Richard King News

The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust announced today that there have been special additions to the 4th Annual Pittsburgh JazzLive International Festival taking place in the heart of Pittsburgh's Downtown Cultural District this summer. The free festival consists of three days of jazz and jazz-influenced musical performances on outdoor stages and attracts more than 20,000 attendees from around the country.

San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM), Oberlin Conservatory of Music and Sonoma State University's Green Music Center today announced The National Brass Ensemble Project, a partnership formed to present a newly created group, the National Brass Ensemble, in a week-long residency taking place June 9 - 14, 2014 in Rohnert Park and San Rafael, California. The Ensemble, a singular collection of musicians from across the United States, features 24 leading brass players and two percussionists from the Boston Symphony, Chicago Symphony, Cleveland, Detroit Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia and San Francisco Symphony orchestras.

The Cleveland Orchestra has announced its 2014-15 season. Music Director Franz Welser-Möst's programs include Bach's Mass in B minor, and Brahms's Piano Concertos with Yefim Bronfman as soloist. Mr. Welser-Möst continues his long-standing tradition of opera performances at Severance Hall with concert performances of Richard Strauss's rarely heard opera Daphne. Guest artists returning to Severance Hall include Lang Lang, Christian Tetzlaff, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, and Mitsuko Uchida, and conductors Charles Dutoit, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, and Fabio Luisi. The Orchestra celebrates the 90th birthday of Pierre Boulez in three programs conducted by Franz Welser-Möst.

Jack Cooper, production editor at Poets Wear Prada, today announced the official launch of 'Lapidary' a new full-length collection of 'formal verse' by poet Richard Marx Weinraub inspired by gemstones. 'This book has been a long time coming: Richard's previous full-length collection, 'Wonder Bread Hill,' appeared in 2002 - just over a decade ago. Craft continues to precede him; curiosity propels encyclopedic and astral projections of his subject. Natural science, supernatural myth, popular culture, historic events, wit, insight, and chutzpah, with pick, detonation, and loupe, by turns, tease 'Lapidary's uncanny combination of unearthed and unearthly detail into an array of forty-six poetical gems - from amber to zircon - that speak their remarkable stories - and ours. These are poems to read and re-read. They are perfect! 'Lapidary' is singular - on a shelf by itself. Hail, Richard, King of Marx!' said Cooper. Eduardo C. Corral, author of 'Slow Lightning,' winner of the 2012 Yale Younger Poets Prize, called these poems 'beautiful and peculiar.' 'Weinraub cracks open craft to reveal humane interiors. Fixed forms with meter and rhyme, tenderly chiseled, deftly sculpted, pulse with regret, joy and a hundred other sentiments. ... These poems 'forge a new world out of stone,' a landscape populated by jade, garnet, and onyx with time-rich thoughts, blood-rich emotion,' said Corral. Edward Odwitt, Connecticut writer and illustrator, described 'Lapidary' as 'an original and brilliant collection of poems that offers insights into the various states of human nature through the voices of different stones. This book is a must have, and it will be avidly read for years to come.' 'In 'Lapidary' - stones, semi-precious, precious - stones talk to you, skillfully, convincingly and you believe them, you believe them!' said Thomas Lux, acclaimed poet and teacher, and Bourne chair in poetry at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Roxanne Hoffman, publisher, said 'We're delighted to receive such enthusiastic response to the book. The poetry rocks! All the stones are 'precious' here - whether rock crystal or diamond, garnet or ruby, agate or emerald. Richard has taken the 'stodginess' out of 'formal verse'; he employs its fixed and traditional patterns as a master diamond cutter would - to transform a seeming dull gray rock to its inherent sparkling beauty. Bravo!' 'Lapidary' is Weinraub's second book project with Poets Wear Prada. 'Heavenly Bodies,' a limited-edition illustrated chapbook of twelve poems, was released in 2008 by the Hoboken-based press. It included 'Persephone's Dream' which was nominated for a 2009 Pushcart prize. 'Wonder Bread Hill,' his 'sonovella' (a novella written in sonnets), was published by the University of Puerto Rico Press in 2002. A political thriller based on what may be the most explosive event in recent Puerto Rican history - the 1978 murder of two young radicals on Cerro Maravilla (Wonder Hill) and the trial that ensued - Weinraub's 140 sonnets were translated into Spanish by Elidio La Torre Lagares. A Spanish edition, Maravilla Rebanada, was published by Terranova Editores in 2009. Related to the Marx Brothers through his mother, Richard Marx Weinraub was born in New York City in 1949. He was Professor of English at the University of Puerto Rico from 1987 through 2010. His poetry has appeared in many journals including 'The Paris Review,' 'Asheville Poetry Review,' 'South Carolina Review,' 'The Hampden-Sydney Poetry Review,' 'Green Mountains Review,' 'North American Review,' 'Slate,' and 'River Styx.' Founded in 2006, Poets Wear Prada publishes beautifully designed, well-crafted books of poetry from Sinatra's hometown, Hoboken, the birthplace of professional baseball. 'Lapidary' by Richard Marx Weinraub (Hoboken: Poets Wear Prada, 2013), 70 pages, ISBN- 10: 0615833225, ISBN-13: 978-0615833224, list price: $15.00, is available in paperback from Amazon Books and other popular booksellers.

The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust confirmed that Studio Florentijn Hofman's The Rubber Duck Project will begin its departure on Sunday, Oct. 20.

Cleveland Orchestra has announced its concerts and events for October 2013. Details below!

Cleveland Orchestra has announced its concerts and events for October 2013. Details below!

Studio Florentijn Hofman's The Rubber Duck Project has ignited crazes in Hong Kong, Sydney and other international locales and now makes its U.S. debut in Pittsburgh for the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust's International Festival of Firsts.

The Drama Desk will present its Summer Panel Discussion on Monday, June 17th at 6:30 pm at the Pope Auditorium on the Lincoln Center campus of Fordham University. Entitled “Making My Broadway Debut,” the panel will feature stars of screen and television discussing their Broadway debuts.

Music Director Jacques Lacombe and the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra present Tchaikovsky's mighty Fifth Symphony on a concert program that features the East Coast premiere of Steven Mackey's Stumble to Grace Concerto for Piano and Orchestra with pianist Orli Shaham. The Orchestra performs the Princeton University professor's concerto as part of the New Jersey Roots Project, which celebrates the music of composers whose artistic identity has been influenced by their time in the Garden State.

Friday through Sunday, April 26-28, Millersville University will present; a university theatre production of Behind the Eye by Carson Kreitzer, an annual spring concert by the university's Flute Choir and Guitar Ensemble, and "Dueling Harpsichords" which will feature the university's Anita Renfroe and guest harpsichordist Sonia Lee.

Music Director Jacques Lacombe and the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra present Tchaikovsky's mighty Fifth Symphony on a concert program that features the East Coast premiere of Steven Mackey's Stumble to Grace Concerto for Piano and Orchestra with pianist Orli Shaham. The Orchestra performs the Princeton University professor's concerto as part of the New Jersey Roots Project, which celebrates the music of composers whose artistic identity has been influenced by their time in the Garden State.

The Cleveland Orchestra has announced its 2013-14 season. Music Director Franz Welser-Most will introduce a Fall Festival, pairing symphonies by Beethoven and Shostakovich, and an all-Brahms weekend with two programs featuring Brahms's Violin Concerto and his Second and Fourth Symphonies. Mr. Welser-Most brings opera back to Severance Hall, with a semi-staged production of Janacek's The Cunning Little Vixen. Guest artists returning to Severance Hall include Leon Fleisher, Mitsuko Uchida, Radu Lupu, and conductors Christoph von Dohnanyi, Pierre Boulez, and Herbert Blomstedt. The Orchestra celebrates the 100th anniversary of the birth of Benjamin Britten with performances of his Spring Symphony, Violin Concerto, and Serenade for Tenor, Horn, and Strings.

Beginning at 4 p.m., three hours before the main awards show, the pre-telecast ceremony announced awards in 70 additional categories, including Best Musical Theater Album. In other theatre-related news, Safe & Sound (From The Hunger Games) by T Bone Burnett, Taylor Swift, John Paul White & Joy Williams beat SMASH's Let Me Be Your Star by Marc Shaiman & Scott Wittman for Best Song Written For Visual Media .

The Cleveland Orchestra announces the appointment of Mark Williams as director of artistic planning. Mr. Williams will be responsible for managing all aspects of artistic planning and programming at The Cleveland Orchestra, including managing all artist relations, programming, and presentations at Severance Hall and the Blossom Festival. He will begin his duties with the Orchestra on January 7, 2013.

The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust will launch Pittsburgh JazzLive International, a new jazz festival on June 3-5, 2011, in the Cultural District.

The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust will launch Pittsburgh JazzLive International, a new jazz festival on June 3-5, 2011, in the Cultural District.

The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust will launch Pittsburgh JazzLive International, a new jazz festival on June 3-5, 2011, in the Cultural District.