Sony Music Masterworks News

The world's preeminent classical guitar competition, the Parkening International Guitar Competition, has selected 15 standout competitors for its fifth triennial competition. Representing six countries, they will vie for the largest prize purse among guitar competitions, competing at Pepperdine University from Thursday, May 30, through Saturday, June 1, 2019, on the University's campus in Malibu, California.  Renowned guitar virtuoso Christopher Parkening, the competition's namesake and artistic director, is Distinguished Professor of Music at Pepperdine's Seaver College. The competition honors his lifetime commitment to fostering musical excellence in young artists as demonstrated by his mentor, Spanish guitarist Andres Segovia.

SONTALK, the latest project from singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Joseph LeMay, makes its album debut with today's release of Stay Wild [Sony Music Masterworks].  Available everywhere now, the twelve-track collection follows the personal trials, tribulations and triumphs of LeMay, culminating in an openly honest dialogue between himself and listeners. Stay Wild hints at the vastly expansive sonic and emotional terrain of SONTALK, whose conversation has just begun.   

Rehearsals began this week for the fourth West End cast of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child who will start performances at the Palace Theatre in London on 22 May 2019 following the final performance from the current cast on 19 May 2019.

Back by popular demand, The Piano Guys return with their unique sound to the State Theatre on Friday, September 13th. Hailing from Utah, The Piano Guys are four dads who became an Internet sensation by way of their immensely successful series of strikingly original self-made music videos.

On March 1, 2019, American pianist Lara Downes releases her new album, Holes in the Sky, on Portrait, an imprint of the Sony Music Masterworks label.The first single from the album, 'Albatross,' featuring Judy Collins, is now available on all major streaming platforms. 'Holes in the Sky' is also available for pre-order here.

STAY WILD, the debut album from SONTALK, is set for release MARCH 15 from Sony Music Masterworks. Available now for preorder, the twelve-track collection follows the personal trials, tribulations and triumphs of JOSEPH LEMAY, the singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist behind SONTALK. Included with today's preorder is 'I AM A MOUNTAIN,' a multilayered, enveloping ballad detailing the before-and-after of a tumultuous relationship. Sonically, 'I Am A Mountain' serves as the dynamic apex of Stay Wild, featuring a loping pace and persistent, driving beat that swells and crescendos to mimic the emotional rise and fall of a failing relationship - listen here.    

Beck's first musical offering of 2019 has arrived in the form of "Tarantula," the latest release from Music Inspired By The Film ROMA, due out February 8th from Sony Music Masterworks and available to pre-order now. This collection of music inspired by Alfonso Cuaron's 10-time Academy Award-nominated film features songs from Beck, Billie Eilish, El-P, Jessie Rye, Laura Marling, Patti Smith, UNKLE and more, recorded exclusively for this project. 

Inspired by the film and curated by Academy Award-winning ROMA director Alfonso Cuarón, 'When I Was Older (Music Inspired by Roma)' was written by Eilish and her long-time collaborator and older brother Finneas O'Connell. “When we were composing the song, we wanted to write from within the narrative of the movie and the scenes that struck us the most from it,” the siblings reveal. “Having access to the sounds used in the film proved to be invaluable to help us convey this. Lines like “memories burn like a forest fire” are accompanied by the sounds of the trees burning in the woods outside the house. The chorus, has the ocean sounds overplayed on it. We were also able to take sounds like the student protest shouts and Borras barking and turn them into rhythmic percussive elements to help drive the song. Nothing about this song would exist without the film, which is exactly what we love about it.”

Just in time for the holiday season, SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE – A VERY SPIDEY CHRISTMAS EP is available from Sony Music Masterworks. Voiced by cast members of the Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation critically-acclaimed hit feature Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, the five-track EP reimagines classic holiday favorites with Spider-Man inspired lyrics.

JENNIFER LOPEZ'S new music video for her latest single LIMITLESS, from the film Second Act, will be premiering directly to her over 9.9 million YouTube subscribers via YouTube.  Fans will be able to join Jennifer Lopez for a live Q&A five minutes prior to the video launch and will then have the opportunity to watch the video premiere together as a community. Featuring a colorful cast of women battling the forces of nature to eventually create their own storm, the message of the video, according to Lopez, is for women everywhere to say: 'I am worth something. I have value. I am equal. I am limitless.'  

As footage of the internationally award-winning production is released (see link below), new tickets for the West End production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child go on sale today (4 December 2018) at 11am GMT for performances at the Palace Theatre until 29 September 2019. Tickets are priced from £15 per part and for every performance there are over 300 tickets at £20 or less per part.

NBC has announced the second group of superstar acts who will compete on the all-new winter edition of TV's #1 alternative series, "America's Got Talent: The Champions," premiering Monday, Jan. 7 from 8-10 p.m. ET/PT.  

On the heels of debuting the video for 'A Million Dreams,' THE PIANO GUYS have shared yet another new visual, this time for their take on K-Pop superstar group BTS' smash hit 'Epiphany' – watch here.  The latest visual from their new album Limitless (Portrait / Sony Music Masterworks), 'Epiphany' carries an important message of self-love and acceptance that deeply resonated with the Utah quartet during the recording of Limitless. 

Today, multiplatinum-selling recording artist, actress, producer and entertainer JENNIFER LOPEZ shares a new anthem entitled 'LIMITLESS' from her forthcoming film, Second Act from STXfilms – available everywhere now.  Get it HERE via Sony Music Masterworks.

It's millennials only for the Monterey Jazz Festival's fifth national tour, March 15-April 14, 2019. Featuring some of the most critically-acclaimed, GRAMMY-winning and GRAMMY-nominated jazz artists of their generation, including three winners of the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition, Monterey Jazz Festival on Tour will truly showcase the next generation of jazz legends, including Cecile McLorin Salvant, vocals; Bria Skonberg, trumpet, vocals; Melissa Aldana, tenor saxophone; Christian Sands, piano and musical director; Yasushi Nakamura, bass, and Jamison Ross, drums, vocals.

"Godric's Hollow," a never-before-heard track from The Music of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, an album of music by Imogen Heap from the internationally acclaimed stage production, makes its premiere today - Listen here.  In honor of this magical day, also making its debut is a new clip featuring never-before-seen footage from the play - watch below!

This evening, 22 October 2018, Sony Music Masterworks together with Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Producers launched The Music of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, an album of music by Grammy and Ivor Novello Award-winning composer and innovator Imogen Heap from the internationally acclaimed stage production.

The judges for the fifth quadrennial Parkening International Guitar Competition, to be presented by Pepperdine University in Malibu, CA, from Tuesday, May 28, to Saturday, June 1, 2019, have been announced.

The Lone Bellow will head out on a major North American Tour beginning October 1st, snaking through the U.S. through December. For the first time ever, the band will play as just the trio with no backing band - riffing on a wildly popular portion of their live show where the three gather around one microphone.The Restless EP will release wide come Oct. 19th and features two new songs, two covers, and three reworked versions of songs from previous records. Produced by members Brian Elmquist and Jason Pipkin. To mark the occasion they've released two new acoustic tracks, a cover of The National's 'Pink Rabbits' and a new track, 'The Restless' available on all DSP's today as well as pre-ordering of the EP.

Gearing up for the October 19th release of new album Let There Be Cello, 2CELLOS today announce dates for their 2019 LET THERE BE CELLO TOUR, set to kick off February 5 in Seattle, WA.  Known for their electric live performances, 2CELLOS have played to audiences across the globe and most recently sold over 150,000 tickets on their 28-date U.S. SCORE tour in 2017.  Tickets for the tour will be available to the general public this Friday, September 28th at 10am local time at http://flyt.it/2CELLOSPR?ID=PR.