Tag: Venues

Bernstein’s Children: Our Father Would Want His Music Performed at the Kennedy Center

In Friday’s (5/2) New York Times, Nina Bernstein Simmons, Alexander Bernstein, and Jamie Bernstein write, “Our father, the composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein, liked to tell us about the time Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis called to ask him to be the first executive director of the Kennedy Center in Washington, which was being built as a memorial to her slain husband…. Our mother, Felicia, called Mrs. Onassis back to say that her husband was deeply humbled, but suggested it might be more appropriate for him to, perhaps, compose a piece to inaugurate the center. That was how ‘Mass’ came to be written. We were in the audience for the first performance on Sept. 8, 1971, when the work’s multifarious sounds and enormous, diverse cast filled the Kennedy Center Opera House … Our father’s music has had a special place at the Kennedy Center ever since. Since President Trump has asserted control over the center, making himself chairman and purging its board and administration in favor of his loyalists, a number of artists (though certainly not all) have severed ties with the institution in protest. Many friends and associates have urged us, the rights holders of our father’s music, to withdraw his works from a gala program on Saturday. We asked ourselves: What would our dad do?… He would let his music be heard. The Kennedy Center was created to gather and uplift all Americans, and all of America’s visitors. Our father felt exactly the same way about making music; he strove to embrace and unite humanity through the works he wrote and performed…. We have elected to keep Leonard Bernstein’s music ringing out at the Kennedy Center … We understand if artists feel the best way for them is to refuse to appear at the Kennedy Center. But we believe that we can make our own strong statement, in honor of our father, by letting people hear his music in that space … As our father once said: ‘It’s the artists of the world, the feelers and thinkers, who will ultimately save us; who can articulate, educate, defy, insist, sing and shout the big dreams.’ ”

National Philharmonic Announces 2025-26 Season

In Tuesday’s (4/29) My Montgomery County Media (Maryland), Maryam Shahzad reports, “The National Philharmonic announced the lineup for its new season in September at The Music Center at Strathmore in North Bethesda. This season features the final recital in pianist Brian Ganz’s ‘Extreme Chopin’ project scheduled for April next year, per a release from National Philharmonic. Over the course of 16 years, Ganz has performed every work by Frédéric Chopin. The new season also includes four orchestral concerts, a choral concert, and two performances of Handel’s Messiah. Also, the National Philharmonic will be celebrating the release of its first-ever studio album on Aug. 1. It will feature composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s music. A concert Sept. 20 will feature works by Coleridge-Taylor.” Repertoire for the season also includes works by Bach, Amy Beach, Debussy, Reena Esmail, Prokofiev, Ravel, and more. The article lists the National Philharmonic’s complete 2025-26 season at Strathmore Music Center in North Bethesda, Maryland.

Jacksonville Symphony Receives $3 Million Gift

In Thursday’s (4/24) Philanthropy News Digest, an unsigned article states, “The Jacksonville Symphony has announced a $3 million gift from the Terry Family Foundation in support of programming and renovations to the Florida-based orchestra’s performance space. The award from the foundation established by the late C. Herman and Mary Virginia Terry—who died in 1998 and 2022 respectively—will bolster the arts organization’s long-term financial stability and help expand its Pops Series. In addition, the gift will fund a portion of the improvements to Jacoby Symphony Hall, the orchestra’s home, which will have its main level renamed for the foundation. The funding boosts giving by the Terrys and their foundation to $6.3 million. Mary Virginia Terry was a long-serving member of the Symphony’s Women’s Guild. ‘We are happy to carry on and expand my aunt and uncle’s support,’ said Terry Family Foundation president Betsy Cox. ‘Not only did they enjoy attending orchestra concerts, they also believed that the Jacksonville Symphony was a vital investment in the northeast Florida community—a sentiment still shared by the foundation as we continue their legacy of support.’ ” Earlier in April, the Jacksonville Symphony announced a $15 million gift from an anonymous donor.

Los Angeles Philharmonic Heads to Coachella Music Festival

In Friday’s Los Angeles Times, August Brown writes, “On Saturday evening, the LA Phil will trek out to new ground. They’re finally playing the other verdant, globally recognized outdoor music venue that embodies the Southern California idyll—the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. For [Music and Artistic Director Gustavo] Dudamel, 44, who arrived in L.A. 17 years ago to lead the Phil, playing Coachella was ‘a dream, ever since I started here’ he said … It’s surprising that the two dominant music institutions of Southern California had never formally teamed up onstage before with an original set. But as Dudamel prepares to make his emotional exit to lead the New York Philharmonic next year, the timing was especially poignant….  The L.A. Phil is no stranger to pop music collaborations, and orchestras have appeared at Coachella before … But this first-time crossover continues a long tradition of the Phil’s music directors sharing mutual curiosity with the city’s other flagship music industries…. For Dudamel, a Venezuelan who famously came out of that country’s vanguard El Sistema youth music program, and who opened his L.A. tenure with a free Hollywood Bowl concert introducing the new Youth Orchestra Los Angeles, it fits with his lifelong value of bringing classical music to young audiences.”