The Telegraph

Thomas Blumire: young composer who defies barriers

At 19, Thomas Blumire is a promisingly talented and already accomplished composer, currently hoping to study for a degree in music.

Ian Bostridge on Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau: ‘I’d never have sung without him’

English tenor Ian Bostridge tells how the late Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau came to inspire him.

Classical music dead? Nico Muhly proves it isn’t

The Manhattan-based composer Nico Muhly – the hottest talent in contemporary classical music – is so attracted to everyday drone noise that he’s composed an album in tribute.

The Guardian

How Maurice Sendak helped me stage his operas

Months before his death, the children’s author met director Netia Jones to discuss opera versions of his famous stories.

ArtsJournal – Slipped disc

‘I don”t do crossover’, says YouTube’s most watched pianist

One of the things I like best about Valentina Lisitsa is her lack of guile.

Gramophone

Baritone Derek Hammond-Stroud has died

The English singer Derek Hammond-Stroud has died; he was 86.

Obituary: Alexander Arutiunian, composer

Alexander Arutiunian has died at the age of 91 in Yerevan, the city of his birth.

LA Times

Jazz impressions with Chris Botti

Trumpeter Chris Botti tours constantly with his instrumentals. He dishes on his career, his latest album, ‘Impressions’, and musical collaborations.

(Written on May 29, 2012 )

Gramophone

Violinist Israel Baker Has Died, Aged 92.

The violinist Israel Baker has died at his home in Los Angeles aged 92.

Thomas Quasthoff Withdraws From The Spotlight.

Citing ill health, the German baritone retires.

BBC News

Letter Penned By Beethoven Uncovered In Germany.

A letter written by composer Ludwig van Beethoven has emerged in Germany after being left in a will.

BBC Music Magazine

BBC Proms Launches Competition For Young Composers.

Entries to be judged by composers including Stuart MacRae and Nico Muhly.

New York Times

Carnegie Hall To Establish National Youth Orchestra In 2013.

Ireland has one. Norway has one. Sweden has one, and it will be at Carnegie Hall on Jan. 26. Even Iraq has one.

The Telegraph

Jonathan McGovern: New Face.

Jonathan McGovern is a 26 year-old baritone who looks poised for a brilliant career.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/opera/9007749/Jonathan-McGovern-New-Face.html

(Written on January 12, 2012 )

New York Times

A Symphony of Floorboads, Pipes and Stairs

“You’re going to have a house, and the house makes music. When you get here, you’ll figure it out.” One of New Orleans’ most recent and innovative musical offerings

Slipped Disc: Norman Lebrecht

My Demo Choirmaster Wins…An International Emmy

‘Gareth Goes To Glyndebourne’ wins an Emmy

The New Yorker

The Long Haul

Alex Ross on Nico Muhly

The Independent

Yes: From Total Discord To Sweet Harmony

Bonnie Greer’s television run-in with Nick Griffin didn’t just provoke feverish debate – it was also the catalyst for a new opera

The Times

Bringing Bach To The Blackberry Generation

Richard Morrison on an exciting new approach to the St. Matthew Passion

(Written on November 22, 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 )

Every day the WildKat team scan newspapers, websites and blogs for interesting classical music news, and now we’ve decided to publish our lists so that you can get a classical music news summary each day. If you’ve read anything interesting each day that we’ve missed do feel free to comment and let us know!

London 2012: Cultural Olympiad to feature Music Nation

Weekend festival Music Nation will take place in March next year as part of the Cultural Olympiad.

Nico Muhly: ‘Wearing a mask frees you to say anything’

Ivan Hewett meets ‘the hottest young composer around’.

Is pianistic perfection all that it’s cracked up to be?

Tom Service thinks note-perfect performances are unrealisable.

BBC SO goes ‘Out + About’ – to the Westfield Shopping Centre

The outreach project linked to the BBC Proms will see the orchestra also performing in the Natural History Museum and Waterloo Station.

(Written on June 16, 2011 )

Every day the WildKat team scan newspapers, websites and blogs for interesting classical music news, and now we’ve decided to publish our lists so that you can get a classical music news summary each day. If you’ve read anything interesting each day that we’ve missed do feel free to comment and let us know!

L’elisir d’amore – review

4 star review of the Glyndebourne production.

Independent classical podcast – Nico Muhly and Craig Lucas interview

Edward Seckerson interviews Muhly and Lucas about the much anticipated premiere of ENO’s Two Boys.

Classical Music well represented in Queen’s Birthday Honours List

Founder of Streetwise Opera Matthew Peacock is awarded with an MBE, and Managing Director of the LSO Kathryn McDowell is awarded a CBE.

Castaway? Patriotic public choose Vaughan Williams for their top Desert Island Disc

The Lark Ascending has been named the favourite by the 25000 people who voted in the special programme Your Desert Island Discs.

(Written on June 14, 2011 )

Every day the WildKat team scan newspapers, websites and blogs for interesting classical music news, and now we’ve decided to publish our lists so that you can get a classical music news summary each day. If you’ve read anything interesting each day that we’ve missed do feel free to comment and let us know!

How Manchester inspired far more than Mahler

Norman Lebrecht discusses Mahler’s link with Manchester.

Blooming Spectacular

An article by Hugh Canning about Garsington Opera’s new and improved venue.

Nico Muhly’s tale of Two Boys – don’t expect Facebook – the Opera

Tom Service on ENO’s new opera about the dangers of the internet.

The best way to improve an orchestra? Get rid of the bloke with the baton

Spira Mirabilis perform without a conductor at Aldeburgh this week.

Aldeburgh Festival, Snape Maltings, Suffolk, UK

Reviews by Andrew Clark of Aldeburgh concerts.

Pierre Boulez: Ray of light or Lord of the Dark Side?  Discuss

Michael Church on the ‘ruling tyrant’ of classical music.

Cardiff Singer of the World 2011 begins today

The biannual event attracts contestants from around the world.

New creative team takes shape at Royal Opera as John Fulljames appointed to assist Kaspar Holten

Fulljames takes the role as associate director of Opera from September.

The old days – good or bad?

Mark Wigglesworth asks if past performance should guide the future.

(Written on June 13, 2011 )

Every day the WildKat team scan newspapers, websites and blogs for interesting classical music news, and now we’ve decided to publish our lists so that you can get a classical music news summary each day.  If you’ve read anything interesting each day that we’ve missed do feel free to comment and let us know!

Nico Muhly: Strings and stabbings

Tom Service speaks to the composer about his first opera which is based on a Manchester knife attack.

Blame the Proms for the rise of the infuriating ukulele

Michael White says that there has been a rise in ukulele sales.

Opera stars pull out of tour of Japan over radiation fears

Anna Netrebko and Joseph Calleja pulled out of the Met tour.

WNO Oboist granted second tribunal hearing over unfair dismissal claim

Oboist was sacked after 34 years of playing with the orchestra.

(Written on June 1, 2011 )