One of the most sought-after British composers today, Belize-born Errollyn Wallen has created a new work called Dances for Orchestra, which will receive its world premiere on Nov. 2-3 with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. The rest of the program, conducted by Ryan Bancroft, is thoroughly American: Ives’ Three Places in New England and Copeland’s complete […]
Cellist Camille Thomas makes her National Symphony Orchestra debut playing Elgar’s Cello Concerto under the baton of Gustavo Gimeno. In a Nov. 2-4 program that concludes with Brahms’ Fourth Symphony, the orchestra will also give the East Coast premiere of Pasajes, a work written as part of the Amplifying Voices project by Tania León. https://www.kennedy-center.org/nso/home/2023-2024/gimeno-thomas/ […]
7 Deaths of Maria Callas, conceived by Marina Abramović, will receive its U.K. premiere Nov. 3-11 at the English National Opera. Seven powerful sopranos will recreate death scenes made famous by Callas, singing classic arias; the score also includes new music by Marko Nikodijević. Actor Willem Dafoe co-stars with singers Eri Nakamura, Elbenita Kajtazi, Nadine […]
Based on the 2007 film and the memoir that inspired it, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is an opera by Joby Talbot and librettist Gene Scheer that will receive its world premiere at the Dallas Opera Nov. 3-11. Lucas Meachem, Sasha Cooke, and Andriana Chuchman star in this production directed by Leonard Foglia. https://dallasopera.org/performance/diving-bell-and-the-butterfly/
Nov. 4 marks the world premiere of The Old Man and the Sea, a new chamber opera by Paola Prestini and Royce Vavrek. While Ernest Hemingway’s famous story is the core of this piece, Vavrek’s libretto interpolates other tales about looking back on one’s life and accomplishments. Karmina Šilec directs this production at Arizona State […]
In its Nov. 4 season opener, the San Diego Symphony, conducted by music director Rafael Payare, will present the world premiere of A Casual Walk to Distinction, by Spanish composer Juan Colomer. The orchestra, along with soloist Steven Banks will also play Billy Child’s Saxophone Concerto in the work’s West Coast premiere. Soprano Liv Redpath […]
As part of the Sonic Spectrum series at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, five instrumentalists will offer 21st-century works on Nov. 9, including world premieres by Todd Cochran and Libby Larsen. The program also features pieces by Reena Esmail and Saad Haddad and the New York premiere of Wang Jie’s Blame the Obituary, […]
Victoria Vita Polevá is a Ukrainian composer. Her new cello concerto will receive its world premiere by its commissioning orchestra, the Dallas Symphony, on Nov. 9-12. Inbal Segev will be the soloist. Two works by Strauss—Don Juan and the Suite from Der Rosenkavalier—are also on the program, as is Terricone by fellow Ukrainian Anna Korsun. […]
Cutting-edge string quartet Brooklyn Rider teams up with mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter to give the New York premieres of arrangements of two works by Rufus Wainwright (Trois valses anglaises and Three Songs for Lulu) plus a new arrangement by Osvaldo Golijov of selections from Schubert’s Winterreise. Schubert’s Death and the Maiden quartet anchors the […]
Jannik Giger is a Swiss composer and video artist. The world premiere of his Troisième œil (“Third Eye”) will be given on Nov. 11 by the Basel Chamber Orchestra at Wigmore Hall. Music director Kristian Bezuidenhout will also play the fortepiano in Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 9, and Alina Ibragimova will be the soloist for […]
As part of the San Francisco Symphony’s California Festival, conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen will lead the orchestra in his own work, Kínēma, featuring clarinet soloist Carey Bell. This Nov. 11-12 program will also present the world premiere of a commission by the orchestra, Jens Ibsen’s Drowned in Light. Stravinsky’s Symphony in Three Movements completes the program. […]
Jeffrey Kahane, conductor laureate of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, will conduct the world premiere of Nina C. Young’s violin concerto, Traces, on Nov. 11 and 12, with Jennifer Koh as soloist. The program opens with C.P.E. Bach’s Symphony in D, H. 663, and closes with Mendelssohn’s Scottish Symphony No. 3. https://www.laco.org/events/pathways/
The Ireland-based Gealán Quartet has only been around since 2021, but they’re already proving their commitment to new music by commissioning String Quartet No. 3 from fellow countryman Michael Doherty. The Gealán’s fall tour of this work includes a stop at the National Concert Hall in Dublin on Nov. 12 for a program that also […]
At the Komische Oper Berlin, the world premiere of Nils Holgersson’s Wondrous Adventures will run Nov. 12-Jan. 11. This children’s opera, with music by Elena Kats-Chernin and a libretto by Susanne Felicitas Wolf, tells the story of a boy who is shrunken by the curse of an angry gnome, provoking him to run away on […]
Prepare for a night of wildness during the San Diego Symphony’s Nov. 17-18 program. Rafael Payare will conduct a line-up of high-energy music, including Bartók’s The Miraculous Mandarin Suite, Villa-Lobos’ Bachianas Brasileiras No. 7, and Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring (complete). The orchestra will also present the world premiere of Danse Macabre by Russian-Ukranian composer Vladimir Tarnopolsky. https://jacobsmusiccenter.org/archives/events/stravinskys-rite-of-spring
Juraj Valčuha, music director of the Houston Symphony, will lead his orchestra in the U.S. premiere of Pretty by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Julia Wolfe on Nov. 17-19. Two works by Ravel are included: his Piano Concerto in G, featuring Jean-Yves Thibaudet, and La valse. Bartók’s rousing Dance Suite, inspired by musical traditions from his native […]
The Philharmonia Orchestra will present the European premiere of highlights from Wayne Shorter’s Iphegenia on Nov. 19, in a program dedicated to the late saxophonist and composer’s symphonic works. With Clark Rundell on the podium, an ensemble of jazz masters will assist the orchestra: saxophonist Ravi Coltrane (son of the legendary John Coltrane), Esperanza Spalding […]
As part of its spotlight on British-born and Berlin-based composer Rebecca Saunders, the Elbphilharmonie will present Yes, her setting of Molly Bloom’s closing monolog from James Joyce’s Ulysses. Enno Poppe conducts the 19-member Ensemble Musikfabrik in this Nov. 24 program. https://www.elbphilharmonie.de/en/whats-on/saunders-yes-ensemble-musikfabrik/20267
Mezzo-soprano Catriona Morison and baritone Christian Immler will sing the words of Franz Kafka on Nov. 24, joining the BBC Symphony Orchestra in the U.K. premiere of the Prague Sinfonie, a “song symphony” by Detlev Glanert. Conductor Semyon Bychkov will lead Brahms’ Symphony No. 4 in the second half of the program. https://www.bbc.co.uk/events/eznv9r
Wigmore Hall is celebrating “Laurence Osborn Day” over the course of three short concerts on Nov. 25, including two world premieres and a London premiere by Osborn. The Britten Sinfonia will alternate between works by C.P.E. Bach and Osbourne; the Marian Consort will present his compositions surrounded by pieces from the 16th century; and the […]
Violinist Daniel Hope and pianist Simon Crawford-Phillips will perform the U.K. premiere of Jake Heggie’s Fantasy Suite 1803, a work inspired by Beethoven’s 1803 residency at the Theater an der Wien. Also on the Nov. 27 program are an Impromptu by Enescu and Dvořák’s Sonatina, Op. 100. https://www.wigmore-hall.org.uk/whats-on/202311271300
John Williams composed Five Sacred Trees for the New York Philharmonic’s 150th anniversary in 1995. This cinematic piece for orchestra and solo bassoon will be performed on Nov. 30 and Dec. 2 by the Atlanta Symphony with soloist Andrew Brady, formerly the ASO’s principal bassoonist. Guest conductor Anthony Parnther will also lead the orchestra in […]
When the Cleveland Orchestra programmed Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 for its Nov. 30-Dec. 2 program, they also co-commissioned a work specifically to precede it on the concert. Ces belles années (These Beautiful Years) is the result, a piece by French-born American composer Betsy Jolas that will be receiving its U.S. premiere. Daniel Harding conducts; Lauren […]
