Crystal ball

Happy New Year! Our Distinguished Committee on Future Delights presents these cultural events for you to look forward to in 2008:

JANUARY

You don’t even have to leave the house. Tonight (January 2nd) at 8:00 p.m., hear the final broadcast concert from the 2006-2007 season of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra on Classical 91.5 FM (or streamed at wxxi.org.) Christopher Seaman conducts Pictures at an Exhibition.

Jane Austen fans eagerly anticipate many hours of pleasurable diversions starting January 13th at 9:00 p.m., when WXXI-TV and PBS stations around the country will air The Complete Jane Austen, new weekly presentations of Northanger Abbey, Persuasion, Mansfield Park, and Sense and Sensibility. The lineup will also include Emma starring Kate Beckinsale, and "the Colin Firth P & P,” the Pride and Prejudice miniseries that made Colin Firth a heartthrob. How quick come the reasons for approving what we like!

FEBRUARY

Guitarist Sharon Isbin premieres new arrangements by Jeff Tyzik with the RPO, February 7th and 9th, 8:00 p.m. Zesty.

MARCH

Not Evan Almighty: choral group Madrigalia presents the Rochester premiere of Images of God, a work by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Robert Ward. The work uses the story of Noah as a metaphor to relate an image of God that reflects our time and our increasingly international, interracial and technological culture. March 8th at 7:30 p.m. (Side note: Madrigalia director Roger Wilhelm is resting at home following a serious heart attack.)

MAY

The sheer spectacle of André Rieu, Blue Cross Arena, May 19th.

Fate! Lust! Self-control! Carmina Burana! The RPO and Rochester Oratorio Society, May 22 and 24th, 8:00 p.m.

JULY

Rochester Oratorio Society tours China, singing in the Beijing Olympic Culture Festival preceding the 2008 Summer Olympic Games, July 13-26. I’m going as a singer, and I’m beyond excited. I’m hoping to blog from China.

Also, the International Air Show featuring the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds isn’t exactly a cultural event, but those jets roar with Stravinskian power. July 26-27.

SUMMER - More Eastman Theatre renovations begin.

OCTOBER

The dedication of an amazing Baroque-style organ at Christ Church on East Avenue.

So what are you looking forward to?