Richard Strauss News

Santa Fe Opera's General Director Charles MacKay and General Director Designate Robert Meya announced today the repertory, principal singers, conductors, directors, and designers for the company's 63rd season in 2019, along with updates to the 2018 season, which opens June 29. Joining MacKay and Meya were Santa Fe Opera Board of Directors President Susan G. Marineau, and Director of Education and Community Programs Andrea Fellows Walters.

National Endowment for the Arts Chairman Jane Chu has approved more than $80 million in grants as part of the NEA's second major funding announcement for fiscal year 2018.  Included in this announcement is an Art Works grant of $40,000 to Orpheus Chamber Orchestra to launch a 2019 nationwide tour and further their education and community initiatives. The Art Works category is the NEA's largest funding category and supports projects that focus on the creation of art that meets the highest standards of excellence, public engagement with diverse and excellent art, lifelong learning in the arts, and/or the strengthening of communities through the arts.

Oscar, Tony, and Emmy Award winner Al Pacino and Oscar nominee Jessica Chastain make their debuts on streaming service BroadwayHD on Thursday, May 3, 2018 with the critically acclaimed production of Oscar Wilde's Salome. The Los Angeles Times said that the film "proves a chilling and watchable look at lust, power, reprisal and decadence."

Orpheus Chamber Orchestra returns to Central Park's Naumburg Bandshell on Tuesday, June 26, 2018 at 7:30pm for a free concert presented by Naumburg Orchestral Concerts. The festive summer program features Mendelssohn's A Midsummer Night's Dream, Op. 21/61 arranged by Andreas Tarkmann; the New York premiere of Othmar Schoeck's Summer Night, Pastoral Intermezzo for Strings, Op. 58, inspired by the Gottfried Keller poem of the same name; and Beethoven's String Quartet in F Minor, Op. 95 "Serioso" arranged by Mahler. The evening is hosted by WQXR's Jeff Spurgeon and will be live-streamed on WQXR and their website.

Another all-star cast has been assembled for the third concert in this landmark 18th season of Town Hall's signature series, Broadway by the Year. The next concert in the series is on May 21st at 8pm & will star Tony-nominee Carolee Carmello, 4-time Grammy-winner John Easterlin, Drama Desk nominee Cheryl Freeman, Luke Grooms (Jerry Springer: The Opera), Douglas Ladnier (Jekyll & Hyde), Maxine Linehan (South Pacific), Kyle Selig (Mean Girls), Oakley Boycott (Bells Are Ringing), Joshua Israel (Annie) and more to be announced soon!

Oscar, Tony, and Emmy Award winner Al Pacino and Oscar nominee Jessica Chastain make their debuts on streaming service BroadwayHD on Thursday, May 3, 2018 with the critically acclaimed production of Oscar Wilde's Salome. The Los Angeles Times said that the film 'proves a chilling and watchable look at lust, power, reprisal and decadence.'

The Cleveland Orchestra and Baldwin Wallace University Conservatory of Music have announced a special residency partnership for the 2018-19 season and academic year. This collaborative residency will provide educational opportunities for Baldwin Wallace music and arts administration students led by Cleveland Orchestra musicians, conductors, and administrative staff.

Chief Executive Officer Tania Castroverde Moskalenko announces the Auditorium Theatre's 2018-19 Season, which includes exciting premieres, inspiring speakers, innovative contemporary artists, and legendary performers.

Folks Operetta is proud to announce its 2018 season and a new fundraising campaign, The Korngold Initiative. All of these projects are part of their new Reclaimed Voices Series, which focuses on recovering and reviving the lost music of the Jewish composers of the Second World War. 

The Salzburg Festival comes to Los Angeles for a screening of festival founder Max Reinhardt's 1935 film A Midsummer Night's Dream. Presented as part of the 2018 Los Angeles Jewish Film Festival, the program includes a pre-film panel discussion featuring Dr. Helga Rabl-Stadler, President of the Salzburg Festival. The discussion and screening will take place on Thursday, April 26 at the Landmark Regent in Los Angeles's Westwood neighborhood, beginning at 7:00 p.m.

One of the great singers of her generation, renowned for her extraordinary voice and musical versatility, American opera singer and recitalist Jessye Norman has been chosen as The Twelfth Glenn Gould Prize Laureate.  Throughout her career, the sheer size, power and luster of her voice has shared equal acclaim with that of her thoughtful music-making, innovative programming of the classics, and fervent advocacy of contemporary music.  More than forty years after making her operatic debut, Jessye Norman continues to maintain a busy performance schedule, now concentrating on recitals and concerts.

Mint Theater (Jonathan Bank, Producing Artistic Director) will present a rare reading of Ferenc Molnar's Liliom for one night only, on Monday, June 11 at 7pm at Theatre Row (410 West 42nd Street).

The University Musical Society (UMS), under the leadership of President Matthew VanBesien, today announces its 140th season in 2018-19 with an initial slate of 40 performances and events. One of the country's most acclaimed performing arts presenters, UMS honors its past by showcasing respected ensembles and performers with whom it has enjoyed rich relationships, and fully embraces the future as initiator, incubator, and accelerator for innovative new works and projects. This potent combination infuses the anniversary season with dynamic and diverse voices and perspectives featuring artists at the top of their game - celebrating the canon, taking risks, moving genres in new directions, disrupting stereotypes, and surprising audiences.

The Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra announces its 25th Anniversary Gala Celebration, featuring a kaleidoscope of live performances highlighting music and programs of the Orlando Philharmonic, an elegant cocktail hour, a fabulous three-course dinner, a live auction, and dancing at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday, May 5 at the Hilton Orlando, 6001 Destination Parkway, Orlando. Attire is Black Tie.

Semyon Bychkov will return to the New York Philharmonic to conduct two weeks of programs, including the 50th anniversary of a Philharmonic commission, artist debuts, and symphonic cornerstones. In the first week, Mr. Bychkov will conduct Mendelssohn's Piano Concerto No. 1, with soloist Bertrand Chamayou in his Philharmonic debut; Shostakovich's Symphony No. 5; and Brahms's Tragic Overture, Thursday, May 17, 2018, at 7:30 p.m.; Friday, May 18 at 8:00 p.m.; Saturday, May 19 at 8:00 p.m.; and Tuesday, May 22 at 7:30 p.m. 

Slovak conductor Juraj Valcuha returns to Houston to lead the Houston Symphony and pianist Evgeni Bozhanov in Chopin's poetic Piano Concerto No. 2 April 26 and 28 at 8 p.m. and April 29 at 2:30 p.m. at Jones Hall.

Rafael Payare's highly anticipated inaugural concerts as San Diego Symphony's Music Director Designate take place as part of the annual January Festival. It will mark his only Jacobs Masterworks appearance this season and will feature acclaimed cellist Alisa Weilerstein and the orchestra's first-ever performance of Benjamin Britten's Symphony for Cello and Orchestra. He will also perform in a special Discovery Night concert on January 10, with all funds from this concert going to support the San Diego Symphony's Learning and Community Engagement programs.

San Diego Symphony's programs have been announced for this spring. Please see below for  all remaining performances of the 2017-18 downtown season that will conclude at the end of May.

Through the backing of the AEP-China Project - an innovative cultural and arts expansion program jointly initiated by Maestro Long Yu, the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra and Volkswagen Group China - eight of the leading musicians from the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra arrived in Shanghai for a one-week teaching experience at the Shanghai Orchestra Academy (SOA). The musicians hosted the 'Volkswagen Group China Music Night' concert, in which they performed together with SOA students on the evening of March 16th. The next day, they performed some of Mozart's most well-known works with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Lin Daye, showcasing to Shanghai audiences the inspiration that led to the creation of the some of the best pieces of German classical music.

The Dallas Opera is both pleased and proud to announce that, after an international search supported by Arts Consulting Group, TDO has hired Kentucky Opera General Director Ian Derrer to become the eighth general director in its history, effective this July.