Latin Music Awards scheduled for May 8

Miami — Latin songwriter Armando Manzanero and rap artist El General will be given special honors at the Billboard Latin Music Awards in May.

The awards show, which honors the most popular artists on Billboard’s Latin music charts, is set for May 8 in Miami.

Manzanero, whose songs include “Somos Novios,” “Adoro” and “Te Extrano,” will receive the Hall of Fame award for long-term artistic merit and for expanding the boundaries and promotion of Latin music.

El General, a pioneer of Latin rap, will receive the Spirit of Hope award for his dedication to humanitarian causes, Billboard magazine editors said.

The Panamanian artist has helped disadvantaged children in his home country. In 1994, he founded Poor Children Without Borders to pay for the schooling of needy children of single parents.

“These are awards based on extraordinary accomplishment and extraordinary commitment,” said Billboard Latin bureau chief Leila Cobo.

Ades’ ‘The Tempest’ to have world premiere

New York — The world premiere of Thomas Ades’ “The Tempest,” and The Royal Opera House premieres of Shostakovich’s “Lady Macbeth of Mtensk” and Sondheim’s “Sweeney Todd,” highlight the 2003-04 Covent Garden season in London.

A new production of Handel’s “Orlando” and new co-productions of Gounod’s “Faust,” Verdi’s “Aida,” Strauss’ “Arabella” and Britten’s “Peter Grimes” will be staged, the company announced Tuesday. There also is a borrowed production of Donizetti’s “Lucia di Lammermoor” that’s new to the house.

“The Tempest,” a co-production with the Royal Danish Opera and the Opera du Rhin in Strasbourg, France, opens Feb. 10, 2004. Simon Keenlyside is Prospero, Ian Bostridge is Caliban, Cynthia Sieden is Ariel in her Royal Opera debut and Ades conducts in his company debut. The libretto is by Meredith Oakes, and the production is by Tom Cairns.

Los Angeles to upgrade Disney hall area

Los Angeles — Officials launched a $14.5 million beautification project that will spruce up a two-block area of downtown outside the new Walt Disney Concert Hall.

The project will create wider, unobstructed sidewalks, with space for outdoor dining on two blocks of Grand Avenue between Temple and Second streets. The roadbed will move about 20 feet east of its existing location outside the Music Center. New trees, lighting, benches and parks will create a pedestrian corridor.

“It will give the whole Grand Avenue a boulevard feel to it, a promenade feel, instead of what it is now,” said Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky.

People will be able to congregate as they wait to get into the Walt Disney Concert Hall, scheduled to open in October, he said.

County spokeswoman Judy Hammond said the project, whose future had been in limbo due to the state budget crisis, is back on track after the release of $9.5 million in state and federal transportation funds.