Warren Jones News

Summer is just around the corner, and we are looking ahead in anticipation to the start of Carnegie Hall's 2014-2015 season! Listed below are classical music highlights at Carnegie Hall, including details on UBUNTU: Music and Arts of South Africa, a three-week festival from October 10 to November 5, featuring an exciting array of events to be presented at Carnegie Hall and partner venues throughout New York City, inviting audiences to explore the incredibly dynamic and diverse culture of South Africa.

Plymouth's Spire Center for Performing Arts presents a gala opening series Celebrity Benefit Concert featuring nationally renowned baritone Andrew Garland and legendary pianist Warren Jones tonight, May 16, 7:30 pm at 25 ½ Court Street, Plymouth. The concert is a featured event in their 2-month long opening celebration of concerts, performances and Plymouth's first ever Plymouth Rock Assurance Jazz Festival.

San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM), Oberlin Conservatory of Music and Sonoma State University's Green Music Center today announced The National Brass Ensemble Project, a partnership formed to present a newly created group, the National Brass Ensemble, in a week-long residency taking place June 9 - 14, 2014 in Rohnert Park and San Rafael, California. The Ensemble, a singular collection of musicians from across the United States, features 24 leading brass players and two percussionists from the Boston Symphony, Chicago Symphony, Cleveland, Detroit Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia and San Francisco Symphony orchestras.

The Music Academy of the West will inaugurate an unprecedented partnership with the world-renowned New York Philharmonic and present a new production of Georges Bizet's popular opera Carmen in honor of Marilyn Horne's 80th birthday as part of the Academy's 67th annual Summer Festival. The Music Academy will present some 200 events over the course of its coming season, which begins June 16 and concludes August 9.

From May 12 to 16, Carnegie Hall's Weill Music Institute will present a workshop for young jazz instrumentalists led by renowned Latin jazz artist Paquito D'Rivera. The prolific composer, conductor, clarinetist, and saxophonist teams up with members of his ensemble to mentor these young jazz musicians during an intensive weeklong workshop, co-designed by acclaimed bassist and educator Oscar Stagnaro, that culminates with a concert in Zankel Hall on Friday, May 16 at 7:30 p.m. During the concert, the young musicians will perform music composed by D'Rivera and other Latin jazz works alongside D'Rivera himself, Stagnaro, and other members of the Paquito D'Rivera Ensemble including pianist Alex Brown, percussionist Pernell Satuemino, trumpeter Diego Urcola, and drummer Mark Walker. See below for program information.

Plymouth's Spire Center for Performing Arts presents a gala opening series Celebrity Benefit Concert featuring nationally renowned baritone Andrew Garland and legendary pianist Warren Jones on Friday, May 16, 7:30 pm at 25 ½ Court Street, Plymouth. The concert is a featured event in their 2-month long opening celebration of concerts, performances and Plymouth's first ever Plymouth Rock Assurance Jazz Festival.

Twenty-three singers, five apprentice coaches and one apprentice stage director, representing ten countries, will participate in the 57th season of the Merola Opera Program from June 2 to August 17. More than 900 artists vied for the 29 coveted spots in the 2014 summer program. Offered free of charge for all participants, the prestigious Merola Opera program is unique in the industry in many ways. Merola is the only young artist program to provide financial support to developing artists for five years following participation. In the past year alone, more than $150,000 was distributed to more than 100 artists supporting varied needs from coaching to language classes to audition travel. In addition, only Merola graduates are considered for participation in the San Francisco Opera's Adler Fellowship program. Selected through an extensive world-wide audition and application process, nearly one third of this season's artists come from countries outside the United States, including: Canada, China, Taiwan, Italy, South Korea, Russia, Iran, Poland and Israel. This year, the program will have three returning Merola artists, Casey Candebat (Merola 2012), Sahar Nouri and Rhys Lloyd Talbot (both Merola 2013).

Acclaimed young baritone John Brancy and pianist Mario Antonio Marra, winners of the 2013 Music Academy of the West Marilyn Horne Song Competition, will perform the world premiere of Force by up-and-coming composer Chris Kapica, as well as the famous Schumann song cycle Dichterliebe, works by Dvorak, and a trio of American standards at 7:30 pm in Hahn Hall tonight, March 4.

After nearly 3 years of planning and renovations, the Greater Plymouth Performing Arts Center, Inc. (GPPAC), a non-profit organization supporting the region's performing arts community, announces the long awaited Gala Grand Opening Events Series of The Spire Center for Performing Arts, 25 ½ Court Street, Plymouth. A 2-month long celebration kicks off with a Community Open House on Saturday, April 5; a ribbon-cutting ceremony, Gala Variety Show and reception on Friday, April 11; folk-pop duo The Sea The Sea on Saturday, April 12; local singer-songwriter Hayley Sabella CD release concert on Friday, April 18; a Celebrity Benefit Concert featuring nationally renowned baritone Andrew Garland and pianist Warren Jones on Friday, May 16; children's singer/songwriter The Stacey Peasley Band on Sunday, May 18; wrapping up with the premiere of Plymouth's first ever Jazz Festival on Saturday and Sunday, May 24 and 25.

Today, February 21, 24 finalists will perform for the judges and audience, hoping to win a George London Award, an honor that has been conferred upon hundreds of the best young singers since 1971.

Renowned bass John Relyea, who is performing in the Metropolitan Opera's current production of Rusalka with Renée Fleming; rising young soprano Lori Guilbeau, a 2010 George London Award winner; and pianist Warren Jones will share the stage for the second event in the season's George London Foundation Recital Series on Sunday, March 9, 2014, at 4:30 PM at The Morgan Library & Museum. The series presents pairs of outstanding opera singers, many of whom were winners of a George London prize early in their careers or are recent George London Award recipients. (Watch Lori Guilbeau's George London Award-winning performance of 'Einsam in trüben Tagen' from Wagner's Lohengrin here, available in the George London Foundation website's Media Library.)

Acclaimed young baritone John Brancy and pianist Mario Antonio Marra, winners of the 2013 Music Academy of the West Marilyn Horne Song Competition, will perform the world premiere of Force by up-and-coming composer Chris Kapica, as well as the famous Schumann song cycle Dichterliebe, works by Dvorak, and a trio of American standards at 7:30 pm in Hahn Hall on Tuesday, March 4. Following the recital, world-renowned mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne will conduct a question-and-answer session with the performers on stage.

The 2013 winners of the Music Academy of the West's Marilyn Horne Song Competition, baritone John Brancy and pianist Mario Antonio Marra, will perform the premiere of Force by up-and-coming composer Chris Kapica, Schumann's Dichterliebe, works by Dvorák, and American standards in a trio of East and West Coast recitals. The first will take place at the Music Academy's Hahn Hall in Santa Barbara, California on Tuesday, March 4, followed by Santa Monica's Broad Stage on Friday, March 7, and the National Opera Center in New York City on Sunday, March 16. The New York recital is part of OPERA America's Emerging Artist Recital Series, a showcase for finalists and prizewinners from the nation's most prestigious young artist programs and competitions.

Over three days of preliminary auditions on February 17-19, 2014, 90 of the best young American and Canadian opera singers will compete to reach the final round of the 43rd annual George London Foundation Awards Competition.

There was a lovefest for the great mezzo Marilyn Horne in New York last week, filled with the music of friends, acquaintances and admirers at Carnegie Hall's sibling, Zankel Hall.

Carnegie Hall has announced its January 2014 calendar updates. Details below!

Carnegie Hall today announced that pianist Natalia Katyukova has graciously agreed to step in for Malcolm Martineau, playing a full-length song recital with sopranos Joelle Harvey, Emalie Savoy, tenor Paul Appleby, and baritone John Brancy, as part of its Discovery Day: Benjamin Britten event on Saturday, December 14 at 1:00 p.m. in Weill Recital Hall. Mr. Martineau has been forced to cancel his appearance due to an ear infection which prevents him from traveling.

Carnegie Hall has announced its January 2014 calendar updates. Details below!