Kazem Abdullah
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The orchestra is conducted with calm confidence by Kazem Abdullah — the result is passionate, but also clear, focused and humble.
Kazem Abdullah works internationally, appearing with orchestras such as Atlanta Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Orquestra de São Paulo, New World Symphony, as well as guest conducting with The Metropolitan Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and the Théâtre du Châtelet de Paris. He was the music director for the symphony orchestra and opera house of Aachen, Germany from 2012-2017.
Abdullah excels at reaching newer and diverse audiences through innovative programming and riveting performances. In addition to exploring new venues to bring concerts to audiences, he has experimented with juxtapositions of styles in non-traditional concert formats. Abdullah is a formidable opera conductor with a repertoire of over 30 operas. He is recognized in the classical music industry for connecting with audiences through his well executed and inspiring concerts.
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What You Need to Know About the World Premiere of PROXIMITY at Lyric Opera of Chicago
Lyric Opera of Chicago will present the second of two Chicago-set world premieres in its season: Proximity.
“The standout performance of the entire season.”
Upcoming Schedule
X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X
The Metropolitan Opera
More infoAnthony Davis’s groundbreaking and influential opera, which premiered in 1986, arrives at the Met at long last. Theater luminary and Tony-nominated director of Slave Play Robert O’Hara oversees a potent new staging that imagines Malcolm as an Everyman whose story transcends time and space. An exceptional cast of breakout artists and young Met stars enliven the operatic retelling of the civil rights leader’s life. Baritone Will Liverman, who triumphed in the Met premiere of Fire Shut Up in My Bones, sings Malcolm X, alongside soprano Leah Hawkins as his mother, Louise; mezzo-soprano Raehann Bryce-Davis as his sister Ella; bass-baritone Michael Sumuel as his brother Reginald; and tenor Victor Ryan Robertson as Nation of Islam leader Elijah Muhammad. Kazem Abdullah conducts the newly revised score, which provides a layered, jazz-inflected setting for the esteemed writer Thulani Davis’s libretto.
Ravel Piano Concerto
Naples Philharmonic
More infoFazil Say, piano
L. Boulanger — D'un matin de printemps
Ravel — Piano Concerto in G Major
Copland — Symphony No. 3
Mozart Violin Concerto No. 5
Kansas City Symphony
More infoJun Iwasaki, violin
WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART Violin Concerto No. 5
ERICH KORNGOLD Symphony in F-sharp
X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X
Seattle Opera
More info
Music by Anthony Davis; Libretto by Thulani Davis; Story by Christopher Davis
Activist. Orator. Husband. Leader. One of the most misunderstood figures in US history, Malcolm X was an icon of the civil rights movement. Get to know the man through a series of biographical vignettes that follow Malcolm X from his interrupted childhood in Lansing, Michigan to his tragic murder in Harlem. With a score by Pulitzer Prize-winning American composer Anthony Davis (Central Park Five) that fuses elements of modernism, minimalism, and jazz, X produces a sound world that is unmistakably individual.
