Roberto Sierra News

On Tuesday evening November 12 vocalists Celia Castro, Ilya Martinez, Mario Arevalo and Rafael Lebron will join forces with pianist Max Lifchitz for an intimate celebration of the Art Song as practiced in the Caribbean and Latin America during the last 100 years.

The celebrated Newman & Oltman Guitar Duo will perform works by renowned Cuban composer Leo Brouwer, Aaron Copland, and John Zorn on Sunday, November 10 at 8:00pm.

The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra (MSO) announced today that Frank Almond will conclude his tenure as concertmaster at the end of the 2019-20 season. Appointed by Zdenek Mácal during his final season as music director, Mr. Almond served as concertmaster for 25 seasons under Andreas Delfs, Edo de Waart, and now Ken-David Masur. Following the conclusion of the 2019-20 season, Mr. Almond will remain with the orchestra as an Artistic Advisor, working closely with Maestro Masur and others to contribute to the MSO's continued artistic excellence.

The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra is currently paving the way for one of downtown Milwaukee's largest redevelopment projects. The MSO is undergoing an $89 million conversion of Milwaukee's former Warner Grand Theater into its new concert hall, which is expected to open fall 2020. As part of this conversion, a rarely-seen construction feat took place yesterday, August 13, 2019, as an original 1931 seven-story cream city brick wall was moved 35 feet towards a city street while remaining fully intact.

Activist orchestra The Dream Unfinished will present Deep River, a concert of works by composers hailing from communities impacted by climate change and other environmental issues.

The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra's 2019-2020 season, the 14th under the baton of Chief Conductor, Vasily Petrenko, and the Orchestra's 179th season since its founding in 1840, features compelling music from across the repertoire.

The 96th season of the New York Philharmonic Young People's Concerts (YPCs) will conclude on Saturday, May 11, 2019, at 2:00 p.m. with "Coming to New York - Immigrant Voices," the fourth program in this season's series of YPCs, Music Across Borders.Conducted by Thomas Wilkins, co-hosted by Mr. Wilkins and Philharmonic Teaching Artist Jihea Hong-Park, and directed by Habib Azar, the program will use music and storytelling to explore personal and collective identities in America. The program will feature selections from Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra; Girl from the Da Ban City from Huang Ruo's Folk Songs for Orchestra; Tumbao from Roberto Sierra's Sinfonia No. 3, La salsa; Enough! I Intended To Leave You from Kareem Roustom's Aleppo Songs for Orchestra; and Hero Brothers and Arbol de Sueños from Gabriela Lena Frank's Peregrinos. 

The acclaimed Newman & Oltman Guitar Duo, the Ensemble in Residence for the Mannes School of Music, will perform a in recital at the Ernst C. Stiefel Concert Hall this Sunday, April 7 at 8 PM. Michael Newman and Laura Oltman will present their 40th Anniversary Retrospective program that includes works by Du an Bogdanovi , Manuel de Falla, Paul Moravec, Celso Machado, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Luiz Simas, Clarice Assad and Isaac Alb niz. Stiefel Concert Hall is located in The New School at 55 West 13th Street, New York. This concert is free and open to the public.

In continued celebration of the Leonard Bernstein Centennial, join the National Philharmonic for "The Debut," a recreation of the musical program that catapulted the legendary composer into the spotlight on Saturday, Feb. 23, 2019 at 8 p.m. at The Music Center at Strathmore's Concert Hall.

Internationally recognized as one of the most important guitarists of our time, Manuel Barrueco is a superior and elegant instrumentalist who possesses a seductive sound and uncommon melodic gifts. Barrueco will make his return to Chapman University with a Musco Center for the Arts debut on Sunday, March 3 at 4 pm. In addition to his Musco Center engagement, he will also participate in this year's Orange County Classical Guitar Festival presented by The Orange County Guitar Circle and Chapman University.

In continued celebration of the Leonard Bernstein Centennial, join the National Philharmonic for "The Debut," a recreation of the musical program that catapulted the legendary composer into the spotlight on Saturday, Feb. 23, 2019 at 8 p.m. at The Music Center at Strathmore's Concert Hall. Three-time Grammy award-winning cellist Zuill Bailey and Grammy award-nominated violist Roberto Diaz will join Philharmonic Music Director and Conductor Piotr Gajewski in performing Robert Schumann's Manfred Overture; Miklos Rozsa's Theme, Variations and Finale, Op. 13; Richard Strauss' Don Quixote; and Richard Wagner's Prelude to Die Meistersinger. Almost 50 years later, in what was to be one of his last interviews, Bernstein recalled the event: "I strode out and I don't remember a thing from that moment-I don't even remember intermission-until the sound of people standing and cheering and clapping." Internationally renowned soloist Bailey is considered one of the premiere cellists in the world, and Classical Net describes him as "One of the finest cellists alive today." South Florida Classical Review wrote that Diaz gives "a stunning performance, and one that deserved the enthusiastic ovations." The concert will feature a members-only encore question-and-answer. Ticket prices are $32-$84 and are free for young people age 7-17. Strathmore is located at 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www.nationalphilharmonic.org or call 301.581.5100.

The 2019 Freihofer's Saratoga Jazz Festival features an extraordinary roster of twenty-two musical groups, highlighted by the festival debut of Grammy award winning artist Norah Jones, and the return of jazz legend George Benson and festival favorite Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue. Back by popular demand is also Los Van Van 50th Anniversary, Django Festival All-Stars with Edmar Castañeda and Grace Kelly, Joshua Redman Quartet, and James Carter Organ Trio. Fifteen emerging artists making their Saratoga debuts include Kandace Springs, Donna Grantis, Joey DeFrancesco Trio, Mercy Project which features Jon Cowherd, Brian Blade, John Patitucci, and Steve Cardenas, Antonio Sanchez & Migration, and Cha Wa. The festival will also feature a record number of groups led by women artists, highlighted by Allison Miller, Veronica Swift, Ruthie Foster and Youn Sun Nah.

The New York Philharmonic will present New York Stories: Threads of Our City, January 14-27, 2019, two weeks of concerts and events examining New York City's roots as a city of immigrants. It will center on the World Premiere of Julia Wolfe's Fire in my mouth, co-commissioned by the New York Philharmonic, which reflects on the New York garment industry at the turn of the 20th century and the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, which killed 146 garment workers, most of them young immigrants. New York Stories: Threads of Our City will also feature a program of new chamber music by composers influenced by their time in America; a special guided tour of the Tenement Museum featuring Philharmonic musicians; an archival exhibit featuring materials from the New York Philharmonic Archives, The Forward, the Museum of the City of New York, and the National Archives at New York City; and a free Insights at the Atrium event.

The New York Philharmonic announces details for the 96th season of Young People's Concerts (YPCs) and the 14th season of Very Young People's Concerts (VYPCs).

“La guitarra es un puente que puede llevar al público de la música popular y comercial a la música de concierto”, aseveró el guitarrista mexicano Roberto Limón, al hablar sobre el ciclo La guitarra hoy, que por segundo año consecutivo organiza la Coordinación Nacional de Música y Ópera del Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes (INBA).

The celebrated Newman & Oltman Guitar Duo will perform at the 18th New York Guitar Seminar at Mannes on Wednesday, June 27 at 7pm at the Americas Society, 680 Park Avenue, New York. The Duo will be joined by Brazilian guitarist João Luiz in a concert celebrating Music from the Americas. In addition to works by Brazilian composers Piazzolla, Machado, Jobim, Simas, Clarice Assad, Villa-Lobos and Bellinati, the program will also feature works by US native Paul Moravec and Argentinean Astor Piazzolla. The concert is produced in partnership with the Americas Society, and part of the New York Guitar Seminar at Mannes that takes place from June 26 to July 1. Tickets are $20.00, $10.00 for students and can be purchased at the door, directly from the Americas Society or atwww.mannesguitar.com.

The acclaimed Newman & Oltman Guitar Duo will appear at the 26th annual Long Island Guitar Festival on April 14 at 8:00PM.   The program, 40th Anniversary Retrospective includes works by Manuel de Falla, Francesco Canova da Milano, Joaquin Rodrigo, Gioacchino Rossini, Paul Moravec, Isaac Albeniz, J. S. Bach and Philipp Nicolai. The concert will take place at Hillwood Cinema at Hillwood Commons, Long Island University Post, Brookville, NY. The duo will present a Master Class on Sunday, April 15 at the Fine Arts Center, LIU Post.  Concert tickets are $25.00 General; Seniors/students/members of guitar societies (with ID) $20.00 & $10.00.

Sameer Patel, Associate Conductor of the San Diego Symphony Orchestra, made his subscription series debut with Liszt's Les Preludes, the fifth symphony of Sibelius, and the world premiere of Adam Schoenberg's violin concerto Orchard in Fog. Les Preludes is one of 13 tone poems written by Liszt. He invented the single-movement form as a way to evoke specific scenes or moods. Liszt sites a poem by Alphonse de Lamartine in the score, but it appears it wasn't his original inspiration since Les Preludes is an adaptation of an overture written for an abandoned larger work based on a different text.

Venezuelan conductor Rafael Payare opened his San Diego Symphony Orchestra guest appearance with Berlioz's Roman Carnival Overture. Payare conducted with vigorous dramatic motions, and the orchestra responded by bringing the work's romantic themes and stirring gestures to life. Principle English horn player brought exceptional warmth and beauty to the score's first solo. She wasn't unique in her excellence. Every soloist and section managed even demanding tempos and dynamic changes with pleasing tone and precision.

The renowned Newman & Oltman Guitar Duo, who is celebrating 40 years of performing together, will appear at Symphony Space on Friday, January 19 at 7:30 PM. The concert, presented by The New York City Classical Guitar Society, will feature works by Bogdanovic, Nicolai (arr. Bach), Milano, Rodrigo, Rossini (arr. Varlet), Liebermann and Albeniz. In recognition of Newman & Oltman's 40th anniversary of music making, they were featured in a piece about them and appeared on the cover of Classical Guitar's current winter edition. Tickets are $30.00, Seniors/students (with ID) $25.00, children $20.00.