Austin Opera is ending their 2023-24 season with the red-hot opera Bizet’s Carmen. The cast is full of young singers, many of whom are making their debut with the Austin Opera.
CEO Annie Burridge is hoping this super popular work from Bizet will entice audiences back to the Long Center after the hibernation forced upon us by Covid.
As the end of most performing arts seasons come to an end, the Grammy winning choir, Conspirare is going out with a blast of three programs featuring a 30th anniversary event and the post pandemic return of Conspirare’s Symphonic Choir. Founder and Artistic Director Craig Hella Johnson is celebrating the end of their 30th season with a musical bash.
Why would a business school devoted to developing entrepreneurs invite an opera singer to lead a masterclass? Babson College in Massachusetts did just that.
They named Soprano Karen Slack as the school’s Artist In Residence. She spent 3 days teaching, talking, and singing.
School administrators, like Anjali Bal, say that Slack and other artists like her, offer their students a different perspective on creating a thriving business.
There may come a time when classical music and other types of music will be “prescribed” along with your medication. A Canadian Pharmaceutical expert and researcher, Dr. Tony Kiang, is taking up a study to determine if listening to music while taking your medication would improve its effectiveness.
The upcoming Solar Eclipse will darken the sky for a few minutes on April 8th. Texas orchestras are providing the soundtrack with concerts celebrating the celestial event. The Waco Symphony is having it’s ‘Sci-Fi Spectacular’ Sun, Moon and Superstars concert. The East Texas Symphony has collaborated with Tyler Junior College for a musical and visual feast. Here are other eclipse related music events.
Just in time for the solar eclipse, Austin Classical Guitar presents two programs ending its 2023-2024 season. Your eclipse guests might enjoy classical guitarists the Beijing Duo or if they stay long enough, David Russell. Perhaps there’s an amateur classical guitarist in your circle who might be brave enough to try Open Mic night at the Rosette.
At least six U.S. orchestras are performing the music of Florence Price this Women’s History Month. Other women composers are getting the spotlight too.
That’s nice says Liane Curtis, the President of Women’s Philharmonic Advocacy, but it’s not really enough. The organization has released its Repertoire Report which analyzes the programming of the top 21 U.S. Symphony Orchestras.
The Austin Opera is about to do something they’ve never done before.
They are presenting the world’s first Mariachi Opera, Cruzar la Cara de la Luna. It will also be the first time they are staging an opera sung in Spanish with help from the new Butler Fund for Spanish Programming. Some of the cast is from Ópera de Bellas Artes, the national opera company of Mexico.
Austin Opera General Director and CEO, Annie Burridge says this production is the first of many.
However you celebrate the holidays, there’s probably nothing like playing with your new toy this time of year. It might be a video game with a soundtrack of some of the oldest tunes in the world. Early Music.
Dr. Karen Cook, an Early Music Scholar and a Video Game Scholar says while she’s playing some of the latest video games, she’s also listening to the soundtrack for the telltale signs of early music
There are two new very different albums that came out recently that could be on your holiday list.
Composer and author Tina Davidson has released her latest album Hymn of the Universe. It’s a choral work performed by VocalEssence and based on the writings of Jesuit Priest and Scientist Pierre Teilhard de Chardin.
And The Emerson String Quartet has released its final album after 47 years of performing all over the world. On Infinite Voyage, they perform the music of Schoenberg, Chausson, Berg and Hindemith sung in part by Soprano Barbara Hannigan.
The Emerson String Quartet (1976 to 2023) with Barbara Hannigan.
Inset: Paul Watkins and Tina Davidson