The Offering - 1977 - Off-Broadway Articles Page 19

Boston, MA — Two of Boston's leading musical ensembles—the Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP) and Odyssey Opera—unite onstage for a special concert honoring the great Pulitzer­winning composer Gunther Schuller (1925-­ 2015). Between them, these two organizations have a repertoire spanning a wide array of genres, and this program will offer the distinctive sound of Schuller's fusion of jazz vernacular with the symphonic and operatic world. Gil Rose will lead BMOP in two enjoyable narratives for all ages, Schuller's Journey Into Jazz and The Fisherman and His Wife, joined by Gunther's sons Ed Schuller (bass) and George Schuller (drums) as special guest artists, and Odyssey Opera, featuring Met Opera regular, mezzo-­soprano Sondra Kelly. Rounding out the program will be Schuller's sinfonietta work Games. Continuing its 20th anniversary season, BMOP is thrilled and humbled to be presenting works by Schuller, the orchestra's longtime collaborator and friend. “There was no more prodigious and passionate master of the musical 20th century in America than Gunther Schuller,” says Gil Rose, Artistic Director, Founder, and Conductor of BMOP and Odyssey Opera. “He was American music making at its best.” Ranking among the most eclectic of his generation or any other, Schuller combined jazz and classical music in new ways. In the 1950s, Schuller's revolutionary, hybrid style became know as “Third Stream,” and entered the classical music mainstream. Schuller served as President of the New England Conservatory, where he established a successful degree-­granting jazz program, from 1967-­1977. He made his home in Newton, MA, and passed away on June 21, 2015 in Boston at the age of 89. Opening the program is Schuller's Games (2013)—written at age 90—for wind quintet and strings, offering a lighthearted, rapid-­??fire amalgam of ideas, rhythms, and tongue-­in-­cheek quotations that is a classic display of the composer's trademark nimbleness and wit. The organic fusion of contemporary classical music and modern jazz that characterizes the Third Stream is front and center in Journey Into Jazz (1962), a strong aesthetic statement about the porous nature of musical boundaries and the shared fundamentals of good musicianship. In the manner of Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf, Journey Into Jazz features a narration by famed jazz critic and author Nat Hentoff that tells the story of a young classically-­trained trumpeter who evolves into a jazz improviser and, ultimately, an artist with his own, individual sound. BMOP is thrilled to welcome Gunther's sons Ed Schuller (bass) and George Schuller (drums) as guest artists for this special tribute performance. Audiences can listen to BMOP perform Journey Into Jazz on BMOP/sound's eponymous recording of 2008. Of that disc, Gramophone wrote “Under Gil Rose's caring direction, the Boston Modern Orchestra Project and stellar instrumental soloists give performances that are not likely to be surpassed for some time.” Also on the program is another work of Schuller's that centers on narrative, the one-­act opera The Fisherman and His Wife (1970), which received its first performance by the Boston Opera Company under the direction of Sarah Caldwell. With a libretto by John Updike, the work is derived from the German fairy tale popularized by the Brothers Grimm and is appealing for all ages. A simple fisherman (performed here by tenor Steven Goldstein) is convinced by his wife (performed here by mezzo-­soprano Sondra Kelly) to ask for more and more favors from a great fish he has captured and thrown back into the sea. When the wife asks to play God, she and her husband are reduced to their original poor state, having learned some lessons along the way. About BMOP The Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP) is the premier orchestra in the United States dedicated exclusively to commissioning, performing, and recording music of the twentieth and twenty-­first centuries. A unique institution of crucial artistic importance to today's musical world, BMOP exists to disseminate exceptional orchestral music of the present and recent past via performances and recordings of the highest caliber. Founded by Artistic Director Gil Rose in 1996, BMOP has championed composers whose careers span nine decades. Each season, Rose brings BMOP's award-­??winning orchestra, renowned soloists, and influential composers to the stage of New England Conservatory's historic Jordan Hall in a series that offers orchestral programming of unmatched diversity. The musicians of BMOP are consistently lauded for the energy, imagination, and passion with which they infuse the music of the present era. For more information, please visit BMOP.org. About Odyssey Opera Founded in 2013 by Artistic Director/Conductor Gil Rose, Odyssey Opera presents adventurous and eclectic works that affirm opera as a powerful expression of the human experience. Its world-­??class artists perform the operatic repertoire from its historic beginnings throughlesser-­??known masterpieces to contemporary new works and commissions in a variety of formats and venues. Odyssey Opera sets standards of high musical and theatrical excellence and innovative programming to advance the operatic genre beyond the familiar and into undiscovered territory. Odyssey Opera takes its audience on a journey to places they've never been before. For more information, please visit odysseyopera.org.

Investigation Discovery (ID) and ABC's Lincoln Square Productions premieres BARBARA WALTERS PRESENTS AMERICAN SCANDALS, an exclusive new 9-episode series featuring iconic newswoman Barbara Walters.

St. Joseph County Public Library is proud to present David Sedaris, author of the previous bestsellers Naked, Me Talk Pretty One Day, Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim , and regular National Public Radio contributor who will be appearing for one night only at Morris Performing Arts Center tonight, October 27, 2015 at 7:30pm.

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Artistic Director Glenn Edgerton, and its Youth, Education and Community Programs department, under the leadership of Kathryn Humphreys, are pleased to offer a Professional Development Institute comprised of twelve diverse events throughout the 2015-16 academic year, designed for studio and classroom educators, teaching artists, undergraduate and graduate students.

SAN FRANCISCO (October 12, 2015) –– San Francisco Opera Center Director Sheri Greenawald announced today the twelve recipients of the 2016 Adler Fellowship, a multi-year performance-oriented residency offering advanced young artists intensive individual training, coaching and professional seminars, as well as a wide range of performance opportunities. Adler Fellows are selected from the young artists who have participated in the Merola Opera Program. This prestigious training program has nurtured the development of more than 150 young artists since its inception.

With the continued growth of its celebrated Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance at The Music Center series, and the success of its highly popular participatory dance experiences, The Music Center has become an important hub for dance in Los Angeles. Its 2015-2016 dance season is a prime example of the commitment of The Music Center to present distinctive dance experiences to Southern California audiences, especially by internationally renowned artists in classical ballet and contemporary expression.

The Film Society of Lincoln Center announced today the lineup for Scary Movies 9, the annual horror fest featuring highly anticipated new thrillers, genre rarities, and special guests

Music Director Alan Gilbert will conduct the New York Philharmonic in an all-Mozart program: his Divertimento in D major, K.136/125a; Horn Concerto No. 2, with Principal Horn Philip Myers; and Serenade for 13 Winds, Gran partita. The concerts take place Wednesday, November 4, 2015, at 7:30 p.m.; Thursday, November 5 at 7:30 p.m.; Friday, November 6 at 8:00 p.m.; and Saturday, November 7 at 8:00 p.m.

ARCOS Dance debuts its award-winning multimedia dance-theater production The Warriors: A Love Story -- a timely reflection on memorializing love in times of war, and the company's first production in Austin.

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Artistic Director Glenn Edgerton, and its Youth, Education and Community Programs department, under the leadership of Kathryn Humphreys, are pleased to offer a Professional Development Institute comprised of twelve diverse events throughout the 2015-16 academic year, designed for studio and classroom educators, teaching artists, undergraduate and graduate students.

SAN DIEGO, Aug. 31, 2015 /PRNewswire/ Phil Blair, Executive Officer of Manpower-West and author of Job Won! 500,000 Hires and Counting, has added 'best-selling author' to his professional credits by becoming a #1 best-selling author on Amazon in two major employment-related categories job hunting and vocational guidance.

Columbia Records is proud to announce the release ofThe Silver Lining: The Songs of Jerome Kern, a new album from American musical legend Tony Bennett and acclaimed jazz pianist Bill Charlap, arriving Friday, September 25, 2015.

ARCOS Dance debuts its award-winning multimedia dance-theater production The Warriors: A Love Story -- a timely reflection on memorializing love in times of war, and the company's first production in Austin.

Music Director Alan Gilbert will conduct the New York Philharmonic in the World Premiere- Philharmonic Commission of Marc Neikrug's Canta-Concerto, featuring mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke; Brahms's Piano Concerto No. 2, with Emanuel Ax as soloist; and Brahms's Tragic Overture. The performances take place Thursday, October 1, 2015, at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, October 3, at 8:00 p.m. Alan Gilbert and the Philharmonic will also perform Brahms's Piano Concerto No. 2, with Emanuel Ax as soloist, on a program that includes Beethoven's Symphony No. 7, on September 30, 2015, at 7:30 p.m., as well as at Long Island University's Tilles Center for the Performing Arts in Brookville, New York, on October 2, 2015, at 8:00 p.m.

'Songs of the Harlem River: Forgotten one acts from the Harlem Renaissance' is a collection of one-acts written between 1920-1930 including works by Marita Bonner, Rafe M. Coleman, Georgia Douglas Johnson, Willis Richardson and Eulalie Spence as well as the poems of Sterling A. Brown, Langston Hughes and others. The evening is directed and choreographed by Shela Xoregos and will have its world premiere August 30 to September 6 in Theater for the New City's 2015 Dream Up Festival.

The all-new Margaritaville Hollywood Beach Resort, opening in 2015 on the legendary Hollywood Beach Broadwalk in Hollywood, Florida, today announced an exclusive introductory offer, 'Throwback to Paradise.' In celebration of 1977, the year Jimmy Buffett's famed song, "Margaritaville," launched into stardom, the resort is offering their coastal-luxe oceanfront accommodations and two signature welcome margaritas for $197.70 for all stays through December 15, 2015.*

With his unmistakable tenor voice, legendary songwriting skills and bass guitar chops to boot, Chicago frontman and solo star Peter Cetera defines an entire era of American rock music.

New Diorama Theatre will celebrate its fifth birthday with a season of powerful, innovative, theatrically and thematically diverse productions by a range of exceptional emerging theatre companies from across the UK. 

St. Joseph County Public Library is proud to present David Sedaris, author of the previous bestsellers Naked, Me Talk Pretty One Day, Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim , and regular National Public Radio contributor who will be appearing for one night only at Morris Performing Arts Center on Tuesday, October 27, 2015 at 7:30pm.

The Jewish Museum's 2015 slate of lectures, discussions, and events continues in July with a concert featuring violinist Todd Reynolds, part of the Museum's partnership with Bang on a Can; a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the exhibition, Repetition and Difference, with curators Susan L. Braunstein and Daniel S. Palmer; and Alexander Tochilovsky of Cooper Union discussing graphic design-related materials in the exhibition, Revolution of the Eye: Modern Art and the Birth of American Television. In addition, the Whitney Museum of American Art and Cooper Union are co-presenting programs related to Revolution of the Eye.

The second program of the Royal Ballet of England's return to New York City after an 11-year hiatus – and the first appearance of the company at the Koch Theatre in Lincoln Center – was an ambitious but not entirely successful presentation of works by British choreographers. The greatest failing was not onstage but in the Playbill. No notes at all were included to help the audience appreciate the ballets and the music in a historical context. While I applaud the company as well as the presenting Joyce Theater Foundation for eschewing the standard story ballets in favor of repertory fare, I am at a loss to figure out why the dancegoers were not given any information other than titles, credits, and casting. On the afternoon of June 27th when I was there, I overheard many people during pauses and intermissions commenting that a little assistance in comprehending the inspiration and intent of the choreographers would have been appreciated.

So how far does an afternoon of Bournonville go? I would love to say a long way, yet in the performance on Sunday, May 24 at the Koch Theater, the dancers of the New York City Ballet proved that, while soaring high octane is definitely in their blood, the softer sounds and characterizations of Bournonville may be beyond their considerable and powerful techniques.

A safe, inoffensive, cutesy crowd-pleaser for the young and the young-at-heart, the brand new non-Equity touring revival of the Broadway classic ANNIE is eager to please and pretty much does so. The show is, by all accounts, a cute if standard-issue charmer, filled with hummable ear-worm music (via lyricist/book writer Martin Charnin and composer Charles Strouse) and enjoyably hyperbolic characters that audiences will delight in either cheering or jeering. Sure, ANNIE may not be the best or most groundbreaking musical ever created, but it certainly has its heartwarming place in the genre. The tour continues at Orange County's Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa through May 24.

Loosely based on the fictitious life of Pippin the Hunchback, this musical tells the story of the young prince Pippin, Heir to the Frankish throne, who is in search of the secret to true happiness and fulfillment. He seeks it in the glories of the battlefield, the temptations of the flesh and the intrigues of political power (after disposing of his father King Charlemagne the Great). In the end, though, Pippin finds that happiness lies not in extraordinary endeavors, but rather in the un-extraordinary moments that happen every day.

In conjunction with the Jewish Museum's exhibition, Revolution of the Eye: Modern Art and the Birth of American Television, on view through September 20, 2015, the Jewish Museum, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and Cooper Union are co-presenting a series of programs from May to July.