Tag Archives: Orchestra

Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Presents Beethovens Symphony No. 5, Nov. 8 & 11

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Baltimore, MD (PRWEB) October 25, 2012

Music Director Marin Alsop will lead the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in Beethovens powerful Symphony No. 5, November 8 at 8 p.m. and November 11 at 3 p.m. at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall. Also on the program is the East Coast premiere of another groundbreaking symphony, the third by American master Christopher Rouse, whose music is celebrated throughout the 2012-2013 season. A post-concert Q&A with Maestra Alsop and Christopher Rouse about his symphony will follow the November 8 concert. Please see below for complete concert details.

The concert will open with the overture from Beethovens ballet The Creatures of Prometheus, a work he composed in 1801 to accompany a libretto by Viennese ballet master and choreographer Salvatore Vigan

Artist/Violinist and City Downtown Business Improvement District Hold Art Exhibition & Sale to Benefit an Orchestra

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New Rochelle, NY (PRWEB) October 16, 2009

New Rochelle painter, sculptor and musician David Tobey, a long time violinist member of the Westchester Philharmonic, has joined with New Rochelle’s Downtown Business Improvement District (BID) to raise funds for the orchestra with an exhibition & sale of his art, that opens with a reception on Thursday, November 12th from 5 to 9 p.m. at “BID Gallery 542″, 542 Main Street in New Rochelle’s new downtown art district.

A full 50% of the proceeds from all sales for the run of the exhibition through November 22nd will go directly to the support of the Westchester Philharmonic. There is no admission charge, the public is cordially invited, and there will be complimentary refreshments and live music at the opening. Additionally, anyone who purchases art on November 12th will receive a 10% discount off all prices as listed.

David, the son of the late well-known painter and illustrator Alton S. Tobey (1914-2005), has hosted benefit exhibitions of his work for a number of years, and has worked with other artists in the past to support not-for-profit Westchester organizations. Just this past May, his efforts resulted in more than $ 25,000 in benefit art auction proceeds to the Westchester Philharmonic at their annual Spring Gala. Other of his shows both here in Westchester and at galleries in New York City have also raised considerable funds for other organizations, including the American Cancer Society and the National Scholastic Chess Foundation.

The Westchester Philharmonic orchestra, which is led by world-renowned Artistic Director Itzhak Perlman, is the only fully-professional symphony orchestra devoted to serving the people of Westchester County. Founded in 1983 by Paul Lustig Dunkel, who was recently named Music Director Emeritus, the Philharmonic fulfills its mission in the concert hall, in the community, and in the classroom. The Philharmonic performs a main stage Concert Series at the Performing Arts Center Purchase College and partners with local agencies to present free and low-cost concerts for all County residents. Its award-winning education program serves over 2,000 elementary school students.

The orchestra is comprised of the finest musicians from the greater New York area and has worked with the world’s finest soloists, including Midori, Joshua Bell, and the late Isaac Stern. With a focus on presenting the best music of the past and present, the orchestra places particular emphasis on providing young musicians with an opportunity to perform with, or compose for, a professional symphony orchestra early in their careers. The Philharmonic has become a home for living American composers and has proudly commissioned many orchestral works such as Melinda Wagner’s Concerto for Flute, Strings and Percussion, which was awarded the Pulitzer Prize.

The orchestra is dedicated to inviting and attracting people of diverse backgrounds to its concerts and continues to explore new partnerships with local schools, libraries, and community centers, so that all in the community have the opportunity to experience the joy of a live, classical music concert.

The New Rochelle Downtown Business Improvement District (BID) is a non-profit association of over 800 business and property owners whose prime goal is economic development, new business and new investment. Recently, the New Rochelle BID announced a new development initiative, the “BID Downtown Artist Spaces Program” that is bringing together property owners with long term vacant upper floor space and artists and arts businesses seeking to lease affordable studios. The program is not only helping to promote the arts but is increasing the diversity of activity and therefore attracting more people downtown.

Ivar Hyden, Chairman of the New Rochelle Municipal Arts Commission and owner of Backstreet Gallery states: “I was delighted that the Downtown BID asked me to be the director and curator of the new BID Gallery 542. It provides an opportunity to show how important the arts are to New Rochelle’s economic development and to feature the work of emerging artists from our community.”

The New Rochelle Downtown BID has also been active in the promoting downtown with its popular Summer Music on the Green, Outdoor Movies and BID Family Saturdays. The BID’s goals are to promote economic development, beautify public spaces, create enhanced technology services, pursue the historic restoration of building facades, and support the attraction of new and the retention of existing businesses in Downtown New Rochelle. In its eight year history, the BID’s efforts have resulted in $ 80 million of new, private, taxpaying downtown development.

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Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra Announces 2010 Marsh Symphony On The Prairie Summertime Concert Season June 19 Sept. 5

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Indianapolis (Vocus) April 9, 2010

The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra has announced its 2010 Marsh Symphony on the Prairie season of programs featuring 12 weekends of summer concerts showcasing a broad spectrum of music under the stars at the Conner Prairie Amphitheater, located at 13400 N. Allisonville Rd., in Fishers, Indiana. The Orchestras 2010 summer season will provide a wide variety of musical genres, including rock n roll, Big Band, patriotic pops, popular classical works, plus folk and Sci-Fi favorites in family-friendly programming for audiences of all ages.

The season includes the Marsh Symphony on the Prairie debuts of famed composer, conductor and performer Marvin Hamlisch, popular indie and folk artist Brandi Carlile, and the legendary Duke Ellington Orchestra; two new programs featuring the music of John Denver and Michael Jackson, respectively; a colorful Sci-Fi program with music from Star Wars and Star Trek featuring special guest George Takei, known as Mr. Sulu in the original Star Trek series, and two weekends of popular classical favorites to showcase the Orchestras superb artistry. Other highlights include the return of the ISOs ensemble-in-residence, Time for Three, the popular Classical Mystery Tour: A Tribute to the Beatles, and the River City Brass Band; plus an evening of music from 1950s artists Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper, and the traditional Independence Day weekend Star-Spangled Symphony concerts with patriotic favorites and fireworks.

Single tickets will go on sale on Monday, April 26 and can be purchased at the Hilbert Circle Theatre Box Office at (317) 639-4300, online at IndianapolisSymphony.org , and at all Marsh Supermarket and OMalias locations throughout Indiana. From now until April 30, Symphony on the Prairie 10-ticket value packs are available for purchase at a savings of more than 40% off gate admission.

Since its inception in 1982, the Marsh Symphony on the Prairie series has become one of Indianas favorite summertime traditions. Last year, a record-breaking 107,281 people attended the summer series. Marsh Supermarkets has been the Title Sponsor of the Marsh Symphony on the Prairie series for the past 28 seasons. St. Vincent is the Premiere Sponsor for the summer series.

Marsh Symphony on the Prairie Schedule:

June 19: Classical One-Hit Wonders

The opening night program features the ISO performing popular classical works that over time became the one hit for which the respective composers were known. The program includes excerpts from Holsts The Planets, Dukas The Sorcerers Apprentice, and Glinkas Overture to Ruslan and Ludmilla, among others. Fifteen-year-old cellist Austin Huntington, 2010 ISO Michael Ben & Illene Komisarow Maurer Young Musicians Contest winner, will perform as soloist.

June 25 & 26: Marvin Hamlisch at the Movies

As promised, renowned award-winning composer, conductor and performer Marvin Hamlisch returns to Indianapolis after having to cancel a performance in February in order to attend the Golden Globes ceremony. Hamlisch will take audiences on a musical journey through popular hit songs from film scores, including many of his own creations from movies such as The Sting, The Way We Were, and Ice Castles, among others.

July 2-4: Star-Spangled Symphony

Three red, white and blue concerts featuring many patriotic favorites, the 1812 Overture with live artillery accompaniment and spectacular fireworks to Stars and Stripes Forever to conclude each evening. Gates open at 4:30 p.m.

July 9 & 10: The John Denver Songbook

Noted John Denver interpreter Jim Curry joins the ISO to perform many of the legendary pop-folk artists greatest hits, including Take Me Home, Country Roads, Rocky Mountain High, and Thank God Im a Country Boy.

July 16 & 17: Sci-Fi Spectacular with George Takei

ISO Principal Pops Conductor Jack Everly and the ISO will perform popular Sci-Fi music from television and the silver screen, including selections from Star Wars, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Day the Earth Stood Still, and Star Trek, plus special guest George Takei, known to fans as Mr. Sulu from the original Star Trek series. Fireworks will conclude the concerts.

July 23 & 24: Indie on the Prairie with Brandi Carlile

Popular indie and folk singer and songwriter Brandi Carlile will bring her unique Seattle-based style of music to the Conner Prairie Amphitheater with the ISO in a program featuring many of her original songs with full orchestra.

July 30 & 31: Tchaikovskys Fifth Symphony

Dynamic young Russian conductor Andrey Boreyko and cellist Zuill Bailey join the ISO for a classical weekend of music featuring Tchaikovskys popular Fifth Symphony, Saint-Sa

OHIO PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA plays MOZART Fest on May 7th, 2011 in Cleveland Hts

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Cleveland, OH (Vocus/PRWEB) March 07, 2011

On Saturday evening, May 7th at 7:00 pm The Ohio Philharmonic Orchestra will perform Mozart in a free and open to the public. The venue is the historic First Baptist Church of Greater Cleveland located at 3630 Fairmount Blvd. in Shaker Heights, OH 44118, a church which traces its roots back to 1833.

Artistic Director William Laufer announced that the musical celebration will feature Mozarts Symphony no.38, the “Prague” symphony, followed by vocal selections from the opera the Marriage of Figaro. The orchestra will be conducted by Italian maestro and OPO music director, Domenico Boyagian. A reception will follow the concert in the Spahr Center, which is located in the church building.

This concert is a benefit for the Ohio Philharmonic Orchestra, and sponsorships opportunities are still available. For those not able to attend the concert but who would like to support this effort of the OPO, donations can be made on line at Ohio Philharmonic Orchestra. The Ohio Philharmonic Orchestra, Inc, is an Ohio not for profit 501-C-3 organization.

The Ohio Phil performs through out the state of Ohio and offers educational programs that bring an understanding and appreciation of orchestral music to all ages but particularly to younger audiences. Additionally, the Ohio Philharmonic performs larger venue concerts for community, civic and private organizations as well as performing and recording music for movies and special events. AFI graduate and award winning film director Tiffany Laufer is heading up the OPO educational video and film area. The OPO will also feature music by emerging composers and is available for national and international engagements.

Born and raised in Bologna, Italy, Mr. Domenico Boyagian began his music studies at the age of 6. After completing his studies at the Conservatorio, he left Italy to pursue musical opportunities in the United States. Upon his arrival, he enjoyed continued success in the fields of piano performance and composition. As a composer, he received numerous awards and scholarships, which helped fund his college education. As a pianist, he toured extensively, accompanying singers in concerts throughout Italy and in the Los Angeles area. Mr. Boyagians conducting aspirations were realized when he was offered the position of assistant conductor in a production of Puccinis Madame Butterfly in Assisi, Italy. This engagement led to work on productions of Puccinis Tosca, Bizets Carmen and Mascagnis Cavalleria Rusticana.

He is quickly proving himself to be equally comfortable with both the orchestral and operatic repertory. Mr. Boyagian has worked with Michael Tilson Thomas, Larry Rachleff, Paolo Olmi and Alexander Mickelthwate, among others. He holds a Master of Music in Orchestral Conducting from the Cleveland Institute of Music ( CIM )and a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance with honors from California State University, Northridge and the Conservatorio G. B. Martini in Bologna, Italy.

Last year, Mr. Boyagian conducted a series of concerts in Italy as a result of his recent involvement with the Tuscia Opera Festival based in Viterbo. He was also invited to participate to the Cadaqu

Anthony Brown’s Asian American Orchestra at “Ten”: New CD + Yoshi’s San Francisco Show on 9/11

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San Francisco, CA (PRWEB) August 15, 2008

Anthony Brown’s Asian American Orchestra will celebrate their ten-year history with the release of a new commemorative CD entitled “Ten” on Tuesday, August 26, and with a performance at Yoshi’s San Francisco on Thursday, September 11.

The Yoshi’s event, which inaugurates the innovative orchestra’s annual home season, takes as its theme “Bridging Japantown and the Fillmore with Jazz.” “We are mounting an outreach campaign in neighborhood schools and centers on both sides of the Geary Street divide,” says Brown, himself of African-American and Japanese parentage, “to support this thematic focus on building community awareness and appreciation.”

Not incidentally, Brown chose the September 11th date “to reclaim it from being a dreaded date and to make it instead a day of celebration.”

For the Yoshi’s shows, the AAO will feature guitarist Terrence Brewer and other guest artists, and will be performing repertoire from their trilogy of homages to American composers Duke Ellington/Billy Strayhorn (“Far East Suite”), Thelonious Monk (“Monk’s Moods”), and George Gershwin (“Rhapsodies”). Orrin Keepnews, who co-produced the AAO’s Monk album, will be the evening’s emcee.

“Ten,” the new CD, includes favorite tracks from the orchestra’s composer trilogy; “Rhymes” (from their first CD, “Big Bands Behind Barbed Wire”), which served as the theme music for KQED’s Pacific Time; and new material from Brown’s original theater score for the American Conservatory Theater’s production of Philip Gotanda’s “After the War.” Featured prominently on the CD cover, behind the musicians themselves, is a 1950 photo of Brown’s parents, Sumi Ogita and Willie Lee Brown, in Tokyo.

Born at the Presidio in San Francisco, Anthony Brown grew up in a military family that moved around from the Bay Area to Okinawa, Germany, and Southern California. He earned a bachelor’s degree at the University of Oregon, a master’s in music at Rutgers, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in music (ethnomusicology) from UC Berkeley. Brown has successfully divided his time between the academic world and the bandstand. As a drummer and percussionist, he’s collaborated on record and in performance with Max Roach, Steve Lacy, David Murray, and Zakir Hussain; in the mid-1990s he served as Curator of American Musical Culture at the Smithsonian Institution, collecting oral histories from major jazz figures such as Cab Calloway and Benny Carter.

The AAO grew out of a project funded by reparations money allocated by Congress, Brown explains, “to compensate for the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II.” Beginning with the ensemble’s 1998 recording “Big Bands Behind Barbed Wire,” Brown has been working with an evolving assemblage of players who share his unique musical vision, including bassist Mark Izu, who also plays Chinese mouth organ; Hong Wang, on reed trumpet, erhu (two-string Chinese violin), and traditional Chinese percussion; Yangqin Zhao on Chinese hammered dulcimer; trombonists Wayne Wallace and Dave Martell; reed players Melecio Magdaluyo, Marcia Miget, and Masaru Koga; and trumpeters Henry Hung and Geechi Taylor.

The Bay Area’s richly multicultural environment supports and reflects that vision. “It’s not just jazz and Asian music,” Brown says. “Most of us are trained or experienced in classical, pop music, and blues as well, and we bring those skills to the mix.” Brown calls this musical melange Fifth Stream Music, an extension of the Third Stream concept that incorporates world and pop music into the original 1950s blending of jazz and classical music, and uses the name for the nonprofit organization he formed to support his composing, performing, and educational work.

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Two-time Tony Nominee Larry Blank to Conduct Wolf Trap Opera Companys Sweeney Todd with the National Symphony Orchestra

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Vienna, VA (PRWEB) July 19, 2011

Arranger, composer, and conductor makes Filene Center debut following his work as orchestrator of 2011 Tony Nominated Broadway production of Catch Me if You Can.

Friday, July 22, 8:15 p.m. at the Filene Center, tickets start at $ 20

The Wolf Trap Opera Company announced today that acclaimed Broadway and film conductor Larry Blank will lead the National Symphony Orchestra for a one-night only Operascape production of Sweeney Todd at the Filene Center at Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts. Blank replaces James Moore, who was originally slated to serve as the conductor. This is first Filene Center performance of the dark musical thriller by the Wolf Trap Opera Company. Sweeney Todd had a run of more than 500 shows on Broadway in 1979, and later won numerous Golden Globe awards as a movie in 2007.

Blank joins Wolf Traps production as a Sweeney Todd veteran. In 2002, he led the Kennedy Center Sondheim Festival performance, for which he was personally recommended by composer Stephen Sondheim. The internationally acclaimed conductors work has been presented all over the world, including some of Broadways most successful musicals, Carnegie Hall, and top television and film projects.

Were extraordinarily fortunate to have secured a conductor of Larry Blanks profile for this production, particularly on such short notice, said Kim Pensinger Witman, director of the Wolf Trap Opera Company. He will be a wonderful asset to our Filene Center Operascape production, which features the NSO onstage along with the actors. The cast, as well as our audience, will benefit tremendously from his expertise.

This inventively staged production of Sweeney Todd with the National Symphony Orchestra features a two-story, 60-foot-wide screen spanning the length of the proscenium with video projections custom designed for the Filene Center. The Sweeney Todd crew includes Stage Director Tara Faircloth, Projection Designer S. Katy Tucker and the company of 2011 Filene Young Artists the resident artists of the Wolf Trap Opera Company.

About the Wolf Trap Opera Company

Established in 1971, the Wolf Trap Opera Company continues to earn national and international recognition for its mission to discover and encourage outstanding emerging talent in the opera field, serving singers of exceptional achievement and potential who are ready to make the transition to full-time professional careers. In addition to the young professional singers, the company also features the work of emerging designers, directors, and conductors; and provides opportunities for aspiring stage managers, administrators, coaches, and technical theatre professionals.

Tickets for Wolf Trap Opera Company performances can be purchased at the Wolf Trap Box Office located at Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts at 1551 Trap Road, Vienna, Virginia; by calling 1(877) WOLFTRAP; or online at http://www.wolftrap.org. For more information, call Wolf Trap at (703) 255-1868.

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“India & Africa”: Coltrane Tribute by Asian American Orchestra

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Richmond, CA (PRWEB) September 9, 2010

For the last dozen years, percussionist-composer Anthony Browns innovative Asian American Orchestra has reinvented classics of American music by composers Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk, Charles Mingus, and George Gershwin from a Pacific Rim perspective by mixing instruments of European and American vintage with those of various Asian cultures. Now, with the September 28 release of “India & Africa: A Tribute to John Coltrane” on Water Baby Records, the 16-member ensemble brings its unique multicultural vision to 12 compositions written by and/or associated with John Coltrane.

The late, great jazz saxophonist himself utilized an international array of flavors in his music. Coltrane wrote pieces drawing on classical Indian modes (India), West African polyrhythms (Africa), Andalusian flamenco flourishes (Ol