Virgil Thomson News

St. Bartholomew's Choir will sing Leonard Bernstein's Chichester Psalms in an arrangement for organ, harp and percussion as well as Virgil Thomson's My shepherd will supply my need and McNeil Robinson's Missa Brevis. William K. Trafka will conduct the choir. Instrumentalists for the Bernstein will be Jason Roberts, organist, Frances Duffy, harpist and Samuel Lazzara, percussionist.  

James Gavin, author of the definitive cabaret history Intimate Nights: The Golden Age of New York Cabaret as well as acclaimed biographies of Peggy Lee, Chet Baker, and Lena Horne, was honored at The Metropolitan Room, 34 W. 22nd St. on May 17, as part of its This Is Your Night series of tributes to cabaret movers and shakers. Scroll down for photos from the concert!

James Gavin, author of the definitive cabaret history Intimate Nights: The Golden Age of New York Cabaret as well as acclaimed biographies of Peggy Lee, Chet Baker, and Lena Horne, will be honored at the Metropolitan Room, 34 W. 22nd St. tonight, May 17, as part of its This Is Your Night series of tributes to cabaret movers and shakers.

James Gavin, author of the definitive cabaret history Intimate Nights: The Golden Age of New York Cabaret as well as acclaimed biographies of Peggy Lee, Chet Baker, and Lena Horne, will be honored at the Metropolitan Room, 34 W. 22nd St. on May 17, as part of its This Is Your Night series of tributes to cabaret movers and shakers.

The American Academy of Arts and Letters announced today the winners of our country's two largest prizes for composers of vocal music: the Charles Ives Opera Prize of $50,000 and the Virgil Thomson Award of $40,000.

BASS continues its innovative new music series In Context at the Tenri Cultural Center tonight, April 2nd, 2016.

BASS continues its innovative new music series In Context at the Tenri Cultural Center on SaturdayApril 2nd, 2016. This year's featured composer is Scott Wheeler, hailed by Fanfare as “one of the freshest American voices.” The program features Mr. Wheeler's work alongside those by colleagues and mentors (Virgil Thomson and Judith Weir) and favorite classics (Johannes Brahms and Robert Schumann). The program will include the world premiere of Ben Gunn. Soprano Elisabeth Marhsall, mezzo soprano Kate Maroney, tenor Brandon Snook, and baritone Steven Eddy join pianists Michael Brofman, Jocelyn Dueck, and Miori Sugiyama.

The critically-acclaimed American Chamber Ensemble will perform Music, Marvel and Mysticism, the second concert of its 50th anniversary season today, March 12 - 2:00 PM at Marc A. Scorca Hall of The National Opera Center, 330 Seventh Avenue in Manhattan.

NEW YORK, NY (For Release 3.7.16) — Hailed for his vocal and operatic music, award-winning composer/conductor/teacher Scott Wheeler showcases his omnivorous compositional style during the 2016-17 season. From the album release of Portrait (Bridge Records) and the world premiere of his latest opera Naga by the Boston Lyric Opera to nationwide performances of his Ben Gunn song cycle and debut as a composer for dance, Wheeler continues to lead the new-music vanguard. A continual point of reference for contemporary music, Wheeler serves in numerous leadership roles including: 2016-17 Affiliate of NYUâ€s Center for the Ballet and Arts, 2016-17 Composer-in-Residence at the Brooklyn Art Song Society, and Professor at Bostonâ€s Emerson College.

The critically-acclaimed American Chamber Ensemble will perform Music, Marvel and Mysticism, the second concert of its 50th anniversary season on Saturday, March 12 - 2:00 PM at Marc A. Scorca Hall of The National Opera Center, 330 Seventh Avenue in Manhattan.

Marking the first complete recording of Virgil Thomson's songs that were originally composed for voice and piano, The Complete Songs of Virgil Thomson for Voice and Piano provides a more complete understanding of one of the most important composers of the 20th century.

have been and where we are going? Or how certain kinds of music fit into this diverse universe of sound? These are some of the important questions that music raises, and each year, Pacific Symphony, led by Music Director Carl St.Clair, attempts to shed light on the answers by exploring a different facet of American music through the American Composers Festival (ACF). This year's ACF spotlights organ music through four highly acclaimed organists and the splendor of the king of instruments-in this case, the one-of-a-kind William J. Gillespie Concert Organ, located in the Renee and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall. Built from steel, tin, oak, poplar, maple, lead and carbon fiber, the astounding instrument found in the Symphony's concert hall required three years and 42,000 hours of labor by a team of organ builders at C.B Fisk in Gloucester, Mass., before making its debut with Pacific Symphony in 2008.

have been and where we are going? Or how certain kinds of music fit into this diverse universe of sound? These are some of the important questions that music raises, and each year, Pacific Symphony, led by Music Director Carl St.Clair, attempts to shed light on the answers by exploring a different facet of American music through the American Composers Festival (ACF). This year's ACF spotlights organ music through four highly acclaimed organists and the splendor of the king of instruments—in this case, the one-of-a-kind William J. Gillespie Concert Organ, located in the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall. Built from steel, tin, oak, poplar, maple, lead and carbon fiber, the astounding instrument found in the Symphony's concert hall required three years and 42,000 hours of labor by a team of organ builders at C.B Fisk in Gloucester, Mass., before making its debut with Pacific Symphony in 2008.

San Francisco, CA, December 18, 2015 – San Francisco's Opera Parallèle (OP) has announced its first main stage opera commission, the creation of a new opera by American composer Laura Kaminsky inspired by the life of Georgia O'Keeffe at the time she left New York to embark on her iconic and influential experiences in New Mexico. The company has been awarded a prestigious Repertoire Development Grant from Opera America in the amount of $35,000 to support the work's initial stages of creation and workshopping, and is set for an April 2019 premiere. The opera will feature a libretto by Mark Campbell and Kimberly Reed. The production team will be led by Opera Parallèle Creative Director Brian Staufenbiel, will be conducted by OP Artistic Director and founder Nicole Paiement and will feature a cast of ten, details will be announced. The production is being undertaken by Opera Parallèle in consortium with American Opera Projects and Cornish College of the Arts, and all three co-commissioners will present performances and other activities to be announced. For more information about Opera Parallèle, visit www.operaparallele.org 

 DALLAS, TX, December 8, 2015 – The Dallas Opera will present opera legend Frederica von Stade, mezzo-soprano, for another magnificent performance in The Robert E. and Jean Ann Titus Art Song Recital Series. The one-time-only recital will be presented Sunday, January 31, 2016 at 2:00 p.m. at City Performance Hall (a 749-seat venue located at 2520 Flora Street in the Arts District, Dallas, TX 75201). Also featured at the exclusive event will be Jake Heggie, composer (Great Scott, Moby-Dick) and accomplished pianist, who has had a long-standing artistic collaboration with Miss von Stade.

The Dallas Opera will present opera legend Frederica von Stade, mezzo-soprano, for another magnificent performance in The Robert E. and Jean Ann Titus Art Song Recital Series. The one-time-only recital will be presented Sunday, January 31, 2016 at 2:00 p.m. at City Performance Hall (a 749-seat venue located at 2520 Flora Street in the Arts District, Dallas, TX 75201). Also featured at the exclusive event will be Jake Heggie, composer (Great Scott, Moby-Dick) and accomplished pianist, who has had a long-standing artistic collaboration with Miss von Stade.

?Named "Best Female Singer" at the 2014 International Opera Awards, German soprano Diana Damrau appears in recital with pianist Craig Rutenberg at Carnegie Hall on Sunday, December 6 at 2:00 p.m. in Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage. Ms. Damrau and Mr. Rutenberg perform German lieder by Schubert and R. Strauss, French songs by Poulenc and Manuel Rosenthal, and Dvo?ak's Zigeunermelodien.

GRAMMY Award-winning guitarist Sharon Isbin will appear at Carnegie Hall's Stern Auditorium on Wednesday, November 4 at 7pm with Sting, Katy Perry and Jerry Seinfeld for the Change Begins Within concert which will also include performances by Jim James and Angelique Kidjo. Proceeds from the event will aid the foundation's Meditate New York initiative, which provides transcendental meditation training to 10,000 at-risk New Yorkers for free. Director, screenwriter, and artist David Lynch and George Stephanopoulos of ABC News will serve as the evening's hosts. Tickets are $600-$150 and available at www.CarnegieHall.org, CarnegieCharge 212-247-7800 or at the Carnegie Hall Box Office at 57th Street and Seventh.

IlluminArts presents immersive musical performance in conjunction with LISTEN TO THIS BUILDING: A collaboration by Exile Books, the Miami Center for Architecture and Design, and the Miami Lighthouse for the Blind. Called SONGS OF THE CITY, SONGS IN THE DARK, the concert is set for tonight, October 1, 2015 from 6:30PM to 8:30 PM at the Miami Center for Architecture and Design, 100 NE 1st Avenue, Miami, FL 33132.

IlluminArts presents immersive musical performance in conjunction with LISTEN TO THIS BUILDING: A collaboration by Exile Books, the Miami Center for Architecture and Design, and the Miami Lighthouse for the Blind. Called SONGS OF THE CITY, SONGS IN THE DARK, the concert is set for October 1, 2015 from 6:30PM to 8:30 PM at the Miami Center for Architecture and Design, 100 NE 1st Avenue, Miami, FL 33132.