Music History on April 15

St Matthew Passion

1729 Johann Sebastian Bach's "St Matthew Passion" premieres at the Thomaskirche in Leipzig, Holy Roman Empire (now Germany)

Serse

1738 "Serse", an Italian opera by George Frideric Handel premieres at the King's Theatre in Haymarket, London

  • 1960 Guy Carawan sings "We Shall Overcome" to a Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in Raleigh - popularising the song as a protest anthem
  • 1961 Meredith Willson's musical "The Music Man", starring Robert Preston and Barbara Cook, closes at Majestic Theater, NYC. after 1375 performances, 5 Tony Awards, and a Grammy

Sophie

1963 Steve Allen's musical "Sophie", based on the life of American singer, and comic actress Sophie Tucker, opens at Winter Garden Theater, NYC; runs for 8 performances

The Amen Corner

1965 James Baldwin's 1954 stage drama "The Amen Corner" opens at Ethel Barrymore Theatre, NYC; runs for 84 performances

Aftermath

1966 The Rolling Stones release "Aftermath", their fourth studio album in UK (6th in US)

  • 1967 Leon Gluckman and Jeremy Taylor's folk music revue "Wait A Minim!" closes at John Golden Theater, NYC, after 457 performances
  • 1970 Mitch Leigh, William Alfred and Phyllis Robinson's musical melodrama "Cry for Us All" closes at Broadhurst Theater, NYC, after 9 performances

70, Girls, 70

1971 John Kander and Fred Ebbs' musical "70, Girls, 70", starring Hans Conried and Mildred Natwick, opens at Broadhurst Theater, NYC; runs for 35 performances

  • 1984 Galt MacDermot and William Dumaresq's musical "The Human Comedy", based on the novel by William Saroyan, closes at Royale Theater, NYC, after 13 performances
  • 1987 "Barbara Cook: A Concert" opens at Ambassador, NYC; runs for 13 performances

Music History

1994 Jazz singer Tony Bennett records a session for "MTV's Unplugged" series at Sony Studios, NYC, featuring the Ralph Sharon trio, and guest appearances by Elvis Costello, and k.d.lang; album release wins 2 Grammy Awards

Music Concert

2012 Hologram of late rapper Tupac features on stage with Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre at Coachella music festival

Music History

2019 Aretha Franklin posthumously receives the Pulitzer Prize Special Citation honor, first individual woman to win it since 1930

Music Concert

2022 Coachella Valley music festival returns after a two-year hiatus with Harry Styles the headlining act on opening night in front of 100,000 [1]