Kurt Masur News

A.C.T. Conservatory Director Melissa Smith announced today that honorary master of fine arts degrees will be conferred upon Grammy Award-winning musician Tracy Chapman and master playwright John Guare.

In June 2009, The New York Philharmonic This Week ? a two-hour, national, weekly radio program of concerts by the New York Philharmonic ? begins with a concert from the Philharmonic?s sixth annual residency in Vail, Colorado, as part of the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival. In this program, from the July 18, 2008 performance, Music Director Designate Alan Gilbert leads the Orchestra in Tchaikovsky?s Piano Concerto No. 1, with Lang Lang as soloist; Beethoven?s Symphony No. 4; and Sibelius?s Finlandia. The following week, after conducting J.S. Bach?s Brandenburg Concerto No. 4, Music Director Lorin Maazel leads the World Premiere of Aaron Jay Kernis?s a Voice, a Messenger (a Co-Commission with the New York Philharmonic and the Big Ten Band Association); Copland?s Clarinet Concerto, with Principal Clarinet Stanley Drucker as soloist; and Ravel?s Boléro. The third June broadcast, conducted by Lorin Maazel, will be Britten?s powerful War Requiem. Lionel Bringuier conducts the chamber orchestra (in his Philharmonic debut), and soprano Nancy Gustafson, tenor Vale Rideout (Philharmonic debut), and baritone Ian Greenlaw will be the soloists with the New York Choral Artists, the Dessoff Symphonic Choir, and the Brooklyn Youth Chorus. In the final June broadcast, Lorin Maazel conducts two of his own compositions, Monaco Fanfares and Farewells, concluding with Sibelius?s Symphony No. 2.

New York Philharmonic Principal Clarinet Stanley Drucker, who will retire from the Orchestra at the end of the 2008?09 season concluding a 60-year tenure, will give his final concerto appearances in performances of Copland?s Clarinet Concerto, conducted by Lorin Maazel, Tuesday, June 4, at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, June 6, at 8:00 p.m., and Tuesday, June 9, 2009, at 7:30 p.m. Mr. Drucker, who joined the New York Philharmonic at age 19 in 1948, and whose tenure encompasses one-third of the history of the 167-year-old orchestra, will have performed as soloist with the Orchestra some 200 times (both at home and abroad), and will have played in more than 10,200 concerts under nine New York Philharmonic conductors at the conclusion of his tenure.

A.C.T. Conservatory Director Melissa Smith announced today that honorary master of fine arts degrees will be conferred upon Grammy Award-winning musician Tracy Chapman and master playwright John Guare.

Ravinia Festival Chairperson Pamela B. Strobel and President and CEO Welz Kauffman today announced details of the 2009 season of music theater and dance events.

The Philharmonic begins the Winter U.S. Tour 2009 with performances in Atlanta and West Palm Beach led by Lorin Maazel, who is making his final tour with the Orchestra as Music Director. The trip, which will take the musicians to 10 cities in the U.S. and Puerto Rico and will include 13 concerts, marks the first American tour under the aegis of Credit Suisse, the Global Sponsor of the New York Philharmonic.

Lorin Maazel will make his valedictory tour as Music Director of the New York Philharmonic featuring 13 concerts in 9 cities in the United States and Puerto Rico, February 21-March 9, 2009.

American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) continues its 2008-09 season Koret Visiting Artist Series with 'The Inner 'I': How Artists See Themselves,' a conversation with Lotfi Mansouri, celebrated opera director and the general director emeritus of the San Francisco Opera; Judy Kaye, the Tony Award-winning star of A.C.T.'s Souvenir; and the internationally acclaimed mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade. Moderated by A.C.T. Artistic Director Carey Perloff, the conversation will focus on the different ways artists view themselves and how these self-images affect their work. 'The Inner 'I' is presented in conjunction with A.C.T.'s production of Stephen Temperley's Souvenir, which tells the story of Florence Foster Jenkins, a New York socialite and tone-deaf diva who thought she was a great soprano. The conversation will be followed by a Q&A session with the audience. The hour-long event is free and open to the public and takes place on the A.C.T. stage on Monday, February 23, 2009, at 5:30 p.m. Doors will open at 5 p.m. For more information, please visit www.act-sf.org/koret.

American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) continues its 2008-09 season with John Guare's Rich & Famous, directed by John Rando (Urinetown, The Musical and Wedding Singer on Broadway) in its first major revival since its 1976 New York debut. From the ingenious mind of John Guare, who brought Six Degrees of Separation and The House of Blue Leaves to the American stage, this delicious dark comedy springs to life with twisted humor, rapid-fire dialogue, and outrageous plot twists. The revival script includes significant rewrites to the original text, as well as hilarious songs freshly scribed by Guare himself. In Rich and Famous, playwright Bing Ringling yearns to savor the sweet taste of celebrity, and he's hoping play number 844 will be his lucky break. But on opening night, he slips into a nightmarish phantasmagoria that shows him just how wrong things can go.

In February 2009, The New York Philharmonic This Week a two-hour, national, weekly radio program of concerts by the New York Philharmonic will begin with Gustavo Dudamel conducting the Orchestra in Oliver Knussen's Violin Concerto, featuring Pinchas Zukerman, and Mahler's Symphony No. 5. The following week, Riccardo Muti returns to conduct Haydn's Symphony No. 89; selected arias from Haydn operas Armida and L'anima del filosofo ossia Orfeo ed Euridice, with bass-baritone Thomas Quasthoff as soloist; and Brahms's Serenade No. 1. The third broadcast, led by Kurt Masur, commemorates the bicentenary of Mendelssohn's birth in an all-Mendelssohn program featuring his Overture to Ruy Blas; Violin Concerto, with guest artist Anne-Sophie Mutter; and Die erste Walpurgisnacht with mezzo-soprano Christine Knorren (in her Philharmonic debut), tenor Jorma Silvasti (in his Philharmonic debut), bass-baritone Albert Dohmen (in his Philharmonic subscription debut), bass Thorsten Gr?mbel (in his Philharmonic debut), and the Westminster Symphonic Choir. The final February broadcast will be the 2008?09 New Year?s Eve Gala Concert with Music Director Lorin Maazel leading mezzo-soprano Susan Graham and the Philharmonic in a program that includes ?Deh per questo istante solo? from Mozart?s La clemenza di Tito; Vilja from Leh?r?s The Merry Widow; and ?L?Amour est un oiseau rebelle? (Habanera) and ?Pr?s des ramparts de S?ville? (Seguidilla) from Act I of Bizet?s Carmen; the orchestral pieces will include works by Verdi, Rossini, Saint-Sa?ns, Brahms, Offenbach, and Falla.

George Street Playhouse is celebrating the December holidays in a big way with a series of musical performances for a special Holiday Cabaret. The musical celebration will feature the talents of Tony Award nominee Robert Cuccioli, who is currently performing at George Street Playhouse in Conor McPherson's The Seafarer. Mr. Cuccioli received a Tony Nomination and is perhaps best known for playing the title role in Broadway's Jekyll & Hyde. Joining Mr. Cuccioli will be fellow Tony nominee Sally Mayes from the recent Broadway revival of She Loves Me. Christopher Howatt will serve as musical director and performer for the revue. Performances take place Saturday, December 20 at 2 and 8PM, and Sunday, December 21 at 2PM.

American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) continues its 2008-09 season Koret Visiting Artist Series with a conversation with leading American playwright John Guare, author of Six Degrees of Separation, The House of Blue Leaves and A.C.T.'s upcoming Rich & Famous. Guare will talk about four decades in the American theater and his new version of Rich and Famous that includes significant rewrites in preparation for the show's first revival since 1976. A.C.T. Dramaturg and Director of Humanities Michael Paller moderates. The conversation will be followed by a Q&A session with the audience. The event is free and open to the public and takes place on the A.C.T. stage on Saturday, December 13, 2009, at 10 a.m. Reservations are required and can be made by visiting www.act-sf.org/koret or by calling 415.749.2ACT.

Lorin Maazel will make his valedictory tour as Music Director of the New York Philharmonic featuring 13 concerts in 9 cities in the United States and Puerto Rico, February 21-March 9, 2009.

George Street Playhouse is celebrating the December holidays in a big way with a series of musical performances for a special Holiday Cabaret. The musical celebration will feature the talents of Tony Award nominee Robert Cuccioli, who is currently performing at George Street Playhouse in Conor McPherson's The Seafarer. Mr. Cuccioli received a Tony Nomination and is perhaps best known for playing the title role in Broadway's Jekyll & Hyde. Joining Mr. Cuccioli will be fellow Tony nominee Sally Mayes from the recent Broadway revival of She Loves Me. Christopher Howatt will serve as musical director and performer for the revue. Performances take place Saturday, December 20 at 2 and 8PM, and Sunday, December 21 at 2PM.

American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) continues its 2008-09 season with John Guare's Rich & Famous, directed by John Rando (Urinetown, The Musical and Wedding Singer on Broadway) in its first major revival since its 1976 New York debut. From the ingenious mind of John Guare, who brought Six Degrees of Separation and The House of Blue Leaves to the American stage, this delicious dark comedy springs to life with twisted humor, rapid-fire dialogue, and outrageous plot twists. The revival script includes significant rewrites to the original text, as well as hilarious songs freshly scribed by Guare himself. In Rich and Famous, playwright Bing Ringling yearns to savor the sweet taste of celebrity, and he's hoping play number 844 will be his lucky break. But on opening night, he slips into a nightmarish phantasmagoria that shows him just how wrong things can go.

American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) continues its 2008-09 season Koret Visiting Artist Series with a conversation with leading American playwright John Guare, author of Six Degrees of Separation, The House of Blue Leaves and A.C.T.'s upcoming Rich & Famous. Guare will talk about four decades in the American theater and his new version of Rich and Famous that includes significant rewrites in preparation for the show's first revival since 1976. A.C.T. Dramaturg and Director of Humanities Michael Paller moderates. The conversation will be followed by a Q&A session with the audience. The event is free and open to the public and takes place on the A.C.T. stage on Saturday, December 13, 2009, at 10 a.m. Reservations are required and can be made by visiting www.act-sf.org/koret or by calling 415.749.2ACT.

MAGGIE MAES & KIMBERLY VAUGHN will present Four Women & a Waitress, at the ArcLight Theatre, June 10-22, 2008. The two plays, Rosemary with Ginger by Edward Allen Baker & The Stronger by August Strindberg, will be directed by KARL BURY & STEPHEN WADSWORTH, respectively.

MAGGIE MAES & KIMBERLY VAUGHN will present Four Women & a Waitress, at the ArcLight Theatre, June 10-22, 2008. The two plays, Rosemary with Ginger by Edward Allen Baker & The Stronger by August Strindberg, will be directed by KARL BURY & STEPHEN WADSWORTH, respectively.

Feinstein's at Loews Regency continues its Spring 2008 season with the two time Grammy Award winning singer Sylvia McNair from March 18 - 22.