Michael Tilson Thomas News

Oakland, CA, August 13, 2015 – The Oakland Symphony opens its 22nd season with a new name and a West Coast premiere by Bay Area composer Mason Bates Friday, October 2, at 8 pm at the Paramount Theatre in Oakland. The program, with Music Director and conductor Michael Morgan on the podium, includes the Bates's Devil's Radio, Prokofiev's Violin concerto with guest soloist and young Bay Area artist Kenneth Renshaw, selections from Brahms' Liebeslieder Waltzes with the Oakland Symphony Chorus conducted by Lynne Morrow, who celebrates her tenth year with the Chorus, and Rachmaninoff's Symphonic Dances. The Oakland Symphony 2015-2016 season is sponsored by the California Arts Council, Art Works, the National Endowment for the Arts, the City of Oakland and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. The season opening concert is sponsored by Wells Fargo. For more information and tickets, priced $15-$75 and on sale August 15, visit www.oaklandsymphony.org .

Do you remember classic pop/rock songs of the 1970s such as 'Do It Again,' 'My Old School,' and 'Reeling In the Years?' If those tunes are swirling around in your head it's because they were big hits of the period by the iconic rock group Steely Dan. The founding member of that great band, guitarist extraordinaire Denny Dias, will take the stage at New York's popular jazz club IRIDIUM this week, August 6 and 7 for Denny Dias & Friends, a show that will celebrate the music of Steely Dan and showcase a few of his Denny's original songs. Joining Denny will be two special guests: Celebrated pianist/composer/music director Yaron Gershovsky and popular singer Lisa Jason as the show's lead vocalist. Performances of Denny Dias & Friends will be at 8 pm and 10 pm each night. Tickets are $30 per show (with a $15 food and drink minimum) and can be purchased at http://theiridium.com/reservations/ or by calling 212-582-2121.

PITTSBURGH – The official symphony concert world tour Distant Worlds: music from FINAL FANTASY arrives at Heinz Hall tonight, August 1 at 8 p.m. as part of the Summer with the Symphony series.

In the summer of 2015 the New York Philharmonic will undertake its first performance residencies in Shanghai, as part of the Shanghai Orchestra Academy and Residency Partnership, and at the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara.

His enthusiasm is contagious...his credentials world-class...his virtuosity astounding! Internationally celebrated pianist Jeffrey Siegel and his Keyboard Conversations returns to the Harris Center for the Arts in Folsom as part of the new 2015-2016 season.

PITTSBURGH – The official symphony concert world tour Distant Worlds: music from FINAL FANTASY arrives at Heinz Hall on Saturday, August 1 at 8 p.m. as part of the Summer with the Symphony series.

In the summer of 2015 the New York Philharmonic will undertake its first performance residencies in Shanghai, as part of the Shanghai Orchestra Academy and Residency Partnership, and at the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara.

Do you remember classic pop/rock songs of the 1970s such as "Do It Again," "My Old School," and "Reeling In the Years?" If those tunes are swirling around in your head it's because they were big hits of the period by the iconic rock group Steely Dan. The founding member of that great band, guitarist extraordinaire Denny Dias, will take the stage at New York's popular jazz club IRIDIUM on August 6 and 7 for Denny Dias & Friends, a show that will celebrate the music of Steely Dan and showcase a few of his Denny's original songs. Joining Denny will be two special guests: Celebrated pianist/composer/music director Yaron Gershovsky and popular singer Lisa Jason as the show's lead vocalist. Performances of Denny Dias & Friends will be at 8 pm and 10 pm each night. Tickets are $30 per show (with a $15 food and drink minimum) and can be purchased at http://theiridium.com/reservations/ or by calling 212-582-2121.

Baltimore, Md. (June 17, 2015) -Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO) Assistant Conductor Nicholas Hersh will lead the orchestra in their annual Independence Day celebrations at Oregon Ridge Park tonight and tomorrow, July 3 and 4 at 8 p.m.

The New York Youth Symphony (NYYS), composed of orchestra, chamber, jazz, conducting, and composition programs-heads into the 2015/16 season having provided over 5,000 music students between ages 12 and 22 unparalleled opportunities to perform at world-class venues including Carnegie Hall and Jazz at Lincoln Center and to study with world-renowned artists, all tuition-free. Beyond the instruction from accomplished musicians, students gain valuable life skills-commitment, discipline, focus, collaboration-and friendships that last a lifetime. 

Reagle Music Theatre of Greater Boston continues its 47th consecutive summer season with the hilariously entertaining Kiss Me, Kate, from July 9-19, 2015 at the Robinson Theatre (617 Lexington St. Waltham, MA, 02452). Starring Broadway couple Sarah Pfisterer as Lilli Vanessi/Kate (The Phantom of the Opera, Reagle's My Fair Lady) and Rick Hilsabeck as Fred Graham/Petruchio (Billy Elliot, Reagle's My Fair Lady), Cole Porter's hilarious musical recounts the madcap backstage and onstage antics of two feuding couples during a production of The Taming of the Shrew. Reagle will close out its summer season from August 6-16 with Wonderful Town, starring Katie Anne Clarke and Jennifer Ellis. Individual tickets range from $35 to $63; season subscriptions and group tickets are available at a discount. Tickets can be purchased at www.reaglemusictheatre.com, by calling 781-891-5600, or at the theater box office.

Baltimore, Md. (June 17, 2015) –Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO) Assistant Conductor Nicholas Hersh will lead the orchestra in their annual Independence Day celebrations at Oregon Ridge Park on July 3 and 4 at 8 p.m.

As part of the New York Philharmonic's celebrations marking the 50th anniversary of its historic Concerts in the Parks, the Philharmonic will present Share the Stage in Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx, and Staten Island, inviting local musicians to perform on the stage in their home boroughs before the Orchestra's performances.

The Boston Symphony Orchestra and Music Director Andris Nelsons have entered into a new partnership to create Classical Live, a unique initiative that offers a new paradigm for the distribution of live recordings of classical music available only on Google Play Music. Classical Live will offer participating orchestras—the BSO, Cleveland Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, London Symphony Orchestra, and Amsterdam's Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra—an opportunity to release up to four live concert recordings each season for download exclusively on Google Play Music with the first recordings to be made available at music.google.com or classical-live.com beginning on June 15.  

 The Dallas Opera is proud to announce the names of the six distinguished professionals selected to participate in the inaugural session of the Institute for Women Conductors at The Dallas Opera:

As part of the New York Philharmonic's celebrations marking the 50th anniversary of its historic Concerts in the Parks, the Philharmonic will present Share the Stage in Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx, and Staten Island, inviting local musicians to perform on the stage in their home boroughs before the Orchestra's performances.

PITTSBURGH - Revel in two of Beethoven's most notable and majestic works during the Pittsburgh Symphony's BNY Mellon Grand Classics: BeethovenFest: The Immortal June 5-7. It features the composer's violin concerto and Symphony No. 9, with its famous "Ode to Joy." 

Jo Schuman Silver, producer of Steve Silver's Beach Blanket Babylon, announced today the three Bay Area high school winners of the The Steve Silver Foundation & Beach Blanket Babylon 'Scholarship for the Arts.'

SAN FRANCISCO- (June 2, 2015) Jo Schuman Silver, producer of Steve Silver's Beach Blanket Babylon, announcedtoday the three Bay Area high school winners of the The Steve Silver Foundation & Beach Blanket Babylon "Scholarship for the Arts."