Symphony News

Friday night's opener of the Omaha Symphony's 2013-14 Masterworks finale was delightfully intimate and surprising - even though its drama, through no fault of the orchestra, seemed to flow in reverse.

A Saturday or two ago, the Hays Symphony Orchestra, the combined FHSU choirs and Smoky Hill Chorale, plus local and guest soloists, inspired each other and the audience in an unforgettable season-ending concert.

After two years without a music director, the Boston Symphony Orchestra has one with the potential to carry the institution into a bold, vibrant future.

At 8 p.m. Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday in the Granada Theatre , we will have the final pair of concerts from the Santa Barbara Symphony's 2012-13 season.

The University City Symphony Orchestra , under the direction of Maestro Leon Burke III, will perform a free concert at All Saints Church in University City on Sunday, May 19 at 3 p.m. The concert is open to the public.

The San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra has released a new recording , nicely timed to coincide with the closing concert of its current season on Sunday, May 19, at Davies Symphony Hall.

Cazz Blase listens to Laura Mvula's debut album, Sing to the Moon, and finds there is much more to her wider output than the upbeat single 'Green Garden' would suggest Birmingham singer/songwriter Laura Mvula has a degree in composition from the Birmingham Conservatoire, learned the music composition app GarageBand while working as a supply teacher ... (more)

Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Music Director Marin Alsop leads the BSO and soprano Robin Johannsen, tenor John Tessier and baritone Brian Mulligan in Carl Orff's Carmina Burana , on Thursday, June 6th at 8 p.m. at the Music Center at Strathmore, and Friday, June 7th and Saturday, June 8th at 8 p.m. and Sunday, June 9th at 3 p.m. at the Joseph ... (more)

There was a moment at Janelle Monae's show at the SF Symphony last night when it looked as if the diorama of world-class musicians behind the diminutive person in black-and-white striped shoes, pompadour, and endless progression of tailored tuxedo jackets was a natural growth.

Japanese sisters Ayaka and Yuka Yamamoto, who have been performing together for four years as Duo Yamamoto, won the gold medal and $25,000 top prize Thursday night at the 12th Dranoff International 2 Piano Competition in Coral Gables.

"You can call it comfort food, if you like," said music director and conductor Frank Fetta about the program for the May 18 season finale concert of the San Bernardino Symphony Orchestra.

Like faces on Mount Rushmore, images of the great composers are daunting, burned into our collective memory.

Utah Symphony and Utah Opera musicians regularly perform in Abravanel Hall and the Capitol Theatre, but for the month of May they're taking their music on the road to help raise awareness Alzheimer's and dementia.

Maestro Hans Graf will conduct the Houston Symphony in his final concerts as Music Director tonight, May 17 and the 18th.

"Distant Worlds: Music from Final Fantasy" is set to return to Atlanta June 7 and 8 in Atlanta Symphony Hall at the Woodruff Arts Center.

The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, which has long wanted its own performance hall, is considering a move from the Marcus Center to the Couture hotel and apartment high-rise proposed for downtown Milwaukee's lakefront.

We lead angelic lives,%u2028 Yet have a merry time of it besides. We dance and we spring,%u2028 We skip and we sing.%u2028 Saint Peter in heaven looks on.

The Boston Symphony Orchestra has hired Latvian conductor Andris Nelsons to succeed James Levine, an iconic American conductor known for his wild hair and dramatic manner, who left in 2011 due to health problems, it said on Thursday.

The 34-year-old Nelsons, a native of Latvia, said in a statement that he is "deeply honored and touched" by the appointment and plans to make his first appearance in Boston as the orchestra's 15th music director in June.

The finale of the San Bernardino Symphony's 2013 season will offer a tapestry offerings with the works of three masters -- Mozart, Brahms and Beethoven.