Robert Spano News

Music Director Robert Spano will lead the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chamber Chorus in an ASO Theater of a Concert presentation of Haydn's The Creation. Set designer Anne Patterson and Projection Designer Adam Larsen, whose work has enhanced the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra's performances of St. John Passion and Gorecki's Third Symphony, return to design Joseph Haydn's The Creation in Atlanta Symphony Hall on February 26 and 28, 2008 at 8:00 pm. Soloists include soprano Janice Chandler, tenor Thomas Cooley, and bass Derrick Parker.

THE STORY OF MY LIFE, starring Will Chase and Tony Award nominee Malcolm Gets will be Broadway's first new musical of 2009 when it begins performances this February at the Booth Theatre. Tony Award winner and Broadway veteran Richard Maltby, Jr. (Ain't Misbehavin', Song & Dance) directs this original story about friendship, success and the choices we make at the turning points in our lives. THE STORY OF MY LIFE is written by Broadway newcomers Neil Bartram (score) and Brian Hill (book). Previews begin Tuesday, February 3rd with opening night set for Thursday, February 19th at 7:30PM.

Music Director Robert Spano will lead the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chamber Chorus in an ASO Theater of a Concert presentation of Haydn's The Creation. Set designer Anne Patterson and Projection Designer Adam Larsen, whose work has enhanced the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra's performances of St. John Passion and Gorecki's Third Symphony, return to design Joseph Haydn's The Creation in Atlanta Symphony Hall on February 26 and 28, 2008 at 8:00 pm. Soloists include soprano Janice Chandler, tenor Thomas Cooley, and bass Derrick Parker.

THE STORY OF MY LIFE, starring Will Chase and Tony Award nominee Malcolm Gets will be Broadway's first new musical of 2009 when it begins performances this February at the Booth Theatre. Tony Award winner and Broadway veteran Richard Maltby, Jr. (Ain't Misbehavin', Song & Dance) directs this original story about friendship, success and the choices we make at the turning points in our lives. THE STORY OF MY LIFE is written by Broadway newcomers Neil Bartram (score) and Brian Hill (book). Previews begin Tuesday, February 3rd with opening night set for Thursday, February 19th at 7:30PM.

Music director Robert Spano and principal guest conductor Donald Runnicles announce 2009-10 season of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. This season will mark Orchestra's 65th anniversary season, the Youth Orchestra's 35th anniversary season, and Mr. Spano and Mr. Runnicles's ninth season. Culminating the season, the League of American Orchestras will host the 65th National Conference in Atlanta, which will also kick off the 10th Anniversary of the Atlanta School of Composers by featuring new works by the composers. Mr. Spano and The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra will perform five world premieres during the 2009-10 65th Anniversary Season, three of which are ASO commissions. Atlanta School of Composers Jennifer Higdon and Michael Gandolfi; Wynton Marsalis's American Symphony; Angel Lam's New Cello Concerto with Soloist Yo-Yo Ma; and Dejan Lazic's New Piano Arrangement of Brahms's Violin Concerto. The 2009/10 Season's guest artists and conductors to include: Yo-Yo Ma, Lang Lang, Midori, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Jon Kimura Parker, Leila Josefowicz, Garrick Ohlsson, Olli Mustonen, Robert Levin, Angela Brown. Kelley O'Connor, Vadim Repin, Ludovic Morlot, Roberto Abbado, Kristjan Jarvi, Hannu Lintu, Lathar Zagrosek, and many more. MR. SPANO TO LEAD ORCHESTRA IN FIVE WORLD PREMIERES DURING 65TH ANNIVERSARY SEASON Atlanta School of Composers Jennifer Higdon and Michael Gandolfi; Wynton Marsalis's American Symphony; Angel Lam's New Cello Concerto With Soloist Yo-Yo Ma; And Dejan Lazic's New Piano Arrangement of Brahms's Violin Concerto NEW WORKS BY JENNIFER HIGDON AND MICHAEL GANDOLFI TO BE RECORDED MR. SPANO TO LEAD ASO THEATER OF A CONCERT PERFORMANCE OF STRAVINSKY'S THE NIGHTINGALE MR. SPANO AND THE ORCHESTRA TO PERFORM AT CARNEGIE HALL, NOVEMBER 7, 2009 Program To Feature New York Premiere of Angel Lam's New Cello Concerto with Yo-Yo Ma And Stravinsky's The Nightingale During Carnegie Hall's China Festival MR. RUNNICLES to lead ATLANTA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA and chorus in BRAHMS'S A GERMAN REQUIEM Mr. Runnicles and ASO Chorus Invited To Return to Berlin Philharmonic In December 2009 For Third Visit LEAGUE OF AMERICAN ORCHESTRAS AND CHORUS AMERICA TO HOST NATIONAL CONFERENCES IN ATLANTA, JUNE 2010 LAO 65th National Conference To Launch 10th Anniversary of Atlanta School of Composers And Feature Mr. Spano Leading the Orchestra in Works By Jennifer Higdon, Michael Gandolfi, and Christopher Theofanidis

THE STORY OF MY LIFE, starring Will Chase and Tony Award nominee Malcolm Gets will be Broadway's first new musical of 2009 when it begins performances this February at the Booth Theatre. Tony Award winner and Broadway veteran Richard Maltby, Jr. (Ain't Misbehavin', Song & Dance) directs this original story about friendship, success and the choices we make at the turning points in our lives. THE STORY OF MY LIFE is written by Broadway newcomers Neil Bartram (score) and Brian Hill (book). Previews begin Tuesday, February 3rd with opening night set for Thursday, February 19th at 7:30PM.

THE STORY OF MY LIFE, starring Will Chase and Tony Award nominee Malcolm Gets will be Broadway's first new musical of 2009 when it begins performances this February at the Booth Theatre. Tony Award winner and Broadway veteran Richard Maltby, Jr. (Ain't Misbehavin', Song & Dance) directs this original story about friendship, success and the choices we make at the turning points in our lives. THE STORY OF MY LIFE is written by Broadway newcomers Neil Bartram (score) and Brian Hill (book). Previews begin Tuesday, February 3rd with opening night set for Thursday, February 19th at 7:30PM.

The Joyce Theater is thrilled present the return of Benjamin Millepied Danses Concertantes, a company that features several dancers from American Ballet Theatre.

'DOCTOR ATOMIC' is John Adams' operatic sensation about the final wrenching hours leading up to the first test of an atomic bomb.

This February, THE STORY OF MY LIFE, a new musical comes to Broadway. Starring Will Chase (Rent, Aida, The Full Monty) and Tony Award nominee Malcolm Gets (Amour, Merrily We Roll Along, 'Caroline in the City'), the show is directed by Tony Award winner Richard Maltby, Jr. (Ain't Misbehavin', Song & Dance), THE STORY OF MY LIFE features a score by Neil Bartram and a book by Brian Hill. Performances begin Tuesday, February 3rd on Broadway at The Booth Theatre (222 West 45th Street). Opening night is Thursday, February 19th at 7:30PM.

Tickets for Seattle Opera's 2009 Ring cycles will go on sale to the general public in an online pre-sale beginning at 10:00 a.m. PST on November 12, and by phone and in person beginning Saturday, November 15 at 10:00 a.m. PST.

The Joyce Theater is thrilled present the return of Benjamin Millepied Danses Concertantes, a company that features several dancers from American Ballet Theatre.

Under the leadership of General Director Speight Jenkins, Seattle Opera has become known as 'America's Bayreuth,' drawing worldwide audiences to its acclaimed productions of all of Richard Wagner's major works, especially sold-out performances of Der Ring des Nibelungen, the composer's cycle of four epic operas-Das Rheingold, Die Walkure, Siegfried, and Gotterdammerung.

The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra will present a four week 'American Originals' festival, celebrating music written by American and European composers while living in America. The festival opens with a program of works by Bernstein, Barber and Rachmaninov on Thursday, October 30, 2008, and concludes with the Atlanta debut of a concert-staged production of John Adams' Dr. Atomic on Sunday, November 23, 2008.

Legendary stage veteran Julie Andrews will host 'The Gift of Music' with conductor Ian Fraser and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra as part of the inaugural season of the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre at Encore Park, the Orchestra's the new 12,000-seat state-of-the-art facility located in Alpharetta, GA (north of Atlanta) on Saturday, August 2, 2008 at 8:00 p.m. The night offers the gifts of music old and new - a selection of classic Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II compositions, several of which were performed, recorded, and made popular by Andrews during her illustrious career. The second half of the evening consists of the musical adaptation of Simeon's Gift, a best-selling children's book authored by Andrews and her daughter Emma Walton Hamilton and exquisitely illustrated by Gennady Spirin. The show is performed by a cast including tenors Stephen R. Buntrock and Kevin Odekirk; sopranos Christiane Noll and Anne Runolfsson; and baritone Jubilant Sykes. Andrews' talent has enthralled audiences for many years through stage, screen, recordings, and books, in part because of her partnership with composers Rodgers and Hammerstein. Andrews and the ensemble perform some of Rodgers and Hammerstein's most recognized repertoire including 'Getting to Know You' and 'There is Nothing Like a Dame,' as well as beloved classics from The Sound of Music and Cinderella. The evening will include nostalgic clips, vintage montages and beautiful illustrations by Spirin. In recent years Andrews has combined her passion of music with her advocacy of children's literacy and this pursuit resulted in the creation of The Julie Andrews Collection with her daughter. Simeon's Gift is one of the best-selling treasures in the collection, and this performance marks the East Coast debut of the adaptation consisting of Ian Fraser's brilliant compositions and John Bucchino's inspiring lyrics about a minstrel who finds his gift of life through music and kindness of others. With regard to Simeon's Gift, Ms. Andrews has said, 'Many of the books that my daughter Emma and I write together for our 'Julie Andrews Collection' publishing imprint pay tribute to the gifts of nature and the arts - and one in particular, 'Simeon's Gift,' is about music itself... so we were thrilled when we were invited to consider adapting the piece for the stage…. Truly, 'Simeon's Gift' has had a life all its own… and continues to bestow its 'gifts' on us.' Live On-Site Broadcast On May 10, 2008, Robert Spano and the Orchestra opened Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre with a Grand Opening and Inaugural Concert that introduced the public to America's newest outdoor venue. With this concert, the Atlanta Symphony continues the tradition of introducing members of the ASO to the audience with an evening-long live, on-site broadcast of the concert on large 15'x20' screens, which are permanently affixed on either side of the stage. The live feed will include a pre-concert show, as well as live intermission interviews with musicians from the Orchestra, and others involved behind-the-scenes to make ASO concerts happen at the new venue. The evening will be hosted by Scott Slade, host of Atlanta's Morning News on News/Talk 750 WSB. Top of the Lawn Pre-concert 'Top of the Lawn' events during this inaugural season will include ASO Insider Ken Meltzer taking his pre-concert conversations to the trees-lined lawn of the Amphitheatre prior to each Atlanta Symphony Orchestra concert at the venue. Mr. Meltzer's conversations will take place on the Southeast corner of the lawn at 7:00 p.m. - the August 2 'Top of the Lawn' conversation will feature musicians from the Orchestra, and include a Q&A with the audience. Themed Cuisine Ovations, the on-site caterer for Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre, will offer English cuisine in celebration of Julie Andrew's appearance for this concert. Concertgoers may pre-order a picnic basket (which serves two people) of a curry chicken, traditional English turnovers, and crisp apple strudel in advance of the concert, and enjoy 'favorite things' from the concessions, such as sugar cookies and cake, the night of the concert. Those with box seating and/or admission to the VIP Cadillac Club may choose to enjoy schnitzel and noodles for this performance. To pre-order a picnic basket, or to view the full menu available for each concert, visit the General Info/Food and Beverage section online at vzwamp.com. Future ASO Concerts at Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre at Encore Park Remaining ASO concerts at the new venue include a performance of Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3 with Garrick Ohlsson and Mr. Spano on Friday, August 8, 2008 at 8:00 p.m., and a musical evening featuring Turner Classic movies, hosted by Robert Osborne and led by Richard Kauffman on Saturday, August 16, 2008 at 8:00 p.m. On Thursday, August 14, 2008, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Assistant Conductor and League of American Orchestras Conducting Fellow Mei-Ann Chen will lead the Orchestra in a FREE ASO Connects performance at Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre at Encore Park as part of the Starbucks Free Parks Concerts summer series. For more information, visit atlantasymphony.org.

2008 Delta Classic Chastain series performers include Melissa Etheridge, Soul Asylum, The Temptations and The Four Tops, Gipsy Kings, Hootie & the Blowfish and many more (see full lineup below). The latest performer additions to the 35th anniversary lineup are country music superstar Trace Adkins, Tony Award-winning actress, singer and songwriter Idina Menzel, and the 'Kickin' Pickin' Bluegrass Party' featuring Marty Stuart and the Del McCoury Band.

Redshift Productions' Scientist's Studio (Max Evjen, Artistic and Executive Director, Megan Halpern, Artistic and Producing Director ) will proudly present THREE ON A COUCH by Carl Djerassi, directed by Elena Araoz at the Soho Playhouse (15 Vandam Street), beginning performances on May 29 with its press opening Sunday June 8 through June 22, 2008.

Complete casting was announced today for the upcoming Broadway production of LENNON, the world premiere musical based on the life and songs of John Lennon. The cast includes Will Chase, Chuck Cooper, Julie Danao, Mandy Gonzalez, Marcy Harriell, Chad Kimball, Terrence Mann, Julia Murney, and Michael Potts.