The Daily Mail

Phantom in space: Opera singer Sarah Brightman outbids NASA to join space expedition

Singer Sarah Brightman, of Phantom of the Opera fame, will be the next tourist in space, potentially as soon as 2014. 

Gramophone

The Guardian

Damon Albarn kickstarts ENO’s ‘undress for opera’ scheme

(Written on October 4, 2012 )

The Telegraph

New music scholarships for London’s talented children

Talented children who might otherwise slip through the music education net are fulfilling their promise thanks to a new scholarship scheme.

The Guardian

Damon Albarn’s opera Dr Dee – video

Dr Dee, an opera about the Elizabethan mathematician, astronomer and astrologer Dr John Dee, opened at the Coliseum on Monday night.

Gramophone

China holds its first Li Delun National Conducting Competition

Designed to inspire young Chinese conductors of the future.

BBC Music Magazine

Tower Bridge as a musical instrument

Composer Samuel Bordoli has written a piece to be performed on London’s Tower Bridge as part of the City of London Festival’s 50th anniversary.

Arts Journal – Slipped Disc

German theatre chief: Give the Ring a rest

In a perfect curtain-raiser to the Bayreuth festival and the Wagner bicentenary, the president of the German Theatre Association Klaus Zehelein says there are too many productions of the Ring.

New artistic director at Ensemble Intercontemporain

It’s the composer Matthias Pintscher.

 LA Times

El Sistema produces a new, younger Gustavo Dudamel

Gustavo Dudamel, 31, seems practically middle-aged compared to Jose Angel Salazar, a 14-year-old El Sistema student who has gained attention recently for his talent as a conductor.

(Written on June 29, 2012 )

The Guardian

The fantastic Dr Dee: angels, magic and the birth of modern science

As Damon Albarn’s opera opens in London, Carole Jahme wonders why Dee has been written out of the history of science.

The Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra with Gustavo Dudamel – live stream

Venezuela’s Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra performed at London’s Royal Festival Hall with conductor Gustavo Dudamel on 23 and 26 June.

The Times

Delius takes Hassan on the Golden Road

On July 7 Frederick Delius’s Hassan is staged in Cheltenham.

MUSO

Edward Gardner among artists given Queen’s birthday honours

English National Opera director Edward Gardner has been named among the Queen’s Birthday Honours list, being awarded an OBE for services to music.

BBC Music Magazine

Arts Council awards Catalyst Endowment funds

The Arts Council has awarded ‘Catalyst’ awards to a host of music organisations including the Hallé and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment (OAE).

Arts Journal – Slipped Disc

Bayreuth’s American Siegfried has died

Jean Cox was not the first American to sing at the Wagner shrine but he was surely the first to fly a bombing mission before he took to the stage.

Gramophone

Performing musical saw in a potato barn

The SCO’s principal cellist prepares for the East Neuk Festival.

New Music 20×12 issues three more releases

Hear excerpts from works by David Bruce, Emily Howard and Michael Wolters.

Jamie Philips appointed assistant conductor of the Hallé

21-year-old succeeds Andrew Gourlay in September.

(Written on June 27, 2012 )

The Telegraph

Pop stars like Damon Albarn finally understand classical music

After decades of risible fusions, artists today like Damon Albarn really know how to mix the old and new.

Gramophone

Cellist wins 2012 BBC Young Musician contest

Fifteen-year old Laura van der Heijden takes the £2000 prize.

David Robertson appointed Sydney Symphony artistic director

Conductor signs up to a five-year term from 2014.

Why so many conducting Finns?

An extraordinary one-off project reveals a lot about a small country’s podium prowess.

ArtsJournal – Slipped Disc

Iran marks Mahler Day 

Press TV, official outlet of the Islamic Republic of Iran, has announced a concert tomorrow at Jalil Shahnazi Hall in Tehran for what is described as ‘the 101th death anniversary ceremony’ of Gustav Mahler.

Good man: Leonard Cohen gives away the rest of his prize – to the arts

There were those who muttered when Leonard Cohen won the Glenn Gould prize last year that the poor fellow was going to need the case after being cleaned out by a fraudster.

Singer appointed chief of major opera festival

The  Finnish tenor Jorma Silvasti, 53, is to be the next artistic drector of Savonlinna, a festival that trusts performers to run it more than suits.

(Written on May 16, 2012 )