Arkansas Tech University

It is not truly summer until we’ve seen a few Shakespearean plays, so we were thrilled when we heard Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre was bringing HENRY V to various locations in Arkansas. Under new leadership and nonprofit status, AST had a limited run from July 10 through July 15 before heading up north to perform with Shake on the Lake in New York. I happened to catch them at Witherspoon Auditorium at Arkansas Tech University in Russellville on the 15th and was thrilled to hear the happiness coming from this welcoming community.  

Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre (PBT) will host ten local Pittsburgh celebrities in walk-on roles during The Nutcracker this year. Each celebrity will make a guest appearance in the “Party Scene” during the first act of the production.

The Opera Memphis Handorf Company Artist program will welcome three exciting new talents to Memphis this February. Since the inaugural 2018 roster of young artists completed their tenure, the HCA program has continued to serve as a training program for rising talent from across the country, welcoming a half dozen artists to this impactful, community-oriented program.

A total of 216 music teachers from 199 cities have been announced as quarterfinalists for the Music Educator Award presented by the Recording Academy® and GRAMMY Museum®. In total, nearly 2,000 initial nominations were submitted. In addition to our quarterfinalists, 91 legacy applicants from 2020 will also be eligible to win the award this year.

General Director and CEO Deborah Sandler today announced the next production of Lyric Opera of Kansas City's Explorations Series, Mack The Knife is The Man I Love: A Weill-Gershwin Cabaret which will feature the songs of George and Ira Gershwin and Kurt Weill. The 2018-2019 Explorations Series performance, with musical direction by Mark Markham and stage direction by Fenlon Lamb, will showcase the Lyric Opera's Resident Artists, including Kaylie Kahlich, Kelly Birch, Joseph Leppek, and James Maverick, plus Apprentice Artists Ruby Dibble, Jonathan Ray, and Armando Contreras. The performance will be held February 9 at 7:30 p.m. at the Lyric Opera's Michael and Ginger Frost Production Arts Building.

Highlights of the upcoming season include a five-concert cycle of orchestra performances, a three-concert chamber series at the New York City Library for the Performing Arts, and a residency at Arkansas universities. Celebrated guest artists, including violinist Tessa Lark, pianist Rachel Kudo, bassoonist William Short, clarinetist Inn-Hyuck Cho, pianist HaeSun Paik, violinist Ken Hamao, and organist Joshua Stafford join the acclaimed players of NYCP for a season of extraordinary music-making.