Kennedy Center to Expand
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts will soon begin construction of an expansion project to be located south of the existing facility, reports Playbill. It will provide the center with rehearsal space, classrooms, and multipurpose rooms for its arts education and arts management education programs.
Kennedy Center President Michael M. Kaiser noted that the Kennedy Center has long had the largest arts education program in the country with no dedicated facilities to serve it. He said that he was “pleased that the Kennedy Center will have spaces specifically designed for these functions to help fulfill our mission of bringing arts education to students in the Washington area and to millions of people across the country.”
The expansion will also provide public access to gardens, a performance area at the riverbank, and an outdoor video wall which simulcasts can be projected onto. In the initial concept, a pavilion that floats on the Potomac River will offer an outdoor stage. Public gardens will fill out the space, fusing the Kennedy Center with the landscape and the river.
www.playbill.com/news/article/174624-Kennedy-Center-Expansion-Project-Will-Include-Outdoor-Video-Wall-and-Performance-Space
Houston Symphony Announces New Music Director
The Houston Symphony Orchestra has named Colombian-born, Vienna-trained Andrés Orozco-Estrada to the position of music director beginning with the 2014-2015 season. Meanwhile, he will conduct 12 performances next season as music director designate. His five-year contract calls for 12 performances per season in Houston. Known for his consummate technique, he is passionate about innovative concert formats and the performance of contemporary music, choral works, and opera.
Orozco-Estrada will step down from his position with the Basque National Orchestra of San Sebastian in Spain, but will continue as principal conductor of the Tonkünstler Orchestra in Austria.
classical917.org/articles/1358345828-Houston-Symphony-names-Andres-Orozco-Estrada-as-new-music-director.html
California’s Community Orchestras Are Thriving
Despite the current economic hard times, the community orchestras of California and some other states are having a renaissance. A growing group of community orchestras make classical music accessible to almost everyone who wants to hear it for an affordable price, according to the Press Democrat. In most cases, the conductor is a professional but the players are amateurs who have other jobs.
In just one area of Northern California there are community orchestras in Ukiah, Healdsburg, and Santa Rosa. “Having that experience of the full orchestra is really kind of mind-blowing,” said Mary Cornett of Rohnert Park, a violinist with the all-volunteer American Philharmonic Sonoma County. “It’s quite an adrenaline rush to be part of such a big, complex thing.”
www.pressdemocrat.com/ article/
Performer Catches Fire at Lyric Opera Rehearsal
During a dress rehearsal of Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, actor Wesley Daniel was injured while walking on stilts and “breathing fire,” reports the Chicago Tribune. It seems that he spilled the flammable liquid he was using to spit out fireballs. All of a sudden flames surrounded his face and he fell off his stilts as backstage personnel rushed in with extinguishers to put out the fire. The company immediately called the fire department and the actor was transported to the hospital.
According to the Lyric, he had been wearing a flameproof costume with a mask and he was performing a stunt that had been approved by the fire department. He was reported to be in critical condition after suffering burns to his throat and second-degree burns to his face. A few days after the accident, he was released from the hospital with the expectation of a full recovery.
www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-lyric-opera-accident-0205-20130205,0,3852722.story
20130202LIFESTYLE/130139975/1010/sports?Title=Community-orchestras-thriving
Bat-Man Goes on Vocal Cord Strike
Opéra de Montréal tenor Marc Hervieux went on what he called a vocal cord strike and refused to sing rehearsals of Die Fledermaus, known as The Bat in English. He objected to the advertising for the performances, which used models that looked nothing like the actual performers. Many companies do that thinking that it will attract new and younger audiences, but the singer thought it was counterproductive.
Hervieux, said to be the prince of Quebec tenors, told a reporter for the Canadian Broadcasting Company that a patron who was new to opera would expect to see the poster’s beautiful people on stage. In refusing to participate in the rehearsal, he suggested they call the guy on the poster to sing.
www.cbc.ca/news/arts/story/2013/01/09/montreal-opera-tenor-hervieux-protests-ad-campaign.html
