Thomas Schippers News

Music Director Alan Gilbert will conduct the New York Philharmonic in Barto?k's Piano Concerto No. 3, with Yefim Bronfman as soloist, and Bruckner's Symphony No. 8 (Ed. Nowak, 1890), Thursday, October 23, 2014, at 7:30 p.m.; Friday, October 24 at 8:00 p.m.; Saturday, October 25 at 8:00 p.m.; and Tuesday, October 28 at 7:30 p.m.

Pablo Heras-Casado will make his New York Philharmonic debut conducting Barto?k's Piano Concerto No. 3, featuring pianist Peter Serkin; Britten's Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes; and Shostakovich's Symphony No. 10, today, April 2, 2014, at 7:30 p.m.; Thursday, April 3 at 7:30 p.m.; Friday, April 4 at 11:00 a.m.; and Saturday, April 5 at 8:00 p.m.

Pablo Heras-Casado will make his New York Philharmonic debut conducting Barto?k's Piano Concerto No. 3, featuring pianist Peter Serkin; Britten's Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes; and Shostakovich's Symphony No. 10, Wednesday, April 2, 2014, at 7:30 p.m.; Thursday, April 3 at 7:30 p.m.; Friday, April 4 at 11:00 a.m.; and Saturday, April 5 at 8:00 p.m.

In recognition of her outstanding lifetime contribution to American culture, Martina Arroyo will be one of five recipients of this year's Kennedy Center Honors on Sunday, December 8 at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC. Seated with President and Mrs. Obama, as well as with her fellow Honorees (actress Shirley MacLaine and musicians Herbie Hancock, Billy Joel, and Carlos Santana), the pre-eminent American soprano will be saluted with performances and tributes during the star-studded gala celebration that will be broadcast nationwide as a two-hour prime time special on CBS-TV (Dec 29 at 9pm, EST). The honor is a fitting one, for Arroyo has devoted herself to opera over the course of a decades-long career. Since retiring from the stage, where her voice was heralded by the New York Times as "among the most glorious in the world," the Harlem-born soprano has continued to serve the art form through the Martina Arroyo Foundation, the non-profit cultural organization she established ten years ago to provide new generations of talented young singers with the tools to pursue careers in opera and prepare them for the stage.

In February 2012 The New York Philharmonic This Week - the weekly radio series of concerts by the New York Philharmonic, hosted by Alec Baldwin - begins with an encore performance of Mendelssohn's Elijah from November 2010 led by Music Director Alan Gilbert, The Yoko Nagae Ceschina Chair, with soprano Carolyn Sampson, mezzo-soprano Alice Coote, tenor Allan Clayton, bass-baritone Gerald Finley, and the New York Choral Artists, Joseph Flummerfelt, director. The second program - from the Orchestra's EUROPE / WINTER 2010 tour - is also led by Mr. Gilbert and includes EXPO by The Marie-Josee Kravis Composer-in-Residence Magnus Lindberg; Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 2, with Yefim Bronfman as soloist; and Sibelius's Symphony No. 2 and Valse triste as performed in Cologne, Germany.

MASTERWORKS BROADWAY, recently praised by the Wall Street Journal for its ongoing reissue campaign, continues to make good on its promise to open its vaults with three classic cast recordings previously unavailable in the CD era. The Saint of Bleecker Street (1955 Original Broadway Cast), Half-Past Wednesday (1962 Off-Broadway Cast) and Divine Hair/Mass in F (1971) will be available as downloads through all major digital service providers and as disc-on-demand, with the original cover art and liner notes, via Arkivmusic.com and Amazon.com. Also coming this summer are ten recordings available digitally for the first time utilizing the approved master tapes, including Say, Darling, and two live recordings from Noël Coward. All releases will be accompanied by new album pages and photos on MasterworksBroadway.com.

In a tribute to the late Beverly Sills, a legendary soprano and a frequent guest on the Met broadcasts, the company will air her April 19, 1975 performance as Pamira in Rossini's The Siege of Corinth over the Toll Brothers-Metropolitan Opera International Radio Network at 1:30PM EST on February 9, 2008.