WildKat PR are proud to announce that we are working with Omniverse Vision on the LA Phil LIVE international cinema broadcast of Mahler’s “Symphony of a Thousand”, recorded in Caracas in February 2012.

Gustavo Dudamel’s epic Mahler Project saw him conduct all of Mahler’s completed symphonies with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela. The project culminated in a dramatic performance of the 8th Symphony, dubbed the “Symphony of a Thousand”. Over 1,400 musicians and singers took to the stage in Caracas for this historic performance.

Now, the concert is being broadcast to cinemas internationally including the UK, Germany, Brazil, Hong Kong, Australia and more.

LA Phil LIVE with Gustavo Dudamel comes to UK cinemas between the 13th and 17th April 2012. For full international listings, visit the Omniverse Vision website, or contact WildKat PR.

(Written on March 21, 2012 )

We are delighted to begin 2012 with some exciting new additions to our client roster.

Bridget Cunningham is an award-winning harpsichordist, conductor and early music specialist whose research and performances have been featured on ITV, Sky Arts and BBC TV and Radio including Woman’s Hour, Front Row and Radio 3’s In Tune.  We are delighted to be working with Bridget on all her up-coming engagements and promoting her new album ‘Handel in Ireland’.

We are also excited to be working with the up and coming lyric soprano Nadine Mortimer-Smith who is appearing at St Alban’s Chamber Opera and in the Fourth London Festival of American Music in 2012, as well as producing her first recording. WildKat PR are working with Nadine in Europe and the USA, offering PR and consultancy services.

We also welcome the French Institute, the official French government centre for culture in the UK. Their classical concert series encourages cross-cultural exchange and highlights the rich history of French music. Upcoming concerts feature singers from the Royal Academy of Music, the Psophos Quartet, the Mercury Quartet, Ivan Ilic, Charles Owen and more.

We will also be working with an exciting young Baroque violinist, Johannes Pramsohler on his busy concert schedule which regularly takes him all over the world.  This year Johannes will be releasing his solo album with the International Baroque Players entitled ‘Pisendel – Violin Concertos From Dresden,’ which included previously unrecorded works by Handel, Fasch and Pisendel.

Finally, we welcome the pianist and composer Jean-Philippe Rio-Py. Jean-Philippe’s rhythmic compositions have already led him to record an album for Cutting Edge / Air Edel, and he will recording his second CD in 2012, as well as performing at the exclusive Box club in Soho.

Nadine Mortimer-Smith

For any enquiries, please contact WildKat PR on london@wildkatpr.com, or call us +44 20 7499 9334.

(Written on January 23, 2012 )

A night to remember: on the eve of the tenth anniversary of the tragic events of September 11, the world paused to commemorate those who were affected. In countries around the world people watched the live broadcast of the New York Philharmonic under the baton of Alan Gilbert performing Mahler’s 2^nd Symphony. The “Concert for New York” is out on ACCENTUS Music DVD and Blu-ray this November.

German soprano Dorothea Röschmann and American mezzo-soprano Michelle DeYoung joined the New York Choral Artists for the performance of Mahler’s “Resurrection” Symphony – an appropriate choice for the concert as it explores ‘every aspect of life, from it agonies to its joys to its profound sense of hope’ said conductor Alan Gilbert.

The free concert was performed at Avery Fisher Hall and broadcast live to thousands of New Yorkers, who gathered outside the Lincoln Centre to watch on big screens. ‘I have based my life on the hope that art can speak to people in times like this. I believe that art can speak to people in a unique way – words often are not sufficient to plumb the depths of what people are feeling or trying to express,’ said Gilbert in an interview. The New York Times described the evening as an ‘intensely moving programme… an ideal choice to help New Yorkers reflect, heal and persevere … All the performers were palpably swept up in the music: the excellent chorus; Ms DeYoung; Ms Röschmann, who sang with deep expressivity; and the orchestra’.

The new release not only captures the extraordinary performance of “A Concert for New York” but also the atmosphere of the evening, reflecting the emotions of the audience as they remembered this tragic moment in American history. The program features bonus material including interviews with Alan Gilbert, and with Zarin Mehta, the Orchestra’s President and Executive Director.

Watch the trailer here:

The DVD and Blu-ray will be available through major music retailers and on nyphil.org in the U.S. on November 8, 2011 and worldwide from the end of November 2011.

(Written on October 26, 2011 )

WildKat PR caught up with the Belcea Quartet during rehearsals for the first round of their Beethoven series to find out how they view their individual roles within the ensemble.

The Belcea Quartet will be performing again in Liverpool, St George’s on November 28th, The Sage, Gateshead on November 30th, London’s Wigmore Hall on December 1st and in Hamburg’s Laeiszhalle on December 7th.

For more information visit their website www.belceaquartet.com

(Written on October 24, 2011 )

2011 marks the third annual Wimbledon Music Festival – a sixteen day feast of world-class music-making in SW19. We caught up with the festival’s director Anthony Wilkinson to find out why he chose Wimbledon as the location for his festival and what challenges he has faced during the first few years:

This year’s festival opens on November 12th with a performance of Bach’s Mass in B Minor with the Academy Choir and Baroque Players and soloists Nancy Argenta, Michael Chance, Allan Clayton and Roderick Williams. For full concert listings and to buy tickets, visit the Wimbledon Music Festival website or call the box office on 0844 871 7685.

(Written on October 18, 2011 )

Tonight at London’s Southbank Centre, the London Sinfonietta launch Exquisite Labyrinth: The Music of Pierre Boulez.

Pierre Boulez – avant-garde figurehead since the 1940s, musical giant on the world stage and author of some of the key progressive works in musical modernism – is celebrated over one weekend. As well as hearing the composer himself conducting a special performance of his masterpiece Pli selon pli, with the esteemed Ensemble InterContemporain – which he founded in the 1970s – there is an opportunity to hear almost all his piano works played during one day by Pierre-Laurent Aimard and Tamara Stefanovich.

You can hear pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard, composer Nico Muhly and Gillian Moore, Southbank Centre’s Head of Contemporary Culture, discuss Exquisite Labyrinth in the Southbank Centre’s podcast:

Exquisite Labyrinth: The Music of Pierre Boulez by southbankcentre

(Written on September 30, 2011 )

This weekend Thomas Kemp launches the inaugural Music@Malling Festival: an international festival of music that draws together the community with an exciting programme of events that bring international artists to historical local venues in West Malling, Kent.

Running this year from September 30th until October 2nd, the festival will be an annual event that brings unique and fantastic concerts to the local community, as well as providing a groundbreaking outreach project that will inspire creativity and music making in local primary schools.

Each year the work of a living composer will be profiled alongside great composers from history. This year Mark Anthony Turnage is the featured composer, and his music will be heard alongside works of Mahler and Mozart.

Highlights of this year’s festival include a performance of Mahler’s fourth symphony with Yeree Suh, and two performances of Peter and the Wolf, as well as an opportunity to meet Mark Anthony Turnage during a pre-concert talk.

For more information and a full list of concerts, visit the Music@Malling website, or Thomas Kemp‘s own site.

(Written on September 28, 2011 )

Our summer intern Elizabeth has now returned to university to begin the final year of her degree, so we are looking for a creative and music-loving individual to join our team in London for 3-6 months. The internship will involve assisting on creative PR campaigns across the cultural, classical and contemporary music industries. A passion for classical music is essential, and you will need to demonstrate artistic flair, and an interest in new media.

This is a fantastic opportunity for someone considering a career in arts PR or marketing, who is seeking to gain first-hand experience. You will assist with researching and reporting on new developments in the classical music world, writing press releases for clients and blogs for the WildKat PR website, researching press opportunities, as well as general tasks such as keeping the office in top running order.

The successful candidate needs to be self-motivated with excellent written and verbal communication skills. Good computer skills are vital and knowledge of other languages is a bonus, but not essential. You will need to be confident and able to take on responsibility, as well as being organised, able to prioritise and meet deadlines. Also, excellent baking skills are definitely a plus!

To apply, please send your CV and covering letter to london@wildkatpr.com. We are accepting applications until Friday 30th September 2011.

Above: An example of the baking expertise intrinsic to the role of Intern

(Written on September 22, 2011 )

On Tuesday 20th September, the award-winning contemporary ensemble the Mercury Quartet will be showcasing two world premiere performances of 21st-century music: Erick Flores’ ‘L’Intérieur du Temps, for improvised quartet and electronics’ and Charlie Sdraulig’s ‘music for an interior, for amplified quartet’.

The four instrumentalists, Vlad Maistorovici (violin/viola), Corentin Chassard (cello), Harry Cameron-Penny (clarinets), Antoine Francoise (piano), will also be performing the work which brought about the formation of the quartet at the Royal College of Music in 2007, Olivier Messiaen’s ‘Quatuor pour la fin du Temps’.

Recent projects include the recording of their debut CD and performances of Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire with Julian Jacobson and Linda Hirst. More recently, they worked with Israeli composer Nimrod Katzir, premiering his recent composition ‘AZZA’ in Switzerland.

In 2008 they won a major competition to discover new talent run by the Non-Classical record label. This led to a number of live free improvisation ‘gigs’ capturing their ‘unique and mesmerising’ free improvisation sound world and a debut CD release on Naxos in November 2010 (distributed in USA, UK, Germany, Holland and Japan).

Tickets can be purchased from the Forge’s website and will also be available on the door of the event from 7pm.

(Written on September 19, 2011 )

Following the success of our previous Young Artist series events, WildKat are pleased to announce the line-up for the upcoming autumn concert on Tuesday 13th September 2011.

Featuring in the concert is vocalist Daisy Chute, whose name many will recognise from the young classical ensemble ‘All Angels’. Since graduating from Kings College, London, Daisy has been exploring the routes that have led her into jazz and contemporary territory. Joining Daisy is oboist James Turnbull, a graduate of the Royal Academy of Music who has recently released a CD of contemporary oboe works, ‘Fierce Tears’. Two students from the Royal College of Music, violist Isabel Villanueva and pianist John Paul Ekins, will also be performing solo repertoire in the Showcase. The concert at the purpose-built Forge in Camden will be an excellent platform to show off the talents of the young musicians.

Tickets can be purchased here from the Forge’s website, and further details of the concert are available here.

(Written on August 16, 2011 )