Mezzo-soprano Kelley O'Connor - the California native who won international attention as Lorca in Osvaldo Golijov's Ainadamar (and who stars on the Grammy-winning Deutsche Grammophon recording) - was the first to sing Peter Lieberson's multiple prize-winning Neruda Songs after the 2006 death of the late composer's wife, mezzo-soprano Lorraine Hunt Lieberson.  O'Connor has since performed the song cycle more than a dozen times on both sides of the Atlantic, and now her interpretation of the Neruda Songs will appear on a recording by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra under Robert Spano, to be released June 28 on the orchestra's own label.

O'Connor was inspired by Hunt Lieberson's own disc of the Neruda Songs, of which she has said, "It's the most beautiful music I've ever heard. I have to sing this. I had an immediate connection." Since then, the Chicago Tribune has praised the young mezzo for bringing "a luster, sensitivity and grace of her own" to the Neruda Songs, while New York magazine extolled her for having "the visceral glimmer, excellent Spanish, and technique and tone to draw out the songs' surreal languor."

O'Connor was in Scotland performing the Neruda Songs when the composer passed away in April. She had worked closely with him before she first sang the songs, an experience she says was "life-changing."  Read her blog tribute, All About Peter.  Just before the release of her Neruda Songs CD, O'Connor will be at Lincoln Center in Janácek's The Cunning Little Vixen with the New York Philharmonic in her first collaboration with Alan Gilbert (June 22-25).

For more information, visit KelleyOConnor.com, or the IMG Artists web site.  

The dynamic, New York-based orchestra The Knights - making high-profile appearances from Central Park to Chicago's Ravinia Festival this summer - keeps winning fans and friends, whether the group is performing Beethoven's "Pastoral" Symphony or Jimi Hendrix's "Machine Gun." Performance Today host Fred Child says in the WNET video Discover The Knights! that people often "have this stereotypical image of what it is to be a classical musician. The Knights are part of a generation that is totally changing that. In the words of Alex Ross, 'What we're witnessing with The Knights is the death of the death of classical music.'"  View video clip .

The Knights join Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble on June 7 for a cross-cultural concert in Central Park's SummerStage series.  On June 20, the orchestra returns to Central Park for a concert that includes the world premiere of Lisa Bielawa's Tempelhof Etude at the Naumburg Bandshell.  Back at the Bandshell on August 22 and at the Ravinia Festival in Highland Park, IL, on August 24, The Knights turn to the music of Schubert and, with his bicentennial in mind, Liszt.

The Knights grew out of informal chamber music readings at the home of brothers Eric and Colin Jacobsen, now the orchestra's co-artistic directors, as well as conductor and rotating concertmaster, respectively.  At Lincoln Center's Kaplan Penthouse last month during a spring benefit for The Knights, the brothers confessed, "We just love to play music."  That spirit infuses everything the orchestra undertakes; The New York Times has noted its "intensity, exuberance and commitment."

For more information, visit TheKnightsNYC.com, The Knights on YouTube or the Opus 3 Artists web site.

These are heady times for cellist Joshua Roman, known as "a classical rock star" around the world for his mixing of serious classical chops with boundary-defying tastes and new-generation media appeal. The Oklahoma native's May was especially starry, from performing at the Oslo Freedom Forum to playing Haydn with the Ensemble Orchestral de Paris at the Cité de la musique - and conducting from the cello.  Underscoring his easy feel for contemporary culture, Roman's collaboration with DJ Spooky on a cello-and-iPad version of Radiohead's "Everything in Its Right Place" was picked as one of "The 15 Best Radiohead Covers" by indie-rock magazine Paste.

This week Roman premieres a new solo cello suite by composer Gabriela Lena Frank at Seattle's Town Hall, commissioned by the experimental chamber music series TownMusic, where Roman is artistic director.  On July 22 and 31, he appears at New York's Caramoor Festival, performing in chamber works by Pulitzer-winning composers.

Earlier this year, Roman was recognized as one of the world's young trailblazers when he was named a 2011 TED Fellow. In an interview with the Seattleite, he said, "TED opened up that sphere of thinking that I have always been interested in, which is about seeing the ways that my career can have an impact beyond the stage."  He added that musicians "have to think about the music they are playing, and be a catalyst for meaningful connections to bring people together."

For more information, visit JoshuaRoman.com, his YouTube channel, or the Opus 3 Artists web site.

Venturesome string quartet Brooklyn Rider can be heard everywhere these days: on record, onstage, on the air, and even up in the air. Violinists Johnny Gandelsman and Colin Jacobsen, violist Nicholas Cords and cellist Eric Jacobsen were on WNYC's "New Sounds" last month with host John Schaefer. The foursome not only performed music from their new album of Philip Glass quartets; they also played an Irish medley with fiddler Martin Hayes, with whom Brooklyn Rider will be recording next season.  Listen to the entire show here, and view a video excerpt with Hayes here.

On June 12, Brooklyn Rider appear at the popular Greenwich Village club Le Poisson Rouge with singer-songwriter and violinist Christina Courtin. Summer travelers can hear Brooklyn Rider's recording of "Shur Landing" from Colin Jacobsen's Achille's Heel (off the group's 2010 album Dominant Curve) on Continental Airlines in-flight classics channel throughout this month. And look for Brooklyn Rider in the "40 Artists to Watch" feature in the June issue of Southwest Airlines' Spirit magazine, which also offers a free iTunes download from Brooklyn Rider Plays Philip Glass.

The musicians are gearing up for Minnesota's Stillwater Music Festival, which they founded six years ago.  In late August, Brooklyn Rider will present concerts and outreach activities focusing on the intimate world of the string quartet.  With Beethoven and Philip Glass as program pillars, they will preview excerpts from a group composition that will have its premiere at Carnegie Hall this fall, and play music ranging in origin from Brazil to Rajasthan.  Learn more about the festival.   

For more information, visit Brooklyn Rider.com, the group's YouTube channel,or the Opus 3 Artists Web site.

American tenor James Valenti - at a handsome 6' 5", with an Italianate voice that New York Times critic Anthony Tommasini called "robust" and "ardent" - seems born to play opera's leading men. The New Jersey native, honored with the 2010 Richard Tucker Award, has been winning acclaim as both the roguish Duke of Mantua in Rigoletto and the heartbreaker Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly.

After a turn as the Duke with Dallas Opera this spring, Valenti took on the role with Michigan Opera Theater last month. The Detroit News said, "James Valenti's tall, handsome Duke is a believable rake, and the tenor has a natural flair for the graceful musical arcs Verdi supplies so amply here."  Watch the Act III quartet from the final dress rehearsal of MOT's Rigoletto.

As Pinkerton, Valenti was seen on "Live from Lincoln Center" in New York City Opera's Emmy-winning 2008 broadcast, and he returns to London's Royal Opera House, Covent Garden to sing the role from June 25 to July 16. The production will be filmed in 3D and distributed worldwide to theaters, with a release in 2012. Valenti's co-star as Cio-Cio-San will be Patricia Racette, with Andris Nelsons conducting.

For more information, visit JamesValenti.com, his YouTube channel or the IMG Artists web site.  

Photos: Dario Acosta (Valenti), Daniel Cowan/WNET (The Knights), Maja Slavec (Kizart), Sarah Small (Brooklyn Rider), Jeremy Sawatzky (Roman)