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Press Releases
What's Streaming: Classical (Week of June 15-21)
For a reminder of what’s streaming this week (June 8–14), click here.
In addition, on June 12, 13, and 14, Rome Opera streams its February 2020 production of Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, conducted by James Conlon (click here).
WHAT'S STREAMING: CLASSICAL (WEEK OF JUNE 15–21)
Monday, June 15 – Sunday, June 21:
MTT25: An Online Tribute series continues to celebrate Michael Tilson Thomas’s
25-year music directorship at the San Francisco Symphony
Last Thursday, June 4, the San Francisco Symphony launched its MTT25 series—a special 25-day digital tribute in honor of Michael Tilson Thomas’s extraordinary 25-year tenure as Music Director. Through June 28, SFS will release original and archival content daily, highlighting achievements, milestones, artistic projects, and relationships illustrative of MTT and the orchestra’s dynamic partnership.
During the upcoming week, MTT25 will focus on the following seasons:
- Monday, June 15: 2006–07
- Tuesday, June 16: 2007–08
- Wednesday, June 17: 2008–09
- Thursday, June 18: 2009–10
- Friday, June 19: 2010–11
- Saturday, June 20: 2011–12
- Sunday, June 21: 2012–13 (see below for entry on this date)
WHERE TO ENGAGE: SFSymphony.org/MTT25
Monday, June 15, Wednesday, June 17, and Friday, June 19 at 2:00 p.m. CT
(rescheduled from June 8, 10, and 12):
Tulsa Opera’s Staying Alive video series
Tulsa Opera’s Staying Alive series keeps the music alive amidst the shutdowns by bringing to viewers at-home video performances from the company’s featured artists every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. The previously announced programming for June 8, 10, and 12 (click here for details) has been rescheduled for June 15, 17, and 19.
WHERE TO WATCH: TulsaOpera.com/StayingAlive
Tuesday, June 16 as of 1:00 p.m. PT:
James Conlon continues discussion of Beaumarchais and
The Ghosts of Versailles on LA Opera James Conlon at Home podcast
Latest episode of James Conlon at Home (June 9)
In recent episodes of LA Opera podcast James Conlon at Home, Music DirectorJames Conlon has been delving into the history of French playwright Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais, his beloved character Figaro, and the renowned operas that sprang from his plays. Mr. Conlon started with The Barber of Seville (parts 1 & 2), as adapted by Rossini and Paisiello. He then moved on to a three-part exploration of Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro (parts 1, 2, & 3). Last, he discusses the final play in Beaumarchais’s Figaro trilogy—La Mère coupable—particularly in the context of John Corigliano’s The Ghosts of Versailles, which took the play as its starting point. He began that discussion on June 9 (rescheduled from June 2) and continues it on June 16.
Building on the popularity of his pre-performance talks at LA Opera, Mr. Conlon launched this podcast amidst the coronavirus crisis in order to continue engaging the public with opera. Past episodes have focused on Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande (parts 1, 2, & 3), Debussy and Wagner (parts 1 & 2), and the power of opera to inspire, heal, console, distract, entertain, and challenge (click here). Stay tuned as well to facebook.com/LAOpera for announcements of streamed LA Opera performances led by Mr. Conlon.
WHERE TO LISTEN: LA Opera’s SoundCloud
Wednesday, June 17 as of 12:00 p.m. ET:
Pop Up Pipa with Wu Man: Episode 12: Xuefei Yang
Left: Wu Man; Right: Xuefei Yang
Having also appeared on today’s Pop Up Pipa with Wu Man, guitarist Xuefei Yang returns for a performance in which they each take one of the two parts in Bach’s Two-Part Invention No. 8 in F major (this performance was rescheduled from June 10). The final episode of Pop Up Pipa takes place Saturday, June 20.
WHERE TO WATCH: Wu Man’s Facebook
Friday, June 19 at 7:00 p.m. ET:
New World Symphony's NWS Fellows: Live from our Living Room
Recent episode of NWS Fellows: Live from our Living Room,
dedicated to Black victims of racism and police brutality (June 5)
Saturday, June 20 as of 12:00 p.m. ET:
Pop Up Pipa with Wu Man: Episode 13: Duo Barocco
FINAL EPISODE
Left to right: Luca Marconato (baroque guitar),
Wu Man (pipa), Andrea Piccioni (frame drum)
Wu Man’s Pop Up Pipa video series concludes with early music / traditional Italian ensemble Duo Barocco. The group comprises lutenist and baroque guitarist Luca Marconato and percussionist Andrea Piccioni, who appeared on a previous episode of the series. Wu Man and Duo Barocco perform baroque composer Gaspar Sanz’s Zarabanda.
WHERE TO WATCH: Wu Man’s Facebook
Saturday, June 20 at 7:00 p.m. ET
(rescheduled from June 13):
Jennifer Koh concludes Alone Together series with new works by Kati Agócs, Vincent Calianno, Patrick Castillo, and Sugar Vendil
Recent episode of Alone Together (May 30)
Since April 4, violinist Jennifer Koh has been premiering new micro-works for solo violin as part of her and non-profit ARCO Collaborative’s Alone Together series. Rescheduled from June 13, Jennifer Koh performs the last of the 40 commissions on Saturday, June 20. Half of the new works were donated by composers with salaried positions or, in many cases, other forms of institutional support to carry them through this challenging time, while the other 20 pieces were written on commission from freelance composers recommended by the donating composers. Learn more here.
Program:
- KATI AGÓCS: Thirst and Quenching
- VINCENT CALIANNO: Ashliner
- PATRICK CASTILLO: Mina Cecilia’s Constitutional
- SUGAR VENDIL: Simple Tasks 2
Sunday, June 21:
Special video release of Michael Tilson Thomas’s “Whistle Tune”;
part of San Francisco Symphony’s MTT25 tribute series
On June 21—Father’s Day—the San Francisco Symphony will release a special video recording of an upbeat new song that Music Director Michael Tilson Thomas composed while sheltering-in-place at home in March 2020. “Whistle Tune,” a piece inspired by a tune MTT used to whistle with his father Ted, is performed and filmed by members of the San Francisco Symphony from their homes. For more information about MTT25: An Online Tribute, visit SFSymphony.org/MTT25.
WHERE TO STREAM: San Francisco Symphony’s YouTube
Minnesota Orchestra at Home
Recent episode of Sound Check with Principal Cello Anthony Ross and Principal Clarinet Gabriel Campos Zamora and special guests Principal Harp Kathy Kienzle and Principal Second Violin Peter McGuire
Minnesota Orchestra at Home shares video, audio and educational materials through the categories of Watch, Listen and Learn, including videos from the Orchestra’s archives and newly-created “mini-concerts” directly from the homes of Orchestra musicians. Stay tuned to the Minnesota Orchestra web site and social media channels for a steady stream of new content.
WHERE TO WATCH / LISTEN: Minnesota Orchestra’s Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, & web site
#ICYMI: In Case You Missed It
Opening Night Spotlight on Tobias Picker’s Awakenings,
presented by Opera Theatre of Saint Louis
Prior to the coronavirus outbreak, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis had planned to present on June 7 the world premiere of Tobias Picker’s new opera, Awakenings, which is itself about a 20th-century pandemic and the work of famed neurologist Oliver Sacks to fight it. With the cancellation of the premiere on that date, this past Sunday, OTSL instead hosted a special live celebration with librettist Aryeh Lev Stollman, the composer, and members of the production team and cast to discuss the new opera. The event included performances from tenor David Portillo and singers from Opera Fusion New Works.
WHERE TO WATCH: Opera Theatre of Saint Louis’s web site
ATTENTION: If your publication is listing online things-to-do, please let us know about any deadlines or special areas of focus so that we can better serve you with information about our artists’ activities.
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