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| October 15, 2009 | The Desert Sun | "Manilow has special present for valley fans: Five Christmas concerts to benefit local charities" by Bruce Fessier |
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| Barry Manilow wanted to go all out for this holiday season. The Palm Springs resident is having surgery on his hips in a couple of weeks, and doctors said he wouldn't be able to perform for four to six weeks after that. So, he decided to come back with a blockbuster five-night run of benefit concerts at the McCallum Theatre in Palm Desert. The unique holiday program, "A Gift of Love," will feature a large orchestra with horn and string sections combined with some of Manilow's biggest hits. The shows will raise funds for 25 local charities — five per night — and won't be performed anywhere else. "I've been thinking about this for a year now," Manilow said Wednesday. "I wanted to do something down here at Christmas time. The guys at Stiletto (his management company) and I just decided to go all out." Manilow has never done a charity benefit as big as this before, he said, adding that he chose the McCallum because, "I love this community." The performances are slated for Dec. 4-5 and Dec. 7-9, and will feature songs from Manilow's most recent Christmas CD, "In the Swing of Christmas," and two previous Christmas albums, "Because It's Christmas" and "A Christmas Gift of Love." "In the Swing of Christmas" earned a Grammy nomination for its original release in 2007. Last year, Manilow wrote a new song, "Christmas Is Just Around the Corner," for an ABC Family TV special called "The Cranberry Christmas" and added that to the album with a Dixieland jazz version of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer." Manilow said his love of Christmas comes out in this album, and he plans to conjure that spirit at the McCallum. "The Brooklyn Jew, I do great Christmas stuff," he joked. "I just love the time of the year, I love these songs. We (will) put it all together at the McCallum. I thought, I will be the second Andy Williams. He's the greatest. He invented the greatest male (vocal) Christmas show in the world. I'll be number two." Tickets for the "A Gift of Love," presented by Manilow and the Manilow Fund for Health and Hope, go on sale Oct. 26 at www.mccallumtheatre.com. Tickets range from $85 to $250. Premium tickets, giving fans special time with Manilow, are available now at www.starz.bz/agiftoflove for $750. The tickets include a post-reception and photo opportunity with Manilow. Buyers may designate $500 of the ticket's cost to the beneficiary charity of their choice. Premium tickets for $1,000 include a pre-concert champagne reception with Manilow and an autographed program. Buyers of that may designate $750 to the charity beneficiary of their choice. Manilow said he and his management company selected the beneficiary charities. "We could have gone even further than that," he said, "but these are the ones that jumped out at me." Manilow said he is not having hip replacement surgery. The condition is more related to wear and tear on his bones. "The kind of problem I have is what athletes get, and dancers," he said. "That's what you get when you do 'Copacabana' for 35 years, and you run up and down stairs and you dance 'Bandstand Boogie' with girls who jump on your hips over and over for years. I knew it would eventually get to me, and it has. Hopefully, this one will fix me up." |
| October 13, 2009 | HeraldNet | "Manilow's donation shows kids that every note is precious: Kids get a feel for their new violins, donated by Barry Manilow" by Theresa Goffredo |
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| If you ask a group of Tulalip Elementary fourth- and fifth-graders what music they listen to, they’ll say AC/DC or Green Day. There’s no mention of the Grammy-winning Barry Manilow. And though few, if any, of the students have ever heard Manilow croon “Copacabana” or “Mandy,” the Las Vegas headliner delivered music to their lives. Manilow, through his Manilow Music Project, has donated 45 Yamaha violins to Snohomish County. This $36,000 gift, which arrived Wednesday, means the elementary students on the Tulalip Reservation will have a musical strings program for the first time ever. For 9-year-old Ruth Pablo, who got to hold one of the violins for the first time Monday, the instruments will be a stepping stone along her career path. “I want to learn the violin because when I’m older, I want to be a music teacher,” the Tulalip fourth-grader said. Someday Quinton Hill wants to be in a band. The 11-year-old said he plans on practicing his violin at home a lot. “I like it because it’s fun and it gets my adrenaline going,” Quinton said after getting a turn fingering the strings. “It’s just like great to hold the violin and hear the noises.” This gift of 45 violins will be split between Tulalip Elementary and Hawthorne Elementary School in Everett, which means the Everett School District will once again have an elementary orchestra or strings program after 25 years without one — it was discontinued in 1984. These violins will help launch what will be called the Prelude Strings program, geared to fourth- and fifth-graders at both schools and headed by Everett Symphony Orchestra assistant conductor Ron Friesen, a retired former music teacher who is volunteering his time to ensure Prelude Strings gets going on the right note. Friesen said when the violins arrived at symphony headquarters last week, he hadn’t been so excited opening boxes since he got a bicycle as a kid for Christmas. On Monday in the multipurpose room at Tulalip Elementary, Friesen introduced the students to the instruments up on stage by sitting down three kids at a time in chairs during the lunch break and letting them hold a violin and pluck the strings. Once permission is granted from the students’ parents and teachers, the students will begin lessons at Tulalip Elementary. Once Prelude Strings is launched there, Friesen will begin the process at Hawthorne. Friesen will be solely responsible for teaching the Prelude Strings program twice a week, at noon at Tulalip and after school at Hawthorne. The instruments will be turned over to the students at no charge. If the instrument is lost, stolen or damaged, the student doesn’t have to pay but gives up the chance to learn. The students also agree to keep up with their schoolwork. Eve Dawson, 9, said she doesn’t know any songs yet on the violin but is excited to learn. “I really want to play it,” Eve said. “You have to keep your grades up, and I’m going to try.” Manilow got the idea to donate the violins after the singer was contacted by an acquaintance following his March concert at the Everett Events Center. That acquaintance was Harvey Platt, chief executive of Beaverton, Ore.-based Platt Electrical Supply, which has a branch in Everett. Platt knew about the Manilow Music Project, so after Platt learned instruments were needed locally, he wrote to Manilow’s people and inquired about a donation. This gift of the chance to play and learn the violin is certainly not lost on student Ruth Pablo. “I really love music,” Ruth said. “When I take my violin home, I’m going to put it under my bed or somewhere safe.” How you can help: The Prelude Strings program is part of the Everett Symphony Orchestra’s social mission to help preserve symphonic music in Snohomish County and help schools keep music alive for children and youth. About two weeks ago, the Everett School District told the symphony that they were not able to find the money to transport fourth- and fifth-graders to the Oct. 22 Explore Music Concert at the Everett Civic Auditorium. This field trip was almost canceled, just as it was in 2007. Instead, the Everett Symphony used $5,000 from its operating budget to pay the cost of the buses to transport the 3,000 students. Now, the concert will go on, said the symphony’s chief executive Roger Pawley. “We have to do this. It’s absolutely critical because without these children, we don’t have musicians and an audience in the future and as the schools find it more difficult to fund music programs, who is better positioned to step forward and try to help,” Pawley said. But the symphony can’t do this alone. “The community has to want this,” Pawley said. To donate to the symphony or become a volunteer symphony ambassador, call the symphony’s main office line at 425-258-1605 or go to www.everettsymphony.org. |
| October 14, 2009 | The Desert Sun | "Barry Manilow to do one-of-kind holiday show for charities" by Bruce Fessier |
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| Palm Springs resident Barry Manilow, will perform his first ever multi-night charity show, titled “A Gift of Love...,” over five nights in December at the McCallum Theatre. The holiday concert series will run Dec. 4-5 and Dec. 7-9 and benefit 25 charities in the Coachella Valley. Each show will benefit five different charities. Manilow will perform his hit songs and special holiday songs from his new Christmas album, “In the Swing of Christmas,” released Tuesday. He’ll also perform songs from previous holiday releases, “Because It’s Christmas” and “A Christmas Gift of Love,” in a show with a large orchestra specifically created for the McCallum.
“Being able to give back to my hometown, both in song and charitable support, makes this concert series a very personal and special event for me,” Manilow said in a statement. “The 25 recipient charities are invaluable to the Palm Springs community, so extending the holiday spirit of giving to these nonprofit organizations is really a special treat.” Tickets for the “A Gift of Love...,” presented by Manilow and the Manilow Fund for Health and Hope, go on sale Oct. 26 at www.mccallumtheatre.com. Tickets range from $85 to $250. Premium tickets, giving concert attendees special time with Manilow and additional donations to one of the beneficiary charities, are available now at www.starz.bz/agiftoflove/. Premium tickets priced at $750 offer a post-reception and photo-op with Manilow as well as an additional $500 donation to a designated beneficiary charity. Premium tickets priced at $1,000 offer a pre-concert champagne reception with Manilow and autographed program, and an additional $750 donation to a designated beneficiary charity. Charities benefiting from holiday concerts include: ACT for MS – Palm Desert, Angel View Crippled Children’s Foundation, Animal Samaritans, Barbara Sinatra Children’s Center, Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS of the Desert), Boys & Girls Club of the Coachella Valley, Desert AIDS Project, Desert Arc, Desert Samaritans for the Elderly, Desert Paws, FIND Food Bank, Inc., Gilda’s Club Desert Cities California, Guide Dogs of the Desert, Healthy Family Foundation: The Ophelia Project, Joslyn Senior Center, Mourning Star Center, Olive Crest, One Heartland, Pegasus Riding Academy for the Handicapped, Shelter From The Storm, Stroke Recovery Center, Temple Isaiah Fund, The Living Desert, United Cerebral Palsy – Inland Empire, and Variety Club of the Desert. |
| October 12, 2009 | Music Industry News Network | Barry Manilow Re-Signs With Arista Records |
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| Grammy, Tony, and Emmy Award-winning recording artist Barry Manilow, has just announced that he has re-signed his recording deal with Arista Records and will be releasing two new albums, one of seasonal favorites, ringing in the holidays with contemporary and traditional yuletide repertoire on IN THE SWING OF CHRISTMAS and THE GREATEST LOVE SONGS OF ALL TIME scheduled for release in January, just in time for Valentine's Day (track listing and details for THE GREATEST LOVE SONGS OF ALL TIME to be announced soon). On the heels of the extraordinarily successful "decades" series (Greatest Songs of the Fifties, Sixties, Seventies and Eighties), IN THE SWING OF CHRISTMAS produced and arranged by Manilow, will arrive in stores on October 13th. A special pre-order campaign at the www.manilow.com website and at Amazon will ensure that fans will receive IN THE SWING OF CHRISTMAS in its very first week of release. Manilow, who has had a long-standing relationship with Arista Records and its founder Clive Davis, now Chief Creative Officer, Sony Music Entertainment will be teaming up once again to record his forthcoming album THE GREATEST LOVE SONGS OF ALL TIME, set for release in January. Davis has been a perennial collaborator with Manilow on virtually all his recordings, since they first worked together on "Mandy," Manilow's debut #1 single as the first artist signed to Arista by Davis in 1974, the first year of the label's existence. Beyond the sensational "decades" series, Arista is the home to Manilow's biggest hits including "Mandy," "It's a Miracle," "Could It Be Magic," "I Write the Songs," "Looks Like We Made It," "Can't Smile Without You," "Copacabana (At the Copa)," "Somewhere In the Night," "Ships," "I Made It Through the Rain," and many, many more.Comments Clive Davis: "Barry and I have a mission to bring to a new generation the great songs that are the soundtrack of our lives. This album does just that and Barryis sounding better than ever." IN THE SWING OF CHRISTMAS presents a dozen holiday gems. Contemporary standards include: "Silver Bells" (first recorded by Bing Crosby & Carol Richards in 1950); "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" (introduced by Judy Garland in the 1944 MGM musical Meet Me in St. Louis); "Christmas Time Is Here" (one of the instrumental themes composed by Vince Guaraldi for 1965's A Charlie Brown Christmas); and "The Christmas Song" (aka "Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire," the Mel Torme standard that became an evergreen after Nat King Cole's 1953 recording). More: "Violets For Your Furs" (a Frank Sinatra rarity from his album Songs for Young Lovers, 1954); "Toyland" (a perennial favorite from Victor Herbert's 1903 operetta, Babes in Toyland); "Count Your Blessings" (by Irving Berlin, from 1954's timeless film, White Christmas); Johnny Marks' classic "Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer" (popularized by Gene Autry in 1949); and "Christmas Is Just Around The Corner," composed by Manilow for Cranberry Christmas, the ABC Family animated TV special first broadcast in December 2008, based on the 1976 children's book of the same title. IN THE SWING OF CHRISTMAS is actually the third album of holiday songs recorded by Barry Manilow during his career. In 1990, he released the 10-song Because It's Christmas on Arista; and in 2002, Columbia issued A Christmas Gift of Love. IN THE SWING OF CHRISTMAS is Barry Manilow's follow-up to the mega-bestselling series of "decades" albums that he masterminded with Arista founder and co-producer Clive Davis. The series began in January 2006 with The Greatest Songs Of The Fifties, which entered the Billboard 200 album chart at #1 (his first #1 album since Barry Manilow/Live in 1977), and was certified RIAA platinum. The Greatest Songs Of The Sixties (October 2006) entered at #2. When the RIAA platinum The Greatest Songs Of The Seventies entered at #4 (September 2007), Barry Manilow was distinguished as the only artist to chart three Top 5 debuts during 2006-2007. The most recent entry in the series, The Greatest Songs Of The Eighties was released November 2008. |
| October 10, 2009 | The Post Chronicle | "Barry Manilow Arms Up For Two New Albums, Seasonal Release Oct. 13th" by Jack Ryan |
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| Barry Manilow is armed up to make two new releases with Arista Records. Manilow has just re-signed his recording deal with Arista Records to create a seasonal album and a romantic album. The seasonal album will be created for Christmas time; Manilow will sing us into the holidays. With contemporary and traditional holiday spirit songs. Manilow's seasonal album is due out on Oct. 13th 2009. The listing for the seasonal album is as follows provided by Antimusic.com: "Silver Bells" (first recorded by Bing Crosby & Carol Richards in 1950); "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" (introduced by Judy Garland in the 1944 MGM musical Meet Me in St. Louis); "Christmas Time Is Here" (one of the instrumental themes composed by Vince Guaraldi for 1965's A Charlie Brown Christmas); "The Christmas Song" (aka "Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire," the Mel Tormé standard that became an evergreen after Nat King Cole's 1953 recording) His romantic album is to be released around Valentine's Day, which is called "The Greatest Love Songs Of All Time". The track listing and details have yet to be announced. |
| October 8, 2009 | Reuters | Barry Manilow gets festive with new albums |
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| LOS ANGELES (Reuters Life!) - American crooner Barry Manilow is in a festive mood. With Manilow set to end a five-year run at the Las Vegas Hilton on December 30, Sony Music said the 66-year-old singer has re-signed his recording deal with its Arista Records label and will be releasing two new albums in the coming months. He will be releasing his third Christmas album, "In The Swing of Christmas" on October 13 featuring contemporary and traditional yuletide songs including "Silver Bells," "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" and "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas." He will record his second new album, "The Greatest Love Songs Of All Time," in collaboration with Arista founder Clive Davis, who is now chief creative officer at Sony Music. This is set for release in January in time for Valentine's Day. Davis has collaborated with Manilow on several of his recordings since they first worked together on "Mandy," Manilow's debut No. 1 single and the artist signed to Arista. Manilow's contract with Arista was not renewed in 2000 when Davis was also ousted from the label following a power struggle. But when Davis returned to Arista in 2005, he re-signed Manilow. "Barry and I have a mission to bring to a new generation the great songs that are the soundtrack of our lives. This album does just that and Barry is sounding better than ever," Davis said in a statement. |
| October 7, 2009 | Las Vegas Sun | "Barry Manilow to leave Las Vegas Hilton: Final performance slated for Dec. 30" by Jerry Fink |
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| A couple of months shy of his fifth anniversary at the Las Vegas Hilton, Barry Manilow will end his engagement in the showroom that Elvis made famous. His management declined to discuss Manilow’s plans after the final performance on Dec. 30. There have been rumors that he may move to a venue on the Strip or make a movie. Manilow never gave half-a-performance during his more than 300 shows, always appearing to have as much fun as his audience as he sang such classics as “Mandy” and “Daybreak” and “Copacabana (At the Copa)” for perhaps the 10,000th time in his career. Ken Ciancimino, executive vice president administration of the Hilton, put a positive spin on the loss of one of the most popular acts in Vegas – seen by an estimated 450,000 people. Ticket sales were in the range of $70 million, according to Ciancimino. “We have an on-going relationship with Barry and we may do selected weekends with him, for a record release or whatever,” Ciancimino said. “He’s welcome here, there’s no doubt about it.” |
| October 7, 2009 | Fox 5 News | Barry Manilow Leaving Las Vegas Hilton: Show Ends Dec. 30 |
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| LAS VEGAS -- “Fan-ilows” have just a few chances left to see their idol perform at the Las Vegas Hilton. Barry Manilow announced Wednesday that he is ending his five-year stint at the resort on December 30. The show, “Ultimate Manilow: The Hits,” can still be seen Oct. 8-10, Nov. 27-29 and Dec. 28-30. Ticket information can be found on the Las Vegas Hilton Web site. The 66-year-old singer arrived in Las Vegas in February 2005 with a show titled “Manilow: Music and Passion.” Since then, the Hilton said he has performed more than 300 shows to nearly 450,000 people. Earlier this year, Manilow appeared on “American Idol” as a guest instructor during the show’s “Hollywood Week.” |
| October 7, 2009 | Broadway World | Barry Manilow Bids Adieu To Las Vegas Hilton, 12/30 |
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| Barry Manilow's record-setting five-year engagement at the Las Vegas Hilton will conclude on December 30, 2009. "Barry Manilow is an exceptional entertainer and we have been extremely fortunate to have had him as our resident headliner at the Las Vegas Hilton for the last five years," said Ken Ciancimino, Executive Vice President Administration of the Las Vegas Hilton. "Although this current engagement is ending, our friendship with him endures and we will continue to explore possibilities for future endeavors together." Barry Manilow began his long-term engagement with the Las Vegas Hilton in February, 2005 with "Manilow: Music and Passion." His current show, "ULTIMATE MANILOW: The Hits," debuted in July of 2008. By the end of the year Manilow will have performed well over 300 shows, to nearly 450,000 people with gross ticket sales of more than $70 million."ULTIMATE MANILOW: The Hits" is packed with chart-topping music spanning his spectacular career, and gives fans an opportunity to enjoy decades of Manilow's music and his amazing showmanship. The remaining performances of "ULTIMATE MANILOW: The Hits" at the Las Vegas Hilton are October 1-3, October 8-10, November 27-29 and December 28-30. Show times are 8 p.m. in the legendary Hilton Theater. Stage seat tickets are $225 (plus tax and service charge). The seats are up close and personal with 34 located on each side of the stage and at the same level. Main orchestra tickets are $125-175 (plus tax and service charge); rear orchestra tickets $65-$85 (plus tax and service charge) and balcony $65 (plus tax and service charge). Tickets can be purchased at the Las Vegas Hilton box office, online at http://www.lvhilton.com, http://www.vegas.com, http://www.ticketmaster.com or by calling 702-732-5755 or 1-800-222-5361. |
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