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BBC News
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Bill Murray heaps praise on 'pretty' Birmingham
Hollywood's Bill Murray has described Birmingham as a "pretty city" ahead of a performance at Symphony Hall. The actor, famous for Ghostbusters and Groundhog Day, is to perform his New Worlds tour which will see classically trained musicians play while he sings and reads American classics. Speaking to BBC WM ahead of the show, he said: "It really is a pretty city to drive into and it's been fun marching around."He also complimented Birmingham's "handsome" buildings and "beautiful" churches, before joking its statues were not "graffitied too horribly". Discussing the Brummies he had met, he said: "It's nice to be here, we've been marching around, it's a sunny day and there's a lot of people moving around out there. "It's an interesting town to look at and when you come to a different country it's great to just look at people."People seem to be very bubbly, happy moving around and no-one is crabby or cranky - I like it here." 'We knock them dead' Murray said those with tickets to Wednesday night's performance could expect him to do a "bunch of things". "I read some poetry, I read some literature, I sing some songs," he said. "We have a great violinist, Mira Wang, and a great pianist, Vanessa Perez and Jan Vogler on cello."We kill people every night, they don't see it coming and every night we knock them dead." Murray even had time to discuss Birmingham icon Ozzy Osbourne after an exhibition about the rock star was opened in the city on said: "He's his own kinda phantasm, he's his own spirit who flies over the universe and he touches a lot of people. "It's exciting to be here and walk among all these photographs of him everywhere, he's everywhere in town." Follow BBC Birmingham on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
Boston Globe
07-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
Keith Lockhart marks Pops journey in 30th anniversary concert — with the help of friends
Funny thing about Keith Lockhart's 30th anniversary concert: It was wrong. Lockhart's debut conducting the Boston Pops was indeed June 5-6 … in 1993, 32 years ago. He did open his first season as the official successor to Not that Lockhart could be bothered with the former. From the stage, the conductor mentioned, not for the first time, his general disinterest in birthdays, anniversaries, and the like, preferring instead to look forward, and while he took the stage to a standing ovation, two pieces had passed — the overture to Bernstein's 'Candide' (prancing, tiptoeing, and wafting in equal measure) and a galloping and brassy 'Everything's Coming Up Roses' — before he even addressed the audience to welcome them to the 2025 season as usual. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Related : Advertisement But Lockhart soon settled into the theme of the concert, if somewhat abashedly, by focusing on his role as only one link in an ongoing chain. A video essay on his appointment showed Williams literally passing the baton to him all those years ago, while Peter Fiedler, a nearly spitting image of his father, Arthur, showed up in person to offer congratulations. And Lockhart pointed out that bass player Larry Wolfe had him beat by 25 years, while others on stage hadn't been born by the time he arrived. Advertisement Percussionists Samuel Solomon and Toby Grace with conductor Michael Feinstein and Keith Lockhart in Leroy Anderson's "The Typewriter" on June 6 at Symphony Hall. Robert Torres He also argued for the purpose of the Pops and the various roles the orchestra serves for Boston and the wider world. One was championing American music, and there were entries from the Great American Songbook (including a scampering 'I Got Rhythm' aided by guitarist John Pizzarelli's high-speed scatting, the tropical rhythms of 'All The Things You Are'), a dip into the rock and disco eras (with Rockapella bringing out the calypso undertones of 'Rock the Boat' and Melinda Doolittle attacking the bluesy swing of 'I'm a Woman' with fire) and light-classical curios (Leroy Anderson's percussive 'The Typewriter,' with Lockhart performing the title instrument). And the Pops is surely unique in offering an extended video-essay salute to 'America the Beautiful' poet Katharine Lee Bates alongside Tom Lehrer's 'sick humor' exemplar 'Poisoning Pigeons in the Park.' Related : Lockhart also stressed the Pops' role in seeing audiences through difficult times, listing the crises the orchestra has weathered during his tenure: 9/11, the COVID-19 pandemic, the Boston Marathon bombing, financial crises, and a Snowmageddon that saw one concert beginning with only 25 musicians on stage, playing to a crowd of 15. The unspoken message was that the way to make it is together, and Lockhart was joined by a handful of friends, from Pizzarelli, Rockapella, and Doolittle to Michael Feinstein, Jason Danieley, and, in a rare out-of-season appearance, Santa Claus. Conductor Keith Lockhart and members of Rockapella with a cake for his 30th anniversary celebration and concert at Symphony Hall on June 6. Robert Torres Those were just the ones onstage. Liza Minnelli saluted Lockhart via audio, while Williams's congratulatory message was read onstage by Feinstein. And two songs from the end, and before the giant cake arrived, a parade of well-wishers that included Mandy Patinkin, Bernadette Peters, Branford Marsalis, Ana Gasteyer, James Taylor, Kristin Chenoweth, David Ortiz, and Mayor Michelle Wu appeared by video to sing Sondheim's 'I'm Still Here' with new, Lockhart-specific lyrics. And then the visibly-moved conductor worked his way back to his podium, and he got back to work. Advertisement THE BOSTON POPS: The Keith Lockhart 30th anniversary concert At Symphony Hall, Friday Marc Hirsh can be reached at or on Bluesky @ Marc Hirsh can be reached at
Boston Globe
09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
Cynthia Erivo opens the Spring Pops season in style
Without explicitly stating it, Erivo's set affirmed a Great American Songbook centered specifically around Black artists. With the lone exception of her leadoff number — a 'Don't Rain On My Parade' that could stand up proudly next to Streisand — every song on her set list was either written by a Black songwriter or strongly associated with a Black singer who delivered a definitive version. That meant room for Nina and Aretha, Prince and Peebles, even Screamin' Jay Hawkins, all treated as the standards they surely are. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up With a stage presence steeped in control and deliberateness whether singing or simply speaking to the audience, Erivo delivered strange bedfellows 'Ain't No Way' and 'I Put A Spell On You' as torch songs, and both 'At Last' and 'Stormy Weather' were lush and sweeping, with the singer slightly behind the beat on the latter and playing it for laid-back languidness. But her reserve occasionally made numbers like 'I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You)' and 'I (Who Have Nothing)' a touch too genteel to burn. Advertisement It also gave unexpected moments added electricity. Erivo called for a redo at the start of 'I Can't Stand The Rain,' cuing the xylophone player to the proper tempo with her shoulders, maybe the only time she got the music physically into her body. And a cry of 'Yes!' from the audience immediately before the arrival of the title of 'Feeling Good' made her laugh at length and re-collect herself before diving in and dancing around the melody and rhythm with her voice. But Erivo was capable of electricity even when all went according to plan. 'The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face' was light and majestic even before Scott Johnson's delicately-plucked folk guitar and the string and horn swells, with Erivo singing the first verse a cappella with a gentle, masterful touch. And as she did, Lockhart slowly turned toward the audience with a knowing smile, as if making sure everyone understood what they were hearing. THE BOSTON POPS WITH CYNTHIA ERIVO At: Symphony Hall, Thursday Marc Hirsh can be reached at officialmarc@ or on Bluesky @ Advertisement
Boston Globe
10-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
American music, Symphony Hall's 125th anniversary, and the natural world: Inside the Boston Symphony Orchestra's 2025-26 season
Moreover, he said, the upcoming season 'represents the beginning of a deep exploration of the humanities' in the orchestra's work, with more supplementary events hosted by the BSO's humanities institute to be announced at a later date. 'We're beginning to weave big ideas and big questions into our work, as a way for our art form to have a dialogue between the past and present,' Smith said. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up The 'E Pluribus Unum' programming is dispersed throughout the season, beginning with an all-American gala with music director Andris Nelsons on the podium during the season's opening weekend (Sept. 19), and concluding with John Adams's 'Harmonium' in the final program of the season, paired with Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 and conducted by Dima Slobodeniouk, a frequent guest whom Smith described as a 'great friend of the orchestra.' (April 30 - May 3) Advertisement However, many of the 'E Pluribus Unum' highlights are concentrated in January 2026, including concert performances of Samuel Barber's 'Vanessa' presented in collaboration with Boston Lyric Opera, conducted by Nelsons with soprano Jennifer Holloway in the title role and Marshfield-grown mezzo-soprano Samantha Hankey as Erika (Jan. 8 & 10); an all-John Williams program, also conducted by Nelsons and featuring pianist Emanuel Ax (Jan. 22 - 25), and the Boston premiere of BSO composer chair Carlos Simon's gospel-inspired 'Good News Mass,' conducted by BSO artistic partner and youth and family concerts conductor Thomas Wilkins (Jan. 29-31). Nelsons is helming 14 different programs during the season, his twelfth as music director. His dance card includes 'Missa solemnis' (Oct. 9-11), Bernstein's 'Chichester Psalms' (Jan. 15 & 17), John Adams's Violin Concerto, featuring Augustin Hadelich (Oct. 16-18), and a shared date with 2025 Tanglewood Music Center conducting fellows Leonard Weiss and Yiran Zhao (April 3). The season's lineup of guest conductors includes Jonathon Heyward and Nodoka Okisawa, making BSO debuts; Andrey Boreyko and BSO assistant conductor Anna Handler, making planned Symphony Hall debuts; and several familiar faces including Herbert Blomstedt, Domingo Hindoyan, Thomas Adès, Susanna Mälkki, and Esa-Pekka Salonen. Scheduled soloists with the BSO in the coming season include Yuja Wang, Seong-Jin Cho, Midori, Yunchan Lim, and Joshua Bell, among others. Hadelich, who made his BSO debut in 2012, performs several times in the coming season as artist in residence, offering a solo recital (Oct. 19) and chamber performances with pianist Orion Weiss (Feb. 1) and the Boston Symphony Chamber Players (Feb. 15) in addition to appearing in two programs with the orchestra. Advertisement In addition to its subscription programming, the BSO is also hosting three touring orchestras for single dates at Symphony Hall. The Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra makes its Boston debut on Nov. 14; Nelsons brings the Vienna Philharmonic and soloist Lang Lang through on March 3, in a co-presentation with Celebrity Series of Boston; finally, the orchestra of Interlochen Arts Academy visits on March 15 with Cristian Măcelaru conducting a program including a new work for cello and orchestra by Wynton Marsalis, featuring Yo-Yo Ma. The Boston Pops also have several dates – most of them conducted by Keith Lockhart – dispersed throughout the season, presenting programs that will celebrate the work of Lin-Manuel Miranda (Sept. 20), Day of the Dead (Nov. 1), Lunar New Year (Feb. 21), and Irish musical traditions (March 14). 'We're finding opportunities to weave Boston Pops programming into the season broadly,' Smith said, 'anchored by Holiday Pops and Spring Pops.' The season's opening festivities commence on Sept. 17 with a free Concert for the City, featuring the BSO, Pops, and Tanglewood Festival Chorus with Nelsons, Lockhart, and Wilkins sharing the podium. As has become custom, a plethora of Boston-based groups will be offering pre-concert performances around Symphony Hall. Subscriptions are available now, with single tickets on sale July 31. BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA Begins September. 617-266-1200, A.Z. Madonna can be reached at
Boston Globe
09-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
‘I won't work on a more important film,' says Ken Burns about ‘American Revolution' series
Advertisement The series itself, which is co-produced and directed by Burns, Botstein, and David Schmidt, is slated for release this fall. However, Boston audiences can join that conversation on April 16 at Symphony Hall, where Burns and Botstein are hosting a preview evening presented by the Boston Symphony Orchestra and GBH. The event will feature clips from the film, a panel discussion featuring Burns, Botstein, and three historians, and performances from an ensemble of musicians including violinist Johnny Gandelsman, who curated the soundtrack for the series, and American roots multi-instrumentalist and singer Rhiannon Giddens. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Regardless of the subjects, music has always played a central role in Burns's documentaries, and this one is no different. Even though the filmmakers might not all be musicians, 'the language of our editing room is musical,' Burns said. 'Hold that another beat, hold that another measure.' Advertisement Burns compared the documentary itself to a 'symphony in three movements,' with the first of those mostly focusing on New England, and Botstein said the Symphony Hall event would definitely include 'some clips that highlight the events of that week 250 years ago.' But it won't retell the 'bloodless, gallant myth' of the American Revolution story that many are accustomed to, Burns said. 'If anyone could tell this story with any modicum of representation of the complex sides of it, and not the way we were taught at school,' it'd be Burns, said Giddens, who previously worked with Burns on his 2019 'Country Music' series. Rhiannon Giddens. (Ebru Yildiz) Ebru Yildiz 'I think it will be hugely new to everyone,' said Burns, hoping that audiences would feel connected to not just the 'top-down stories' of famous historical figures, 'but also hundreds of characters that they've never heard about.' These include Irish soldiers fighting for both the British and colonial armies, Native Americans, French fighters, Black people, women, and dedicated loyalists, he said. 'It's going to come at you from lots of different angles.' Gandelsman produced upwards of 100 tracks for the series, and with the Symphony Hall event's performances, 'we wanted to create something that represents the variety of the music that was created for the film,' said the violinist in a phone interview. The sonic fabric of the documentary includes classical and baroque concert pieces, fiddle tunes, folk songs, Native American music, and Afro-Cuban percussion. As a recurring theme for the series, Burns chose a Scottish lament by composer James Scott Skinner called 'Hector the Hero,' which dates to 1903 but has 'all the elements' of a traditional tune, he said, much like Jay Unger's 1982 'Ashokan Farewell,' which provided a musical foundation for 1990's 'The Civil War' series. Advertisement Gandelsman, a member of string quartet Brooklyn Rider (which releases a new album, 'The Four Elements,' May 23) as well as Silkroad Ensemble, has been a regular collaborator with the Burns team since 'The Vietnam War.' Many of the performers on the soundtrack have Silkroad connections as well, including Giddens, who is presently artistic director of the organization, and Yo-Yo Ma, who founded it. Those artists in turn suggested music they could contribute and recruited additional collaborators such as Providence-based Black roots musician Jake Blount, whom Giddens thought would bring 'a really good kind of approximation of what the fiddle might sound like in the colonial era.' 'Some of it was definitely figured out on the fly' in the studio, said Giddens, whose contributions to the soundtrack included 'Pompey Ran Away,' which was published in 1782 as a 'Virginia Negro Jig', and a lullaby in Scottish Gaelic that was written by a composer in the Carolinas. 'A lot of people don't know that the Scots were involved in the revolution, and lot of them were Gaelic speakers,' said Giddens, who releases a North Carolina-specific album with Justin Thompson, 'What did the Blackbird Say to the Crow,' on April 18. 'It was really, really exciting to bring musicians from different orientations together, to find pieces of music that really moved us, whether they were contemporaneous to the time, or later, but — as Ken likes to say — worked,' said Botstein, whose father is the conductor Leon Botstein. Advertisement Burns singled out Giddens's 'ferocious determination to expand the canon of American music,' saying that her performances in the film would 'tear the hair off your head.' 'Sarah and I won't work on a more important film,' Burns said. 'We're not saying that this is the most important film, but we won't work on a more important film.' The two of them have felt a sense of 'humbling importance,' he said, which 'required us to spend the nearly-decade doing it, and trying to get it right.' A.Z. Madonna can be reached at
