Orchestra Showbiz and Celebrity Breaking News

Get ready for Eurovision 2023! The annual song competition is set to take place in Liverpool, United Kingdom in May of 2023, and we’ve got all the latest details on this highly anticipated event, including all of the official song entries so far.

EXCLUSIVE: The Washington Ballet and Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment have struck content partnerships with British arts streamer Marquee TV.

Incredible entertainment is arriving at The Bridgewater Hall just in time for Spring. On Friday, March 24, music lovers can explore a world of cinematic soundtracks with their loved ones, all thanks to The Music of Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones and Beyond.

Eurovision 2022 winners Kalush Orchestra have shared their first English-language track, ‘Changes’ – scroll down the page to listen to it now.The Ukrainian band were victorious with their song ‘Stefania’ in last year’s Song Contest, which was held in Italy.“Pray to the gods of good and evil / Make them hear my demands,” Kalush Orchestra sing in the chorus. “Break the curse and threaded the needle / Gripped between my hands.”“This is a song about our home – where we live and how we have learned to protect it,” band leader Oleh Psiuk said in a press release. “We continue to live even when danger looms over us.

K.J. Yossman U.K. entertainment industry bodies are taking action after the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) quietly proposed hiking U.S. performer visa fees in January. Under the proposals, the P visa, a touring visa most commonly used by international music artists, is set to rise from $460 to $1,615 (a price hike of 251%) while the O visa, a longer-term work visa for established performers which typically lasts a maximum of three years, would go from $460 to $1,655, an increase of 260%. Both visas would also require an additional $600 surcharge. Now a plethora of entertainment bodies including the Association of British Orchestras, the Musicians’ Union and the Independent Society of Musicians have written to Kemi Badenoch, the U.K. Secretary of State for business and trade, asking her to appeal to the U.S. to reconsider the fees.

Gregg Goldstein From the most commercial movies to the artiest of arthouse fare, all of the year’s best picture Oscar nominees have one thing in common: themes of power struggles and an anti-authoritarian streak. This reporter spoke with the filmmakers behind “All Quiet on the Western Front,” “Avatar: The Way of Water,” “The Banshees of Inisherin,” “Elvis,” “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” “The Fabelmans,” “Tár,” “Triangle of Sadness” and “Women Talking” about how they explored these topics and why they’re so relevant today. “Our world is at an inflection point where we’re questioning hierarchical power,” says “Tár” writer-director Todd Field. “There’s a reason we’re seeing movements against authority and people that have held power: for a long time, no one questioned it.”

Peter Andre has been celebrating his upcoming 50th birthday with his family in Dubai on a fun-filled vacation away from the UK. But now he reveals the celebrations have moved on to his 17 year old son Junior, who has already been planning his 18th birthday. "He’s thinking about it already but I won’t be cramping his style," Pete, 49, told us in his exclusive column - only available to OK! VIPs.

Jon Burlingame editor “The Fabelmans” music is up for an Oscar and the score for “Indiana Jones 5” is completed, but 91-year-old John Williams is far from retired. He is mulling new concert works for leading classical soloists and preparing for a series of conducting gigs in the coming months that will take him from Chicago to Tokyo. Williams celebrated his birthday on Feb. 8 quietly, just dinner with his wife and daughter, he tells Variety in a rare interview. “When you finally get to be 90, you think, ‘This is great, I made it.’ It’s wonderful. I recommend it to everybody.” Nonagenarian status hasn’t slowed down the five-time Academy Award winner, who is on his 53rd Oscar nomination for Steven Spielberg’s film about his childhood and the trauma of his parents’ divorce. It’s their 29th film together, and three of his five Oscars are for Spielberg films (“Jaws,” “E.T.,” “Schindler’s List”).

Eurovision 2023 is happening soon!

APPOINTMENTSManagement company YMU has hired Yvette Medina as Head Of Latin Music. She joins from her own management business the Creative Management Firm. “YMU’s global resources and commitment to continue driving Latin music forward on a global scale aligned with my vision and passion, making them a perfect partner”, she says.Music publisher Wise Music has promoted Marcus Wise to CEO for Europe.

Graham Phillips is back on stage, this time taking on an iconic role in a Stephen Sondheim musical!

A violin professor has been charged with sexual assault. South Africa-born Jan Repko, 64, taught at the Royal College of Music (RCM), but was suspended by the London conservatoire after the allegation last July and later dismissed, reported the Press Association today.

An anthem composed by songwriting legend Andrew Lloyd Webber will be one of 12 new pieces created for the King's coronation later this year, it has been revealed.

Jon Burlingame editor Composer Gerald Fried, who won an Emmy for the landmark miniseries “Roots” and whose 1960s scores, from “Star Trek” to “Gilligan’s Island,” left an indelible impression on a generation of TV watchers, died of pneumonia Friday at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Bridgeport, Ct. He was 95. His wide-ranging career included scoring five early Stanley Kubrick films, including “Paths of Glory” and “The Killing”; receiving the only Oscar nomination ever given for a documentary score, 1975’s “Birds Do It, Bees Do It”; and earning five other Emmy nominations for music in specials, TV movies and miniseries. The prolific Fried scored approximately 40 films, some three dozen TV-movies and miniseries, and episodes of another 40 TV series during a career that spanned more than six decades.

Emiliano De Pablos Athens-based company Stefi Productions is developing mini-series project “Letters to Leonard,” a real life inspired drama that explores events in the personal relationship between legendary conductors Leonard Bernstein and Greece’s Dimitris Mitropoulos. Described as a story about friendship, love, betrayal and the passion for music, the series has been co-created by Pierros Andrakakos, whose credits take in directing Antenna Studios’ series “Save Me,” plus servng as an assistant director on Universal Pictures’ “Captain Corelli’s Mandolin” and Paramount Pictures’ “Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life.”  Also co-creator and the series’ producer, Giorgos Linardakis is known for his work as line producer on Greek TV series such as “Agapi Paranomi” and “Voices in Deep.” 

The full list of exclusive releases coming to independent UK record shops as part of Record Store Day 2023 has been revealed.

Ben Folds has announced that he will release new album ‘What Matters Most’ this summer, and will also be in the UK and Ireland for live shows in the autumn.“There’s a lifetime of craft and experience all focused into this one record”, he says. “Sonically, lyrically, emotionally, I don’t think it’s an album I could have made at any other point in my career”.“I come from the vinyl era, and this perhaps more than any record I’ve made is a true album”, he adds.

An experienced hillwalker died after getting into difficulty with friends while scaling a mountain in Glencoe.

Eurovision 2023 is coming!

Cue the greatest hits of the year! Music’s biggest names are gathering at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles for the 65th annual Grammy Awards on CBS Sunday, February 5.

Unknown Mortal Orchestra have announced that they will release a new album, titled ‘V’, next month. They will also be in the UK for tour dates in May.The album was several years in the making, Ruban Nielson having begun work on a new set of tracks with his brother Kody in the early days of the pandemic.But when an uncle in Hawaii fell ill, he, his mother and another uncle moved over there to care for him.

The Who have announced that they will tour the UK this summer with an orchestra in tow. The shows will see them rework songs from across their oeuvre with a classical backing. Something they reckon is dead edgy and that.

RELEASESThe Go! Team have released new single ‘Whammy O’. Their new album, ‘Get Up Sequences Part Two’, is out on 3 Feb.James Yorkston, Nina Persson and The Second Hand Orchestra have teamed up for new album ‘The Great White Sea Eagle’, which is set for release on 13 Jan. Here’s new single ‘An Upturned Crab’.Maja Lena has released new single ‘The Stone’. The song, she says, “is about my relationship to my creativity and work.

While original adult films haven’t been faring well at the box office of late in the shadow of tentpoles, the one week Thanksgiving sneak preview of Netflix’s Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery looks to change the tide in its short run before hitting the service on Dec. 23.

The Florian Hoffmeister lensed thriller Tár from director Todd Field topped the Camerimage main competition, collecting the Golden Frog during the closing ceremony of the cinematography film festival Saturday.

Getting recognized. The list of nominees for the 66th annual Grammy Awards was announced on Tuesday, November 15, and the contenders have people talking.

Don’t threaten us with some fun! We’re down!

APPOINTMENTSExceleration Music has appointed former Warner Music and Amazon Music exec David Gorman as its Creative Director. “I was instantly drawn to Exceleration’s mission, passion, values, and independent, entrepreneurial spirit, all of which have been on full display since we first started talking”, he says.

The Warner Bros Worldwide Marketing vet is in talks for the top Film & TV, Marketing post at Amazon Studios, sources tell us. The rumor has been around for a while, and we understand it’s becoming more real, and it really shouldn’t surprise as Sue Kroll has been a marketing consultant at Amazon Studios for six months. Sources tell us that the streamer and Kroll are still working out details.

There’s an old saying that suggests you never see a thin butcher. That's an unfair stereotype to some of the hardest grafters in the food industry.

Introduced at the height of her powers, the world-renowned composer-conductor who lends Tár (★★★★☆) its brusque title is meticulous in every detail of how she conducts her life. Lydia Tár strives for perfection in her work, her image, and her bespoke suits, and demands the best from her musicians, students, and staff.But Lydia, portrayed with leonine intensity by Cate Blanchett, has grown increasingly sloppy in one area of her well-tended life.

EXCLUSIVE: Studiocanal has boarded Borgen creator Adam Price’s Danish workplace comedy Orchestra and will be shopping the show at Mipcom Cannes, as TV series boss Françoise Guyonnet talks The Wicker Man and breaking down barriers between TV and film.

The Sunday Times restaurant critic Marina O’Loughlin delivered a rave review of a much-feted Manchester restaurant over the weekend. The acclaimed food writer visited Flawd in New Islington, the paper publishing her thoughts yesterday.

Shalini Dore Features News Editor The annual L.A. Phil Gala saluted composer John Williams on his 90th birthday Tuesday with the maestro conducting the orchestra on his “Violin Concerto No. 5.” Anne-Sophie Mutter made the violin sing as she performed on the premiere of his new piece. In his opening remarks on stage for the event, which marks the fall season opening for Walt Disney Concert Hall, L.A. Phil conductor Gustavo Dudamel said, “We have the chance tonight to celebrate one of the greatest composers of all time. His name is John Williams. He is a very special part of the Los Angeles Philharmonic family. His music for films transcends, it is in the big symphonic world like Mahler [and others].”

A.D. Amorosi What does one do for an encore after winning five honors at the 64th Grammys (including album of the year for “We Are“), an Oscar for best original score (for co-composing Disney-Pixar’s “Soul”) and leaving the bandleader gig at a top-rated talk show (“The Late Show with Stephen Colbert”)? If you’re protean pianist and megawatt personality Jon Batiste, you write a symphony — an”American Symphony” no less, its title raising the stakes on the grandeur of the piece that premiered at Carnegie Hall Thursday night.

David St. George, a former artistic adviser to the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra and the Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, has been sentenced to five years in federal prison for possession of child pornography. He pleaded guilty in March.