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St. Thomas Church in New York is introducing its magnificent new organ with a series of concerts. A recent program of ferociously reverent music displayed the grand instrument in all its glory. The Choir of Men and Boys was joined by the Orchestra of St. Luke’s. Sara Cutler was featured on the harp, soprano soloist Hyesang Park, and Benjamin Sheen on the brand new organ.

If you’re a Kurt Vonnegut reader, Happy Birthday, Wanda June will sound familiar. If you’re in New York, or can get there by November 29, you have the chance to see this wacky dark satire of American culture and America’s propensity for war and death, filtered through Vonnegut’s mad genius lens

The Hungarian State Opera is a company full of talented artists whose work has not been presented to American audiences, unless they are fortunate enough to have visited Buda and Pest, and cities throughout the country that presents opera all the time, everywhere. The troop is in New York for two weeks, presenting opera, their orchestra and also dance, for which the Hungarians are famous.

The Next Wave Festival at the Brooklyn Academy of Music is presenting Philip Glass' Satyagraha at the Harvey Theater in Brooklyn. Not every opera can be mounted by a circus troop, but the forms are complimentary. When they meld, as they do here, it is a thrilling evening of theater. Folkoperan / Cirkus Cirkör from Sweden brings a matching visual rhythm and pace to the classical forms of Glass and extend our sense of this meditation on pacifism

Brian Katz' adaptation and direction of Kurt Vonnegut's Mother Night puts the infernal specters of WWII on the stage at 59E59 Theaters. It is produced by The Custom Made Theatre Company with Executive Producers William & Ruth Isenberg and Leah Abrams, and Producer Jay Yamada. We find ourselves witnesses to the conscience of an American born-German playwright Howard W. Campbell, (Gabriel Grilli), who has spent his youth in Germany writing propaganda for the the Third Reich.

Prior to this week, the Russian conductor Tughan Sokhiev was an unknown quantity at the New York Philharmonic. Currently music director of the Bolshoi Theater and the Orchestre Nationale du Capitole de Toulouse, he made his debut on the podium at David Geffen Hall, armed with a triptych of works from his native land by Borodin, Prokofiev and Tchaikovsky.

In celebration of his 80th birthday, Works & Process at the Guggenheim presented Charles Wuorinen's two String Trios, composed fifty years apart. In conversation before and between the superb performances of the Goeyvaerts String Trio, whose take on his work was praised by the composer, Wuorinen commented on his state of mind and ear at the time of the first composition. The Second String Trio is a world premiere commissioned by Works & Process.

Nico Muhly’s third opera, his second for the Metropolitan Opera, has its North American premiere this month and next. Muhly states clearly that when he was approached by director Michael Mayer about making the book Marnie into an opera, he was intrigued. At the end of opera, one wonders what happened to the screenplay of Alfred Hitchcock’s film based on the book.

The Biltmore Estate, near Asheville, North Carolina, is a 250 room mansion that opened on Christmas Eve, 1895. The Vanderbilts lived there until 1930, when the property was opened to the public. Presently, it is the state's top tourist attraction and home to a vineyard and winery that produces close to a million bottles a year.

Arabella does not artistically match the model it targeted, Der Rosenkavalier, nor does it replicate the earlier work’s market success. Despite some issues with this opera, it certainly deserves its place in the repertoire.

Historic Night in Segregated Miami is depicted in One Night in Miami. Miami New Drama opens its season with Kemp Powers poet play featuring familiar real life, historical characters. In Powers' play, Cassius Clay, Sam Cooke, Malcolm X and Jim Brown spend a night at a Miami hotel when the city was segregated.

The Basso family from Avellino in Campania is motivated by the area of the world that they live in. The terroir and history of Campania, with its seaside of the Amalfi Coast, its pizza from Naples and the buffalo milk that is responsible for mozzarella di bufala has historical significance. Villa Raiano believes in the past and is now growing in the future with young family members taking over the daily grind at the vineyard.

You may not recognize the title or know much about the show; it arrived quietly on Broadway in April 2006 and immediately captured multiple Tony award nominations. It won for best book and best score but was beat out for Outstanding Musical by Jersey Boys.

Despite the limits of 90 minutes, two characters, and mostly one room, Dancing Lessons covers a lot of ground. It’s about relationships and truth. A script full of laughs and things to think about; great direction by Joy Carlin and fine creative elements by her team; plus two terrific performances yield an entertaining evening.

Downtown Detroit has been the business heart of the city since the 1850s, expressing prosperity in structures like the 40-story Guardian Building, a 1929 Art Deco skyscraper. The soaring structure with its 632-foot high spire earned the nickname Cathedral of Finance, but its purpose was all business, and during World War II it even served as the U.S. Army Command Center for war time production.

Bernhardt/Hamlet is a new play by Theresa Rebeck that tries to capture both Bernhardt and comment on our modern era. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t.

North Coast Rep artistic director David Ellenstein has a penchant for selecting interesting plays for his theatre audiences. With his selection of playwright Jeffrey Hatcher’s new drama/mystery “Holmes & Watson”, and as the director of this clever play, Ellenstein subliminally tosses out a gentle unstated challenge to his patrons.

Coral Gables' GableStage is the first regional theater to mount Joshua Harmon's explosive 'Admissions.' A palpable urgency, tension hovers over the stage in this triumphant production. 'Admissions' is a highly complex, yet taut satire covering topics such as affirmative action.

This is the second Letter from Gloucester by correspondent Pippy Giuliano. She evokes the memory of epic Gloucester poet Charles Olson. He was indeed the bard by the sea who created layers of Cape Ann history from colonial times to his era in the poetic tome Maximus. It is in this daunting tradition that she contributes with humility her "lettters."

Rossini’s classic story of the oppressed woman who upends the patriarchal dowry system to pursue true love, is wonderfully invigorated by BLO’s selection and cast of critically acclaimed singers. This production launches the fall season of Boston Lyric Opera with stunning panache.

The script for Remy Bumppo Theatre’s production of Frankenstein was adapted by English playwright Nick Dear from Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel. Ian Frank directs a warm and heart-wrenching production, staged on Joe Schermoly’s handsome minimalist set.

St. Thomas Church in New York is introducing its magnificent new organ with a series of concerts. A recent program of ferociously reverent music displayed the grand instrument in all its glory. The Choir of Men and Boys was joined by the Orchestra of St. Luke’s. Sara Cutler was featured on the harp, soprano soloist Hyesang Park, and Benjamin Sheen on the brand new organ.

Susan Erony’s new mixed-media paintings explore primal and intellectual responses to visual beauty as they bear witness to the dignity and the achievements of the oppressed, the dispossessed, and all of us who face sorrow or pain in the course of life. The exhibition is on view at Trident Gallery, in Gloucester, Mass.

Barrington Stage Company (BSC) announced today three productions for its upcoming 25th season – Into the Woods, the musical classic by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine; the world premiere new musical Fall Springs, by Niko Tsakalakos and Peter Sinn Nachtrieb; and Gertrude and Claudius, a new play by Mark St. Germain.

Is it worth it to create the greatest instrument in the history of Western music, even if it costs you everything? That is the question asked by the 1998 François Girard film The Red Violin, which tracks the creation, birth and long life of its titular object from a workshop in Cremona in the 16th century to an auction house in modern day Montreal.