Sarah Johnson News

Teatro Grattacielo celebrates its 25th Anniversary season with a Gala Concert in three acts featuring well-known, but rarely performed, verismo operas, Leoncavallo's La Boheme, Catalani's Loreley and Respighi's La Bella Dormente Nel Bosco (Sleeping Beauty) on Saturday, September 28th at 8:00 PM at the Gerald Lynch Theater at John Jay College, located at 524 W. 59th St. (between 10th and 11th Aves), New York.

Carnegie Hall's Weill Music Institute (WMI) today announced the 2019-2020 grant recipients for PlayUSA, a program that supports a wide range of instrumental music education projects across the United States, all specifically designed to reach low-income and underserved students on a local level. For its fifth anniversary year, Carnegie Hall has selected 17 organizations, including 5 new partners-Chicago Jazz Philharmonic, Empire State Youth Orchestra, Hawaii Youth Symphony, Juneau Alaska Music Matters, and Trenton Music Makers-for a total of $500,000 in grants. In addition to financial support, the grantees join a nationwide network of innovative organizations committed to providing transformative music education opportunities for youth across the country.

On Sunday, May 19 at 7:30 p.m., New Yorkers of all ages will take the Zankel Hall stage for Soul Mechanism: A Concert Celebrating the Music of Migrations, a special evening that marks the culmination of a citywide creative learning project. Led by celebrated performer Toshi Reagon and a band made up of longtime collaborators, the concert will showcase original songs written by New Yorkers in a performance featuring American roots songstress Martha Redbone, jazz and gospel vocalist Lizz Wright, singer-songwriter and filmmaker Be Steadwell, activist-artist Taina Asili, Sudanese singer Alsarah Elgadi, and other special guest artists.

The Vail Valley Foundation today announced it has promoted Tom Boyd, Director of PR and Communications at the organization, to a new role as Director of PR & the Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater.

If you want foot-stomping, head-banging, heartbreaking art, there's a seat for you at Second Stage Student Theatre's most recent production of Spring Awakening. Directed by Maya Denning, 2SST's stellar cast brought pure energetic angst as they opened Spring Awakening to a packed house at Community Bible Church.

Carnegie Hall's Weill Music Institute (WMI) today announced the 2018-2019 grant recipients for PlayUSA, a program that supports a wide range of instrumental music education projects across the United States, all specifically designed to reach low-income and underserved students on a local level. For its fourth year, Carnegie Hall has selected 15 organizations, including 2 new partners, Buffalo String Works and MYCincinnati, for a total of $505,000 in grants. In addition to financial support, the grantees join a nationwide network of innovative organizations committed to providing transformative music education opportunities for youth across the country.

This June, New York City teens will have the opportunity to work with renowned jazz pianist and composer Fred Hersch as part of theFuture Music Project Ensemble, a dynamic collective of young musicians that writes, produces, and performs original music at Carnegie Hall and around the city. On Thursday, June 14 at 7:00 p.m., the ensemble performs with Hersch at SubCulture on the Lower East Side, followed by a second concert at El Museo del Barrio on Saturday, June 16 as part of theSuper Sabado Block Party, with street games, art making, and performances from 12:00 - 5:00 p.m., including a Carnegie Hall Neighborhood Concert by El Barrio's own Johnny Colon. Hersch has been working with the teens in workshops this spring, and will be collaborating with them as part of both concerts, which will include a new work by Hersch as well as music inspired by the 1960s.

Following its opening on Broadway in April 2015, Lisa Kron and Jeanine Tesori's innovative and decidedly modern musical Fun Home enjoyed a 582-performance run and garnered five 2015 Tony Awards, including Best Musical. Based on Alison Bechdel's graphic novel depicting of her childhood and coming of age, including most prominently, her realization of her sexuality and complicated relationship with her gay father, Fun Home currently finds itself in the capable hands of Memphis's Playhouse on the Square.

From July 11-14 and July 25-28, Carnegie Hall will host two Summer Music Educators Workshop sessions, giving music teachers from across the country the opportunity to re-energize their teaching practice, learn from leaders in the field, and exchange best practices with peers. Over the course of four intensive days, participating educators will engage with expert guest faculty on a range of topics. The first session, "You Are What You Play," will explore how to open students' minds and hearts to the power of artful, rich, and engaging repertoire. The second session, "Dare to Create," will look at ways to use composition and improvisation to inspire students inside and outside the classroom.

Based on the best-selling graphic novel of the same name, Fun Home introduces us to author Alison Bechdel at three different ages, revealing memories of her uniquely dysfunctional family. As we look through her eyes we witness her journey to self-acceptance and a daughter's determination to understand and connect with her volatile, brilliant, enigmatic father. A refreshingly honest musical about seeing your parents through grown-up eyes, Fun Home is 'a blazingly original heartbreaker and a nonstop treasure of invention'

Inspired by the 1989 film classic, Steel Magnolias is revived through the Waterville Opera House! Sassy Southern humor and unbreakable friendships make this play one you don't want to miss!

On Sunday, March 11 at 3:00 p.m. in Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage, Carnegie Hall will showcase original music inspired by the 1960s and rooted in the issues and challenges of today as part of A Time Like This: Music for Change, a special concert that marks the culmination of a citywide creative learning project that has engaged people across New York City. Hosted by Def Jam Poetry veteran Lemon Andersen, the concert will feature Broadway's Carrie Compere (The Color Purple), jazz vocalist Sarah Elizabeth Charles, singer/songwriter Emily Eagen, Haitian songstress Emeline Michel, and a nineteen-piece band led by Kenny Seymour, a composer and music director for film and theater (Amazing Grace, Memphis). Youth and adults will also take the stage to share their own music, including the Wadleigh High School Choir, directed by Kim Walton, and the Future Music Project Ensemble, a collective of young musicians from across New York City. Additional special guests will be announced.

Sedos presents a new production of the award-winning musical Dogfight at the Bridewell Theatre, off Fleet Street, from 6 - 10 March 2018. The musical, which has book by Peter Duchan and music and lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, is based on the 1991 movie of the same name starring River Phoenix.

Inspired by the 1989 film classic, Steel Magnolias is revived through the Waterville Opera House! Sassy Southern humor and unbreakable friendships make this play one you don't want to miss!

After partnering with 14 new orchestras in 2017, Link Up, Carnegie Hall's longest-running education program, has now surpassed 100 partners worldwide. Link Up educational materials have been translated into four languages as the program continues to expand, reaching more than 400,000 students and teachers worldwide. These partnerships span 38 US states from Alaska to Florida plus Puerto Rico as well as Canada, Kenya, Spain, and Japan.

As part of Carnegie Hall's The '60s: The Years that Changed America festival, the Weill Music Institute (WMI) is launching A Time Like This: Music for Change, a citywide creative learning project that encourages young people to harness music as a meaningful tool for social change.

Lipscomb University Theatre opens its 2017-18 season with the Kari Smith-directed version of William Gibson's The Miracle Worker, the timeless and dramatically driven stage rendition of the life of Helen Keller and her relationship with her devoted teacher, Annie Sullivan. Sarah Johnson, a musical theatre major from Fort Wayne, Indiana, is cast as Helen and this week she sat down to consider our queries, provide us with some insight and to become the latest student featured in Collegiate Theatrics.

Carnegie Hall's Weill Music Institute (WMI) today announced the 2017-2018 grant recipients for PlayUSA, a program that supports a wide range of instrumental music education projects across the United States, all specifically designed to reach low-income and underserved students on a local level. For its third year, Carnegie Hall has selected 13 organizations, including 6 new partners and 7 returning organizations from the 2016-2017 season, for a total of $430,000 in grants. In addition to financial support, the grantees join a nationwide network of innovative organizations committed to providing transformative music education opportunities for youth across the country:

From July 19 to 22, Carnegie Hall will host the Summer Music Educators Workshop, giving school and community music teachers from across the country the opportunity to re-energize their teaching practice, learn from leaders in the field, and exchange best practices with peers. Over the course of four days, 125 educators will engage with expert guest faculty on a range of topics centered around the theme "Dare To Create," including how to embrace a culture of creativity in music classrooms, and how to use composition and improvisation to inspire young musicians.