Robert Black News

On its first four live online Marathons in 2020 (May 3, June 14, August 1, and October 18) Bang on a Can presented a total of 95 performances, including 31 world premieres of new commissions and over 130 composers and performers.

Bang on a Can teams up with WNYC's New Sounds, hosted by John Schaefer to present its fifth Bang on a Can Marathon – Live Online – on Sunday, February 21, 2021 from 1-5pm ET.

Deep Tones For Peace presents “Change has Come.' The event will be presented on January 21st, the day after the Presidential Inauguration.

Bang on a Can will stream performances from all four 2020 Bang on a Can Online Marathons - “A Marathon of Marathons” for on-demand viewing from December 24, 2020 - January 1, 2021 at marathon2020.bangonacan.org.

REELZ today announced its January 2021 premieres with powerful new stories led by the return of Geraldo Rivera and original series Geraldo Rivera's Murder in the Family revealing the darkest hours in a celebrity's life losing a family member to murder.

With the election so close, the division so fractious and potentially explosive, we feel a special event is needed for the public on Election Day.

Yoshiko Chuma returns to La MaMa with Love Story, The School of Hard Knocks, the latest chapter in her ongoing multidisciplinary performance series. The 24-hour livestreamed performance will feature an international cast of more than 50 artists from four decades of collaboration.

Bang on a Can has announced Canadian cellist Arlen Hlusko as the newest member of the Bang on a Can All-Stars. Hlusko has been performing with the All-Stars throughout the 2019-20 season and now joins the group as the permanent cellist.

Bang on a Can will present its third Bang on a Can Marathon – Live Online – on Sunday, August 16, 2020 from 3-9pm ET. 

Bang on a Can announced the hourly schedule for its ALL LIVE Bang on a Can Marathon on Sunday, June 14, 2020 from 3pm-9pm ET. The 6-hour live Marathon will be hosted by Bang on a Can Co-Founders and Artistic Directors Michael Gordon, David Lang, and Julia Wolfe.

Bang on a Can will present an ALL LIVE Bang on a Can Marathon on Sunday, May 3, 2020 from 3pm-9pm ET. The Marathon will be streamed online at marathon2020.bangonacan.org, featuring 26 LIVE performances from musicians' homes in NYC and around the country.

Further performers have been revealed for Park Theatre's World Premiere murder mystery Whodunnit [Unrehearsed], as Adam Hills, Jason Manford, Neil Morrissey, Clarke Peters and Sandi Toksvig - with the voice of Miriam Margolyes - join the stellar list of participants. Every night, a different guest performer will step onstage to join the rehearsed ensemble of a scripted murder mystery play, having attended no rehearsals, read no script, nor received any direction. Armed only with a hidden earpiece to receive instructions, they will endeavour to solve the crime in real time.

On Wednesday, March 6, 2019 at 7:30pm, Bang on a Can will present the 2019 Bang on a Can People's Commissioning Fund (PCF) concert, one of the most anticipated and reliable launching pads for composers in New York and beyond. The performance is presented as part of Kaufman Music Center's Ecstatic Music Festival at Merkin Hall (Kaufman Music Center, 129 W. 67th St.) and a New Sounds Live co-presentation with host John Schaefer, streamed live at www.newsounds.org. 

North Texas Performing Arts is pleased to announce that Christian Robert Black has been named Program Director for the North Texas Performing Arts - Dallas Theatre. NTPA - Dallas is the fastest growing of NTPA's youth theatres, and will produce over twenty productions in 2019 under Christian's Leadership.   Christian is an NTPA success story; his passion for the theatre ignited in his teens as a student in the Plano Children's Theatre.

The San Diego Symphony's annual January Festival returns in its fourth year entitled, Hearing the Future. Throughout the festival, which runs January 9 - 27, 2019, the organization explores and celebrates the power of music and art to give voice to the evolution and revolutions in the world at large. The festival, curated by composer-conductor Matthew Aucoin (b.1990), will shine a spotlight on the music being made today - from composers and performers who are still in high school, to a 90-year-old jazz master. The festival will also explore the way music from the past - from Haydn, Beethoven and Berlioz to the creators of African-American spirituals - engaged with the most urgent issues of their time.

On Thursday, February 15th, Kaufman Music Center's Ecstatic Music Festival featured Bang On A Can People's Commissioning Fund, co-presented by New Sounds Live and hosted by John Schaefer.

North Texas Performing Arts proudly presents Disney's The Lion King, Jr., February 1-10th at Plano's Courtyard Theatre and at North Texas Performing Arts in their new home at The Shops of Willow Bend. The performance will be in the Rodenbaugh Main Stage Theatre. Featuring a cast of actors, ages 7-15, the production is directed by Plano Children's Theatre alum, Christian Black. Choreography is by Lonnie Hightower, who performed in The Lion King on Broadway who originated the role of one of the hyenas in Disney's The Lion King on Broadway.

On Thursday, February 15, 2018 at 7:30pm, Bang on a Can will present the 2018 Bang on a Can People's Commissioning Fund concert, one of the most anticipated and reliable launching pads for composers in New York and beyond, as part of Kaufman Music Center's Ecstatic Music Festival at Merkin Concert Hall (Kaufman Music Center, 129 W. 67th St.).

The 2017 Franklin Stage Company exhibition season continues with a collection of prints by Lisbeth Firmin. "Venice Monotypes"will open today, August 5 with a reception open to the public in the lobby of the theater, 3:00-5:00pm

The 2017 Franklin Stage Company exhibition season continues with a collection of prints by Lisbeth Firmin. "Venice Monotypes"will open on Saturday, August 5 with a reception open to the public in the lobby of the theater, 3:00-5:00pm