British cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason has played at the grandest of stages and broken into the UK and US top 20 – all at the age of 19. Meghan Markle has impeccable manners. Within a few weeks of marrying Prince Harry, she'd already sent out her thank-you letters – including a heartfelt one to young British cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason. With his stunning, emotional performance at the royal wedding, playing three pieces as the newlyweds signed the register at St George's Chapel, this unassuming Nottingham teenager seemed to encapsulate the spirit of the day and its nation-bonding mood of optimism and love. "It's a really nice letter," he reveals, with characteristic humility. "Really personal. It was an amazing experience to play at the wedding and nice to know how much the music meant to them." In providing a perfect soundtrack to the nuptials for more than 12 million viewers in Britain and many more worldwide, he may also have helped change more than just the perception of classical music in the UK and beyond. Because not only did he put the cello at the heart of a wedding in which the likes of Elton John and George Clooney played walk-on roles as guests, but he was also part of a royal celebration that had black faces to the fore, from the Rev Michael Curry, the African-American bishop who preached the sermon, to the Kingdom Choir, who sang the R&B classic, Stand by Me. Sales of his debut album Inspiration, which came out earlier this year, have not only smashed the UK charts since the wedding (he was the youngest classical cellist ever to enter the UK Top 20), but have been breaking records around the world and online, hitting number one on iTunes and Amazon. In the USA, he charted in the Billboard album top 20 (the first classical cellist to do so) and became the first classical artist to top their Emerging Artist chart – a huge accolade for any classical musician, let alone one who's yet to celebrate his 20th birthday. READ THE FULL Radio Times ARTICLE

The first song singer-songwriter JD Souther learned to sing was not a folk song or a country rocker. It was a famous aria from Puccini's opera "Turandot." "The first song I ever learned when I was a little kid was ‘Nessun Dorma'," said Souther, who grew up listening to his grandmother, a soprano, sing opera. "I love opera." Which explains the 72-year-old So. Cal. country-rock songwriter/troubadour's latest project. Souther, who is performing a solo acoustic show at the Rialto Theatre on Thursday, July 19, is working with the Grateful Dead's Bob Weir, singer-songwriter Josh Ritter and others on an opera. Half of the album is already recorded and most of it is written, he said during a late June phone call from home in Nashville. "It's an odd group of people but it's certainly sounding great," he said. So can we expect to see it staged?  READ THE FULL Arizona Daily Star / Tucson.com ARTICLE

p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #606060} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #606060; min-height: 14.0px} In addition to its infamous swimming pools and movies stars, Los Angeles is also home to a host of angelic voices. As the country's leading professional chorus and a founding resident company of The Music Center, the Los Angeles Master Chorale is proud to continue its 54-year history of choral excellence and to welcome voices from all over the vast, sprawling, cosmopolitan city to its performance home at the iconic Walt Disney Concert Hall. Big Sing California Audience members in L.A. and five other cities around the state will sing along with Los Angeles Master Chorale in this concert that will be simulcast between venues; composer Eric Whitacre is the host. We will be singing a wide range of classical and popular choral music, including a brand new arrangement by Emmy Award-winning composer/arranger Ben Bram (Pitch Perfect, Glee). Four conductors will take turns at the podium to lead audiences during this 90 minute program. All the sheet music and lyrics you need will be provided in a 64-page music book, which will be available for free on the day of the event and at the rehearsals. We currently have a waitlist for Walt Disney Concert Hall, but please sign up! Between July 12 - 16, we will contact waitlisted singers in the order received when spots become available. We will also have a standby/overflow room (BP HALL) with a live feed projection for those unable to be seated in the main auditorium on the day of the event.  PROGRAM The Star-Spangled Banner · Music by Francis Scott Key, arr. Eric Whitacre Lean On Me* · Music by Bill Withers Bring Me Little Water* · Music by Lead Belly, arr. Moira Smiley Hurt · Music by Trent Reznor, arr. Eric Whitacre Sleep* · Music by Eric Whitacre Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around* · arr. Rollo Dilworth Dirait-on* · Music by Morten Lauridsen This Land Is Your Land* · Music by Woody Guthrie Heavenly Home · Music by Shawn Kirchner Stand in that River* · Music by Moira Smiley Cloudburst* · Music by Eric Whitacre Sing* · Music by Pentatonix, arr. Ben Bram Hey Jude* · Music by Paul McCartney & John Lennon (The Beatles) *Audience Participation SEE ALL ITEMS ON Los Angeles Times PAGE

For eight weeks of summer, the city will be alive with the sound of music thanks to the return of the Proms, one of the world's greatest classical music festivals. But what if you can't stand Schubert or harbour a hatred of Handel? Classical isn't for everyone, but that doesn't mean you can't enjoy the Proms. With a whole world of musical genres represented at the festival, from Argentine tango to disco-punk, this is what you can still see if you don't like classical music.

On July 19, veritable one-man jazz band Jacob Collier takes to the stage at the Royal Albert Hall, fresh from winning two awards at this year's Grammys for his debut album. He'll be teaming up with conductor Jules Buckley and the Metropole Orkest alongside some special guests.   READ THE FULL Evening Standard ARTICLE p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #606060} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #606060; min-height: 14.0px}

The pianist/composer Gonzalo Rubalcaba was already a phenomenon of jazz as a young musician with a growing career in Cuba when he was discovered by Dizzy Gillespie in 1985. Since then, Piano & Keyboard Magazine has included Rubalcaba among the greatest pianists In the 20th century, alongside names like Glenn Gould, Martha Argerich and Bill Evans, winning two Grammy titles and two Latin Grammy titles.  Grammy-nominated artist Pedrito Martinez finds success in the rhythm of Cuba's swinging drums, African conga and Peru cajón. Since moving to New York in 1998, the Cuban percussionist has recorded and sang with Wynton Marsalis, Paul Simon, Bruce Springsteen, Sting and has contributed to over 50 albums. Martinez is also a founding member of the famous Afro-Cuban / Afro-Beat group, Yerba Buena, with whom he tours all over the world. He is awarded the Thelonius Monk, the Sphinx Award for Excellence, and is named the Percussionist of the Year by the Association of Jazz Journalists for four years in a row. Rubalcaba & Martinez play the Bucharest Jazz Festival. Watch their performance in the attached video

The original cast recording of the critically acclaimed musical comedy Desperate Measures, which recently reopened at New World Stages, is now available digitally from Masterworks Broadway, with the physical CD set for release August 10. With music by David Friedman (Listen to My Heart) and lyrics by Peter Kellogg (Anna Karenina), the album is produced by Robert Sher with liner notes by Peter Filichia. The recording features Gary Marachek (Eleanor) as Father Morse, Lauren Molina (Rock of Ages) as Bella Rose, Emma Degerstedt (Smokey Joe's Cafe) as Susanna/Sister Mary Jo, Conor Ryan (Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert) as Johnny Blood, Peter Saide (Skin Tight) as Sheriff Green, and Nick Wyman (Les Misérables) as Governor von Richterhenkenpflichtgetruber with Anthony Festa (Bare at New World Stages), Celia Hottenstein (The Phantom of the Opera 25th anniversary national tour), and Tom Souhrada (Kinky Boots). The complete track listing follows: 1. The Ballad of Johnny Blood 2. The Ballad of Johnny Blood (Reprise) 3. That's Just How It Is 4. Some Day They Will Thank Me 5. Look in Your Heart 6. Look in Your Heart (Reprise) 7. It's Good to Be Alive 8. It Doesn't Hurt to Try 9. It's Getting Hot in Here 10. It's Getting Hot in Here Playoff / The Ballad of Johnny Blood (Reprise 2) 11. The Way that You Feel 12. Stop There 13. In the Dark 14. What a Night! 15. About Last Night 16. Stop There (Reprise) 17. Just for You 18. Just for Your (Reprise) 19. What is This Feeling? 20. What a Day! 21. Life Takes You by Surprise 22. It's Good to Be Alive (Reprise) 23. It's a Beautiful Day 24. Finale 25. Bows / Exit Music   p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #606060} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #606060; min-height: 14.0px} SEE THE PLAYBILL PAGE

Sir James Galway is in line to perform for Pope Francis during his visit to the Republic in August, it was reported last night. The Irish Independent said that the Belfast-born flautist will join Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli and performers from Riverdance in the line-up of artists at the World Meeting of Families' festival at Croke Park on August 25. Up to 15,000 overseas visitors from 114 countries are booked to attend the World Meeting of Families (WMOF) in Dublin between August 21 and 26. A spokeswoman for WMOF 2018 said: "Festival of Families in Croke Park will be one of the highlights of the World Meeting of Families 2018. "It will have a great line-up of community-based artists as well as some well-known local and international artists." READ THE FULL Belfast Telegraph ARTICLE p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #606060} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #606060; min-height: 14.0px}

Vijay Iyer, who brings his acclaimed Sextet to the Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival on Tue 17 Jul, is one of the leading pianist-composers in contemporary jazz – although like many of his mentors and peers, he resists genre labels. 'Most of the elder musicians I know reject the word jazz,' he tells me over the phone from Madeira, where he is performing on his current tour. 'Henry Threadgill, Steve Coleman, Reggie Workman, Roscoe Mitchell, Wadada Leo Smith, Amiri Baraka, Butch Morris. These are people who I've worked with and learnt from. These are people who are now in their '70s or '80s, or people who have passed on, and all of them had a very broad view of creativity and music making. The sort of collaborations they did across disciplines, across media, across musical communities, that's been a mainstay in this community for many decades, it's not a new idea. I think there's always been crossover between so-called jazz and so-called pop. And the same is true between so-called jazz and so-called classical music. I keep saying so-called because these labels themselves are fictions. They don't really have any bearing on what we do as artists.' This radical openness defines Iyer's music, which dissolves boundaries between mainstream and avant-garde jazz, classical music, hip-hop, funk and electronica. He's just at home playing compositions by jazz greats like John Coltrane and Thelonious Monk as he is reinterpreting pop hits by M.I.A. or Michael Jackson. Iyer has also written concert music, such as Radhe Radhe: Rites of Holi, a 2013 collaboration with filmmaker Prhashant Bhargava. A 2013 MacArthur Fellow and Harvard Professor of Music, Iyer has undertaken a formidable range of projects since he emerged in the 1990s as a sideman to the innovative saxophonist Steve Coleman. In addition to various solo and group projects, Iyer has regularly collaborated with the saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa, spoken word artist Mike Ladd, and the veteran avant-garde trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith, with whom he recorded the beautiful duo suite A Cosmic Rhythm With Every Stroke. READ THE Q&A

Few musical events are more iconic than The Proms and if you're into classical music, it's simply an unmissable fixture in the calendar. That's why we're here to help you stream the concerts live online from wherever you may be. The 90 performances over the eight week season are packed with stars from across the world, with Kirill Petrenko with the Berliner Philharmoniker, Daniel Barenboim with the West–Eastern Divan Orchestra and pianist Yuja Wang among those that catch the eye.  This year's Proms will be celebrating a number of events that took place 100 years ago, including a celebration of what would be the 100th birthday of Leonard Bernstein (composer of the music of Peter Pan and West Side Story), which will see a Proms debut for the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra under Marin Alsop, a former student of Bernstein.  Keep reading TechRadar to discover how you can watch the BBC Proms at home, on the move, or even abroad, thanks to the free live stream options 

On March 6, 1963, John Coltrane and his Classic Quartet - McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison, and Elvin Jones - recorded an entire studio album at the legendary Van Gelder Studios. This music, lost recordings from one of the greats of jazz have now been found and released 55 years later on Impulse! Records. Titled Both Directions at Once: The Lost Album, this is in short, the holy grail of jazz. Now rediscovered and shared with the world, the recently discovered music gives Coltrane, more than 50 years after his death, his highest ever debut on worldwide charts and in sales.  PBS: Newshour - Jeffrey Brown visits the jazz great's recording studio where the mystery began to take a listen to "Both Directions at Once: The Lost Album," which features Coltrane at the height of his powers. Read the Full Transcript & Watch the Video.

When Resonance Records' George Klabin pitched Eddie Daniels on this project saluting Egberto Gismonti, the legendary reedist was enthused yet somewhat trepidatious. Gismonti's music-a sui generis form of fantasia that proves evocative in its blending of Brazilian forms, a jazz harmonist's argot, and European classical languages-is no easy nut to crack or translate. But Daniels, of course, is no slouch. A doyen of the clarinet and an expert at navigating tricky divides like the potentially deadly jazz-classical fault line, he proved more than up to the task.  Heart Of Brazil finds Daniels primarily interpreting music that Gismonti produced in the '70s and early '80s. The settings, put together by the likes of ace arrangers Ted Nash, Kuno Schmid, and Josh Nelson, are ravishing; the core quartet-Daniels, Nelson on piano, Kevin Axt on bass, and Mauricio Zottarelli on drums-sets the music aloft; and the strings of the Harlem Quartet prove absolutely integral, weaving in, out, around, and through these spellbinding songs. Once merely a hypothetical dream project for Klabin, his aspirations have been realized and, perhaps, exceeded.  READ THE FULL All About Jazz REVIEW

Bill Murray is coming to Omaha. Yes, that one. Peter Venkman. Carl Spackler. Phil Connors. Bob Harris. Bob Wiley. Steve Zissou. Murray will bring a live performance of his classical and literary mash-up album, "New Worlds," to the Holland Performing Arts Center on Sept. 30. It's a new addition to the Omaha Performing Arts season, which starts in September. "New Worlds" features Murray performing with cellist Jan Vogler and other musicians. During the show, which explores American values and the bridges artists have built between American and Europe, Murray sings songs from "West Side Story," Van Morrison and George Gershwin, and he also reads selections from Walt Whitman, Ernest Hemingway and Mark Twain. The "New Worlds" album was released last year.   SEE THE Omaha World-Herald PAGE