MasterVoices has launched a podcast series in anticipation of its 2024-25 season-opening performance of “Strike Up the Band.” The recently-released series features three episodes that explore the different aspects of the Gershwin piece. The episodes are hosted by writer, linguist, and musical theater aficionado John McWhorter and feature interviews with Ted Sperling and Laurence Malson on the making of the {…}
MasterVoices opens its 2024-25 season with a concert staging of “Strike Up the Band,” with music by George Gershwin and lyrics by Ira Gershwin. The work will be performed on Oct. 29 at Carnegie Hall. Ted Sperling leads the 120–member MasterVoices Chorus and the MasterVoices Orchestra with soloists Shereen Ahmed, Phillip Attmore, Victoria Clark, Lissa deGuzman, Claybourne Elder, Christopher Fitzgerald, {…}
MasterVoices has unveiled its 2024-25 season. First up is “Strike Up the Band” by George and Ira Gershwin. Ted Sperling conducts and directs the production. Tracy Christensen is the costume designer for the work, which is being presented in New York for the first time since 1998. Performance Date: Oct. 29, 2024 Then comes Scott Davenport Richards and David Cote’s {…}
MasterVoices is set to present the New York City premiere of “To My Arms / Restore” at the NYU Skirball on March 22 & 23, 2024. The performance will be led by choreographer Doug Varone and his company Doug Varone and Dancers and features eight dancers. Additionally, there will be five vocal soloists performing arias from such Händel works as {…}
MasterVoices has announced its 2023-24 Season. Here are the operatic selections of the season. “The Grapes of Wrath” by Ricky Ian Gordon and Michael Korie based on John Steinbeck’s Novel will be presented in a concert performance. The performance will be held at Carnegie Hall with the Orchestra of St. Luke and conductor Ted Sperling. The work premiered in 2007 {…}
MasterVoices concludes its 2022-23 season with a concert staging of Gilbert and Sullivan’s “Iolanthe.” The performance, which is set to take place on May 3 at Carnegie Hall, will be directed and conducted by Ted Sperling. The concert performance will feature the 120–member MasterVoices chorus and orchestra with Tony Award-nominated veteran David Garrison, Christine Ebersole, Shereen Ahmed, Schyler Vargas, and {…}
MasterVoices is set to present “O How Good” on March 23, 2023. The showcase will feature Bloch’s “Sacred Service (Avodath Hakodesh),” Weill’s “Kiddush,” and the world premiere of Daniel Rein’s “And the Sun Goes Up.” Conductor Ted Sperling will lead the performance, which will be headlined by baritone Justin Austin, tenor Daniel Mutlu, organist David Strickland, and pianist Daniel Rein. {…}
Photos: Erin Baiano If you were to walk down a street, stop a stranger, and ask if they’ve heard of the opera “Carmen,” more than likely, many would say yes. Ask the follow-up question: What’s it about? There may be some head scratching and faces scrunched in concentration as they try to recall … “Bullfighter.” Whether it was in an opera {…}
Ted Sperling, Artistic Director of MasterVoices has announced details of the 81st season. The 2022-23 season opens at the Rose Theater at Jazz at Lincoln Center with Sperling leading a concert staging of Bizet’s “Carmen “in its original Opéra Comique version. Mezzo-soprano Ginger Costa-Jackson heads the cast that also includes soprano Mikaela Bennett as Micaëla and baritone John Brancy as {…}
On June 8, 2022, MasterVoices will present “Songs for a Summer Night.” This free, outdoor concert will be held at Waterline Square Park and comes in celebration of MasterVoices’ 80th anniversary. The program will feature new arrangements inspired by the sounds of summer drawing from composers of the Renaissance to the present day. Artistic Director Ted Sperling will lead the {…}
MasterVoices is set to open its 2021-22 season on Monday, Dec. 6 at Carnegie Hall with “A Joyful Noise.” The program will celebrate a return to performing live with an audience. The first concert of MasterVoices’ 80th anniversary season will showcase rising Canadian soprano Mikaela Bennett, the Northwell Health Nurse Choir, and a capella group, Take 6. The concert will {…}