For 26 seasons now, James Brooks-Bruzzese has led members of his Symphony of the Americas and guest musicians from around the globe in a musical Summerfest that always includes performances in his native Panama. On Aug. 5 at the University Theatre on the campus of Florida Atlantic University, he and the group were back for another summer appearance, accompanied as they have … [Read more...]
Boca Ballet Theatre offers rich, varied summer program
Because it’s summertime, arts shows tend to get a more indulgent audience: Crowds are smaller, the big names and shows that come through are a few months away, and the youths involved in the various hot-months training programs show their stuff before the school year begins. On Aug. 6, Boca Ballet Theatre’s annual summer recital was presented in two programs at Spanish River … [Read more...]
Brilliant ‘Walküre’ stands out at MMF’s second Wagner night
Somewhere along the line, as he put together what he wanted to offer in his summer music festival in Miami, Michael Rossi hit upon a very smart idea. That was to set up a special training environment for singers to be coached for the operas of Richard Wagner, which for their length and epic natures, require voices with stamina and color in a way unlike the music of any other … [Read more...]
Palm Beach Chamber Music Festival launches 26th summer season
For the past 25 summers, local musicians have come together in three different parts of Palm Beach County for a four-week series of 12 concerts of chamber music, much of it unusual and rarely heard, though always worthy. The Palm Beach Chamber Music Festival, which debuted in 1992 at the Duncan Theatre, returns for another summer starting tomorrow night at the Persson … [Read more...]
Miami Music Festival’s fourth season includes Heggie opera, orchestral bash for Fourth
Starting tonight, the Miami Music Festival begins presenting productions from its Opera Institute, opening with Jacques Offenbach’s The Tales of Hoffmann. The opera repeats Saturday and alternates Friday night and Sunday afternoon with Leos Janacek’s The Cunning Little Vixen. Both operas will be presented at the festival’s home base at Barry University in Miami Shores, but … [Read more...]
Mainly Mozart closes with evocative, engaging ‘Jewish Bride’
For the past four years, the Mainly Mozart Festival in Coral Gables has ended its summer concerts of chamber music with a multimedia, multidisciplinary finale that includes video, guest artists and world premiere dances choreographed by a member of the Miami City Ballet. For as ambitious as that sounds, it’s a workable formula. Audiences show up in large numbers on a late … [Read more...]
Morikami to teach traditional Japanese instruments at summer camp
Since the opening of Japan to the West in 1868, the residents of that island nation arguably have sought more often to achieve excellence in Western styles of music instead of their own indigenous sonic heritage. But native Japanese music remains an important part of the culture, and this month, the Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens in western Delray Beach will bring it … [Read more...]
In Detroit, Wynton Marsalis’s best piece
DETROIT — The compositions of Wynton Marsalis now extend to a substantial catalog in jazz and classical genres that includes many works for jazz ensembles, oratorios (Blood on the Fields, All Rise), a string quartet, sacred works (In This House, The Abyssinian Mass), numerous film and dance scores and four symphonies. This is a hugely impressive accomplishment, and the bulk … [Read more...]
Godden ballet intrigues at Harid’s season closer
Choreographer Mark Godden created his ballet Minor Threat, set to the first two movements of Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 20, some 20 years ago for Canada’s Alberta Ballet, but in a performance May 28 in Boca Raton, this allegory of courtship, love and birth came off with newly minted freshness. This well-designed modern ballet with a clever and moving punchline was the … [Read more...]
Core Ensemble explores gender, mystery of ‘Mona Lisa’
Write about the Mona Lisa, and chances are some variation of the word “enigma” will be pulled out of your authorial toolbox. Although Leonardo da Vinci probably didn’t mean to make Lisa del Giocondo (née Gherardini) mysterious when he painted the cloth merchant’s wife in 1503, it has always struck viewers that way, and no doubt that has helped encourage speculation about who … [Read more...]