Robert Aldridge News

OPERA America, the national service organization for opera, is pleased to announce it has awarded grants to nine opera companies through its Opera Fund: Repertoire Development grant program. These grants provide vital financial support to opera companies developing new North American opera and music-theater works.

The Brevard Music Center (BMC) will open its 2014 season on Saturday, June 21, with the Music Center debut of one of the true superstars of classical music – violinist Itzhak Perlman. A Kennedy Center Honoree and multiple Grammy winner, Perlman's 50-year career has included performances with the world's top orchestras, television and film appearances, and concerts for heads of state including Queen Elizabeth II and President Obama. Perlman will join BMC Artistic Director Keith Lockhart and the Brevard Music Center Orchestra for an evening of his most well-loved works from film, television and classical repertoire.

Fort Worth Opera (FWOpera) revealed today the names of the eight composer and librettist teams from the Americas whose works have been selected for participation in the second season of the company's critically-acclaimed, annual new works program, Frontiers, taking place May 8 – 9, 2014, during the last week of the 2014 Opera Festival.

New York City Opera opens its spring 2013 season with a new production of Powder Her Face (1995), composed by Thomas Ades (b.1971) to a libretto by Philip Hensher (b. 1965).

OPERA America, the national service organization for opera, has announced that it has awarded grants to 10 opera companies and four teams of artists through two funding programs: The Opera Fund: Repertoire Development and the Robert L.B. Tobin Director-Designer Showcase. These grants support the production of new North American opera and help develop the careers of promising directors and designers, respectively.

Fort Worth Opera (FWOpera) announced today a call for submissions for its second annual Frontiers new works showcase to be held during the 2014 Fort Worth Opera Festival. A pioneering leader in the production of contemporary opera, FWOpera launched Frontiers in the 2012-2013 season. One of the only programs world-wide designed to seek out unproduced works by up-and-coming composers from North, South, and Central America, the showcase provides composers and librettists a platform by which to gain exposure for their pieces in a live performance environment while also affording them valuable networking opportunities with industry professionals, including artistic directors of opera companies, artist managers, classical music publishers, funding organizations, and conductors.

New York City Opera opens its spring 2013 season with a new production of Powder Her Face (1995), composed by Thomas Adès (b.1971) to a libretto by Philip Hensher (b. 1965).

On World AIDS Day, December 1, 2012, Sing for Hope marked the twentieth anniversary of the classical music world's first organized response to the AIDS crisis with the celebratory concert 'AIDS Quilt Songbook @ TWENTY.' The evening featured impassioned performances by many of the country's leading classical vocalists, including Amy Burton, Adrienne Danrich, Heather Johnson, Suzanne Mentzer, Sidney Outlaw, Randall Scarlata, Michael Slattery, Monica Yunus, Camille Zamora, and two of the baritones of the 1992 premiere, Kurt Ollmann and William Sharp. Scroll below for photos from the concert!

Sing for Hope will present AIDS QUILT SONGBOOK @ TWENTY at the Great Hall at Cooper Union today, December 1st, 2012, in observance of World AIDS Day and to mark the 20th anniversary of the first AIDS Quilt Songbook performance, which took place on June 4th 1992 at Alice Tully Hall in Lincoln Center.

BroadwayWorld.com, the largest theatre site on the net, continues its expansion into other areas of entertainment with our latest feature - 'The Regional Opera Company of the Week'. This week's featured Opera Company is Florentine Opera Company in Wisconsin!

Sing for Hope will present AIDS QUILT SONGBOOK @ TWENTY at the Great Hall at Cooper Union on December 1st, 2012, in observance of World AIDS Day and to mark the 20th anniversary of the first AIDS Quilt Songbook performance, which took place on June 4th 1992 at Alice Tully Hall in Lincoln Center.

New Jersey Symphony Orchestra Music Director Jacques Lacombe will be knighted by the National Order of Quebec, the Order has announced. According to the Order, its titleholders "are outstanding individuals who have helped increase Quebec's renown and left a strong, lasting mark on all or part of Quebec itself." "It is an honor to receive this recognition from the National Order of Quebec," Lacombe says, "not only as a musician but also as a person who believes in making connections with the communities in which I work-in Canada, in the United States and abroad." "We are proud that Quebec is recognizing Jacques for the exceptional artistry and leadership that the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra and its patrons across and beyond the state have witnessed in the two years he has been Music Director," says NJSO President & CEO Andre Gremillet. "The honor is richly deserved." Since becoming the NJSO's Music Director in October 2010, Lacombe has garnered praise from critics and audiences for his creative programming and his talents at the podium. Lacombe created an ambitious multi-year initiative that the Orchestra began in his inaugural season, 2010-11.

Among the awardees for the 54th annual Grammy Awards, which were announced Saturday evening in Los Angeles, was the Naxos Records recording of the Florentine Opera Company's 2010 Midwest Premiere of Elmer Gantry. The 2012 Grammy wins were Best Classical Contemporary Composition andBest Engineered Album, Classical.

What began as a commissioned opera in Boston, and which was shelved during a management shake-up, and what eventually turned into a 17-year odyssey for composer Robert Aldridge and librettist Herschel Garfein, came full-circle Sunday, February 12, when their original work, Elmer Gantry, won two Grammy Awards.

At last night's 54th ANNUAL GRAMMY AWARDS, Adele walked off with 6 Grammy awards including Record of the Year for 'Rolling in the Deep' and Pop Vocal Album, '21'. The singer made her comback performance after recent vocal chord surgery on the live presentation on CBS. Other big winners included the Foo Fighter's Best Rock Song, 'Walk' and Taylor Swift for Best Country Song, 'Mean'. Check out photos of the music industry's hottest stars on the red carpet below!

At last night's 54th ANNUAL GRAMMY AWARDS, Adele walked off with 6 Grammy awards including Record of the Year for 'Rolling in the Deep' and Pop Vocal Album, '21'. The singer made her comback performance after recent vocal chord surgery on the live presentation on CBS.

OPERA America, the national service organization for opera, has announced that it has awarded nearly $200,000 in Audience Development grants, as part of The Opera Fund, to 16 U.S. opera companies.

A new era for the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra begins on September 14, when Jacques Lacombe takes the podium for a Gala Opening Night Celebration-his inaugural concert as the Orchestra's 13th Music Director.

A new era for the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra begins on September 14, when Jacques Lacombe takes the podium for a Gala Opening Night Celebration-his inaugural concert as the Orchestra's 13th Music Director. To mark the occasion, special guests Joshua Bell and Jeanine De Bique join Lacombe for a program highlighting the new music director's love of music from the orchestral to opera and ballet. The concert, at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) in Newark, begins at 7 p.m.