Bion Tsang was born in America to Chinese parents, and after debuting with Zubin Mehta and the New York Philharmonic at age 11, studied at Juilliard, Harvard and Yale. He's a recording artist and professor of cello at the University of Texas-Austin. Tsang's newest release is on the Sony Classical label, and it contains two major works: the "Concerto for Cello and Orchestra in b minor, op. 104," by Antonín Dvořák, and the "Symphonie Concertante for Cello and Orchestra, op. 8" by George Enescu. Both pieces are chock-full of drama, emotion and power and there are myriad opportunities for Tsang to display his technical virtuosity. There are lovely lyrical passages as well, full of beauty and subtlety. Tsang handles them all with depth, skill and ample musicality. The Royal Scottish National Orchestra under the baton of Scott Yoo is crisp and clean with a terrific sense of ensemble. Their playing is sensitive and nuanced, providing an equal partnership for the drama unfolding in both pieces. "Each of these concertos takes the listener on an epic journey," says Tsang. "They are both gloriously lush and dramatic in their orchestration, and the cello sings above this backdrop with intense emotion. In both pieces, I feel there are distinct depictions of longing, searching, struggle, and finally triumph." SEE THE Wisconsin Public Radio PAGE

After 30 million albums sold worldwide, 13 No. 1 jazz albums in the United States, and a music, film, television and Broadway career spanning three decades, the Grammy® and Emmy® winning and Tony nominated musician and actor, Harry Connick, Jr. returns with a sensational new record, True Love: A Celebration of Cole Porter on the legendary Verve Record label. The first single "Just One Of Those Things' has just been released and goes #1 on both Play MPE's 'Jazz downloads & Jazz streams'  charts.

p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #4d4d4d} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #4d4d4d; min-height: 14.0px} The Novel Voices Refugee Aid Project, created and directed by the Carr-Petrova Duo, is a project designed to give voice and visibility, through music and film, to the lives and struggles of both local and international refugee communities, and to encourage audiences and artists alike to become connected and involved. Since August 2018, it has brought free, interactive classical music concerts and workshops to displaced populations while increasing awareness of and raising support for both U.S.-based and international refugee-aid programs.  From August 12th to October 1st, 2019, The Novel Voices Refugee Aid Project, and the Carr-Petrova Duo are launching #50Days4Refugees - a social media campaign which walks through our past year of travels with the Novel Voices Refugee Aid Project from start to finish. We are releasing a single story/image/clip a day in order to give our followers the chance to virtually travel with us, meeting and engaging with the people, places, life-stories, cultures, music, and organizations we encountered along the way. Follow us daily as we share our journey and highlight the activities, strengths, and specific needs of the organizations we partnered with - along with what we learned about ways anyone anywhere can get involved.  Day 5: "The Bongo King"  Please meet one of the most enthusiastic participants of our musical workshops over this past year of #NovelVoices Refugee Aid Project travels: Mohammad from Kuwait. Mohammad lives in the Jelling Refugee Camp in Denmark and happens to have one of the cutest and sweetest smiles any of us had ever had the pleasure of experiencing. Mohammad has a very open, uplifting, and welcoming spirit - with an eternally curious mind that is ready at any moment to stir up a little mischief. During every activity we offered - Mohammad would be the FIRST to volunteer - ESPECIALLY when it came to playing the bongo (or foosball).  :) 

The Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra is shifting gears after 20 years, with Music Director Designate Jaime Martín, who's excited about ushering in a new era this September as LACO's sixth-ever Music Director. The LACO, ranked among the world's top musical ensembles, marks an exciting new era as Martín builds upon the orchestra's rich legacy as a preeminent interpreter of historical masterworks and, with eight ASCAP Awards for Adventurous Programming, a champion of contemporary composers. Headquartered in the heart of the country's cultural capital, LACO is "more important with each passing year," (Los Angeles Times), "America's finest chamber orchestra" (Public Radio International) and "one of the world's great chamber orchestras" (KUSC Classical FM). Martín's appearance as LACO's Music Director Designate in early 2019 was described by the Los Angeles Times, as "a thrilling performance, and the orchestra played like it was having the time of its life," adding, "he will make fans very quickly." Overseas, he has been praised as "a visionary conductor, discerning and meticulous" (Platea Magazine), and London's The Telegraph said, "his infectious enjoyment of the music communicated to the orchestra and audience alike." WATCH THE KABC-Yahoo VIDEO p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; color: #4d4d4d} span.Apple-tab-span {white-space:pre}

The Novel Voices Refugee Aid Project, created and directed by the Carr-Petrova Duo, is a project designed to give voice and visibility, through music and film, to the lives and struggles of both local and international refugee communities, and to encourage audiences and artists alike to become connected and involved. Since August 2018, it has brought free, interactive classical music concerts and workshops to displaced populations while increasing awareness of and raising support for both U.S.-based and international refugee-aid programs.  From August 12th to October 1st, 2019, The Novel Voices Refugee Aid Project, and the Carr-Petrova Duo are launching #50Days4Refugees - a social media campaign which walks through our past year of travels with the Novel Voices Refugee Aid Project from start to finish. We are releasing a single story/image/clip a day in order to give our followers the chance to virtually travel with us, meeting and engaging with the people, places, life-stories, cultures, music, and organizations we encountered along the way. Follow us daily as we share our journey and highlight the activities, strengths, and specific needs of the organizations we partnered with - along with what we learned about ways anyone anywhere can get involved.  Day 4: Nightmares While combing through the footage we collected over the past year, we came upon this moment in an interview with our friend Mohammad from Kuwait. In this clip, our film-maker asks Mohammad three questions during his on-camera interviews: What do you miss from Kuwait? What do you like about Denmark? What are three things you dislike in the world?   His responses - though told innocently and through a nonchalant smile, left us with much to ponder. As we played this footage back, we realized that, without fail, each time our film-maker returned to her third question, Mohammad would respond quickly with his first two answers of, "rain, pork" - but no matter how many times she asked, he would always pause and for a split second struggle before his final word, ".....nightmares."

Camerata Chicago is thrilled to release its new recording of Vivaldi's Four Seasons Educational Double Disc CD, through its in-house record label DMD Classics. Featuring Amelia Piscitelli, violin, Steve Robinson, narrator, and led by Drostan Hall, conductor, Camerata Chicago presents this fabulous double CD set replete with poetry written by Vivaldi himself and incorporates more than twenty musical examples of seasonal elements and characters cleverly depicted in the music  In conjunction with the release, maestro Drostan Hall has made himself available to classical radio TODAY!!! Thursday August 15, to discuss the recording. Watch for our tweets throughout the day. 

Violinist Itzhak Perlman will launch a two-night residency Friday evening at the Ravinia Festival, where he will perform as soloist and conduct the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Perlman has been a consummate virtuoso and superb interpreter of the standard repertory for more than half a century, and he seems incapable of wearing out his welcome. So even though he played Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 1 with the DePaul Symphony Orchestra last November – to celebrate the opening of the university's multi-faceted Holtschneider Performance Center – it's easy to look forward to hearing him perform it again on Saturday evening. For starters, he'll be accompanied by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, on a program that also will include Ravel's orchestration of Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition" and Wojciech Kilar's "Orawa." Perlman performs Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 1 with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at 7:30 p.m. Saturday; and conducts the CSO's "Tchaikovsky Spectacular" at 5 p.m. Sunday; at the Ravinia Festival, Lake Cook and Green Bay Roads, Highland Park.
PHOTO: (Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images) READ THE FULL Chicago Tribune ARTICLE