2019  after 22 years of leading Wolf Trap's nationally renowned opera and classical music programs. Witman will be succeeded in the role by Lee Anne Myslewski, who has served Wolf Trap since 2006 as Director, Artistic Administration.

Jamaican artist Mark Anthony Hill is proud to present 'The Journey,' a solo art show of his new original paintings on exhibit in NYC from October 11th - 15th, 2018. The opening reception will be today, October 11th, 2018, from 6-9 pm at One Art Space Gallery, located at 23 Warren Street in lower Manhattan.

Jamaican artist Mark Anthony Hill is proud to present 'The Journey,' a solo art show of his new original paintings on exhibit in NYC from October 11th - 15th, 2018. The opening reception will be on Thursday, October 11th, 2018, from 6-9 pm at One Art Space Gallery, located at 23 Warren Street in lower Manhattan.

The Royal Opera House today opens the doors to its transformed new home, following an extensive three-year construction project.

The Apollo Theater today announced special guests and additional programming for Say It Loud - I'm Black and I'm Proud at 50, a one-night-only concert produced by the Apollo Theater and curated by musical director and multi-Grammy Award winner Christian McBride.

The World Soundtrack Academy announces  first wave of the 2018 World Soundtrack Award Nominees, which includes multiple Academy Award® winners and nominees, the best of contemporary film and television music as well as Pulitzer prize winner Kendrick Lamar and other pop artists. 

Thirty years after composer Mark-Anthony Turnage and director Jonathan Moore's trailblazing opera Greek premiered at the ENO, it's apparent from this new production, part of Arcola Theatre's Grimeborn Opera Festival 2018, that it's lost none of the punchy, punk attitude that made it such an innovative tour-de-force.

Highlights this season include world premieres from Steve Reich, Unsuk Chin, Christopher Rouse, and Louis Andriessen, as well as major stage productions from Tod Machover and Meredith Monk.

As part of the 2018 Next Wave Festival, BAM and Onassis Cultural Center New York will present Speaking Truth to Power, a fall series of theater productions, conversations, and film screenings that explores the concept of free speech as a form of resistance, and examines the challenges facing individuals, societies, and movements that seek to employ it. While freedom of speech is considered a cornerstone of our democratic freedoms, ancient Greeks wrestled with the extent to which the power to speak freely could degrade the very institutions designed to protect that right. The debate about the role of truth--who is able to speak it and the potential dangers posed to our society when it is either permitted or restricted--rages on.

What sounded like a gramophone played Christmas Island as the audience shuffled inside the second-story stage of the Lonny Chapman Theatre. Wind-blown debris and leaves adorned the entire stage and a tree snapped in half sat upstage. Patio furniture, newspapers and pipes helped set the scene of the Keller Family's backyard in August 1947. This was Arthur Miller's ALL MY SONS.

The Group Rep presents Arthur Miller's 1947 award-winning American drama ALL MY SONS, directed by Linda Alznauer, produced by Diane Frank and Linda Alznauer for the Group Rep. How far would a man go to protect his family, his interests, and his legacy?  Re-visit this exquisitely written, post-war play depicting the tragic downfall of an American family caught in a web of lies, greed, love, and loss, and asking its audience examine their own social responsibilities to all the sons of American wars. ALL MY SONS runs June 30 - August 5 at the Lonny Chapman Theatre, in North Hollywood, CA 91601 (at the edge of the NoHo Arts District).

On the streets of north London, Eddy, a modern-day Oedipus, dreams of a better life. After hearing a fortune teller's disturbing prediction, he resolves at all costs to avoid shagging his own mum. But sure enough he finds himself in the prophetically maternal arms of an East End café manager and the very incestuous bed he sought to avoid.