(Credit: Hans van der Woerd) Conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin, the Music Director of the Metropolitan Opera and Philadelphia Orchestra, has sent an open letter to incoming U.S. President Joe Biden, and incoming Vice-President Kamala Harris. In his letter, the famed Canadian maestro asked the new administration to take immediate action in order to save the embattled US cultural sector. “Artists need {…}
(Source: Philadelphia Orchestra Official Website) The Philadelphia Orchestra has announced that Nathalie Stutzmann will be its principal guest conductor. Stutzmann will take up the post this fall at the start of the 2021-22 season as part of a three-year contract. The conductor debuted with the organization back in 2016 in a performance of Handel’s “Messiah.” “I have always felt close {…}
(Credit: The Gramophone) The Gramophone has announced the winners of its Classical Music Awards 2020. Recording of the Year prize went to Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra with Gidon Kremer and Kremerata Baltica for the recording of Mieczysław Weinberg’s Symphonies No. 2 & No. 21. Israeli-American violinist and conductor Itzhak Perlman was presented with the Lifetime {…}
The Philadelphia Orchestra will kick off its 2020-21 season with an opening night celebration for the digital stage. The event, set for Sept. 30, 2020, will be led by music director Yannick Nézet-Séguin and will feature Coleman’s “Seven O’Clock Shout,” Rossini’s “The Thieving Magpie” overture, Verdi’s “D’amor sull’ali rosee” from “Il Trovatore,” Mozart’s Symphony No. 29, and the first Philadelphia {…}
(Credit: Hans van der Woerd) The Philadelphia Orchestra has announced its revised fall season of digital programming. The company will film performances without an audience; these showcases will then be presented on a weekly basis on the orchestra’s Digital Stage platform. The theme of the orchestra’s season, titled “Our World NOW,” will reflect the cultural and musical zeitgeist with recent {…}
Over the weekend, a number of opera companies, orchestras, concert halls , and guilds used their social media accounts to take a stand and support the #BlackLivesMatter movement amid ongoing nationwide protests after the the death of George Floyd at the hands of police officers. On Sunday May 31, the Lyric Opera of Chicago stated, “We stand in support of {…}
The Philadelphia Orchestra has announced its 2020-21 season featuring a number of important soloists. For this article we will focus on vocal performances. Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis is set to be conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin with a cast that includes Jennifer Rowley, Karen Cargill, Rodrick Dixon, and Eric Owens. Joe Miller directs Refik Anadol’s Visually striking designs. Performance Dates: Oct. 9-14, {…}
The LA Opera and Philadelphia Orchestra have canceled upcoming performances due to the coronavirus. In a statement the LA Opera announced that “the performance of ‘Roberto Devereux’ for Saturday, March 14th has been cancelled due to the statewide effort to curb spread of the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19).” The company also noted that the “LA Opera takes the safety and health {…}
The Silicon Valley Community Foundation has awarded the Philadelphia Orchestra Association a $50 million Endowment Gift, plus an additional $5 million contribution to fund Orchestra operations. The $55 million grant, which comes from a donor-advised fund at SVCF, “represents an expression of confidence in the artistic and organizational leadership of the Orchestra” and is “the largest single gift in Philadelphia {…}
The Philadelphia Orchestra has announced that Bradley Cooper and Carey Mulligan will narrate performances of Bernstein’s “Candide.” The performances of Bernstein’s classic work will conclude the composer’s 100th-anniversary celebration and will be led by Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin and a cast that includes Alek Shrader, Erin Morley, Denyce Graves, Kevin Vortmann, and Timothy McDevitt. Stage Director Kevin Newbury will set the production {…}
The Philadelphia Orchestra has announced two new conducting appointments beginning September 2019. The orchestra announced that Erina Yashima will be the assistant conductor and Lina Gonzalez-Granados will become a conducting fellow. Yashima will succeed Kensho Watanabe in the position and will serve as cover conductor for, and provide assistance to, Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin and guest conductors on artistic matters in {…}