Deems Taylor News

Principal POPS Conductor Michael Feinstein opens the 2017 Pasadena POPS Sierra Auto Concert Series at the Los Angeles Arboretum on Saturday, June 17th with Broadway: The Golden Age.

KCETLink Media Group, a leading national independent non-profit public broadcast and digital network, announced today that the world's first made-for-TV opera 'VIREO: The Spiritual Biography of a Witch's Accuser,' composed and conceived by Lisa Bielawa, will make its world broadcast television premiere on Tuesday, June 13 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on both KCET in Southern California and Link TV (DirecTV375 and Dish Network 9410) nationwide.

Even in the studio, the overall feeling of his band and his music is that life is a gas, a spirit very evident on '92 Years Young: Jammin' at the Gibbs House.'

Former Music Critic for The Orange County Register, Timothy Mangan, Appointed to Newly Created Position as Writer-in-Residence with Pacific Symphony

“Butterfly” is the deliciously sexy first single from '70s-influenced rocker Debra Devi's Wild Little Girl EP (True Nature Records).

The May issue of OPERA NEWS, the leading voice in North America that reports on opera internationally, features the visionary Cecilia Bartoli, the first woman to serve as an artistic director at Salzburg,  on the cover for the first time in a decade.

More than 400 opera aficionados and performers - including opera stars Harolyn Blackwell, Lauren Flanigan, Ailyn Perez, Diana Soviero, Teresa Stratas and surprise presenter Renee Fleming, were among those who attended the 12th Annual OPERA NEWS Awards at The Plaza Hotel last night.

On Monday, April 24, 2017 at 7:30pm, composer Lisa Bielawa's The Trojan Women will be performed by the conductor-less chamber orchestra String Orchestra of New York City (SONYC) as part of Victoria Bond's Cutting Edge Concerts New Music Festival at Symphony Space in Leonard Nimoy Thalia hall. In addition to Bielawa's piece, the concert will also include SONYC performing Victoria Bond's Frescoes and Ash, plus Taka Kigawa performing works by Richard Carrick, Sean Sheppard, and Zosha Di Castri.

In a new partnership, WWFM The Classical Network will air New Jersey Symphony Orchestra concert broadcasts on Friday, March 31; Thursday, April 27; and Friday, June 2. Each broadcast airs at 8 pm on 89.1 FM and streams simultaneously online at www.wwfm.org. The programs will feature music by Tchaikovsky, Haydn, Strauss and more in performances led by Music Director Xian Zhang, recorded live at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark. Webcasts will become available for on-demand listening on the NJSO and WWFM websites.

Music Director Alan Gilbert begins his final weeks by leading the New York Philharmonic in Schoenberg's A Survivor from Warsaw and Beethoven's Symphony No. 9. The program juxtaposes the tragedy and optimism of human experience through Schoenberg's depiction of the horror of the Holocaust and the message of hope, brotherhood, and joy in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. Schoenberg's A Survivor from Warsaw will feature Gabriel Ebert as narrator (in his Philharmonic debut) and the men of the Westminster Symphonic Choir, directed by Joe Miller. Beethoven's Ninth Symphony will feature soprano Camilla Tilling, mezzo-soprano Daniela Mack (debut), tenor Joseph Kaiser (debut), bass-baritone Eric Owens, and the Westminster Symphonic Choir, directed by Joe Miller. The performances will take place Wednesday, May 3, 2017, at 7:30 p.m.; Thursday, May 4 at 7:30 p.m.; Friday, May 5 at 8:00 p.m.; Saturday, May 6 at 8:00 p.m.; and Tuesday, May 9 at 7:30 p.m. The program will be presented without intermission.

Popular radio host Alan Chapman will join several members of the Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra for an intimate evening of chamber music and related discussion at the University Club of Santa Barbara on Tuesday, April 4. Featuring a performance of Felix Mendelssohn's exquisite String Quartet No. 3, Op. 44, the program will begin at 7:30 pm. Wine and dessert will be served. Tickets cost $64; seating is limited.

On Thursday, April 6, 2017 at 7pm, National Sawdust (80 N 6th St.) will present a concert of the music of composer-vocalist Lisa Bielawa, performed by the American Contemporary Music Ensemble (ACME) with Bielawa as vocal soloist.

Principal Conductor Michael Feinstein leads the Pasadena POPS for its star-studded 2017 Summer Concert Series at the Los Angeles Arboretum with extraordinary multiple award winning guests artists Liza Minnelli, Alan Cumming, Joel Gray, Hair Spray Live's Madelyn Baillio, Beautiful's Jessie Mueller and Jarrod Spector, Grey Garden's Rachel York, Phantom of the Opera's Jordan Donica, the Midtown Men and Michael Feinstein in concert.

The League of American Orchestras has announced that Chester Lane, senior editor of its quarterly magazine, Symphony, will step down from the organization on March 1, 2017.

The McCallum Theatre presents Michael Feinstein and 'Isn't It Romantic' today, February 25, at 8:00pm. Michael returns with an evening of America's most romantic music from The Great American Songbook, reprised from his sold out Broadway run. Almost a million copies have been sold of his Isn't It Romantic album. Michael will be accompanied by a 17-piece band that will contrast with the beautiful piano solos for which he is known. Michael Feinstein has built a dazzling career over three decades bringing the Great American Songbook music to the world. From 5 Grammy nominated albums to Emmy nominated PBS specials, acclaimed NPR series, and concerts at The White House, Buckingham Palace, Hollywood Bowl, Carnegie Hall and Sydney Opera House, his work as an educator and archivist define Michael as a force in American music. 

The McCallum Theatre presents Michael Feinstein and 'Isn't It Romantic' on Saturday, February 25, at 8:00pm. Michael returns with an evening of America's most romantic music from The Great American Songbook, reprised from his sold out Broadway run. Almost a million copies have been sold of his Isn't It Romantic album. Michael will be accompanied by a 17-piece band that will contrast with the beautiful piano solos for which he is known. Michael Feinstein has built a dazzling career over three decades bringing the Great American Songbook music to the world. From 5 Grammy nominated albums to Emmy nominated PBS specials, acclaimed NPR series, and concerts at The White House, Buckingham Palace, Hollywood Bowl, Carnegie Hall and Sydney Opera House, his work as an educator and archivist define Michael as a force in American music. 

Beginning February 18, the Orchestre National de Lyon, “probably the most refined ensemble of the world” (The Guardian),  tours the United States for the first time since 2003, playing concerts with music director Leonard Slatkin on a six-city tour.  The Orchestra performs in renowned venues such as Carnegie Hall, New Jersey Performing Arts Center, and at the University of Georgia, Wake Forest University, and others. Special guest artists at Carnegie Hall include two of classical music's most treasured American voices, soprano Renée Fleming and baritone Thomas Hampson.  The New York program will feature debut performances of Guillaume Connesson's Celephaïs and a new Ravel arrangement of Rimsky-Korsakov's Antar with text by Amin Maalouf.

Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra's Westside Connections series 2017, curated by Concertmaster Margaret Batjer, spotlights Music: The Mirror of Time on Thursday, February 23, 2017, 7:30 pm, at Santa Monica's Moss Theater.  As the series' special guests lead explorations of musical masterworks that emerged from times of triumph and tragedy in England, Russia and Germany, the first of three Westside Connections programs focuses on England and features the West Coast premiere of Andrew Norman's Sonnets.  Guest artists are pianist Bernadene Blaha, hailed for her "brilliant command of the piano," and special guest Jan Swafford, composer, music essayist and author of biographies that illuminate the life and times of Beethoven, Brahms and Charles Ives.  The eclectic program also includes Elgar's Quintet in A minor for Piano and String Quartet, described by Gramophone as "big chamber music, with at times an almost orchestral sonority to it."  Joining Blaha are LACO artists Josefina Vergara, violin; Joel Pargman, violin; Robert Brophy, viola; and Trevor Handy, cello.  NPR's Renee Montagne interviews the special guests and moderates a short Q&A at the conclusion of each program.

Sony Classical will celebrate the New York Philharmonic's 175th anniversary season with New York Philharmonic - 175th Anniversary Edition, a 65-CD compilation of the Orchestra's recordings from 1917 to 1995, to be released on April 7, 2017.

The Prototype: Opera/Theater/Now festival and The French Institute Alliance Francaise (FIAF), New York's premiere French cultural center, present Silent Voices on Today, January 14 and Sunday January 15 at FIAF's Florence Gould Hall.