Gramophone

Britten Sinfonia launches Musically Gifted

The Britten Sinfonia is launching ‘Musically Gifted’, a flexible funding scheme, which allows audiences to contribute anything from £10 to £10,000 to a new commission.

Classical Music Magazine

Emmanuel Joel-Hornak announced as Scottish Opera chief

Scottish Opera has announced that French conductor Emmanuel Joel-Hornak will join the company as its music director in August, taking over from Francesco Corti.

Classic FM

Gareth Malone: “Expect the unexpected” in his new choir

After receiving his OBE for services to music, achieving a No. 1 single with the Military Wives, and becoming a father to baby Gilbert this weekend, Gareth Malone is topping off his whirlwind year by launching a nationwide search for a new choir.

The Times

Valery Gergiev: the most powerful man in classical music

The Times’ Richard Morrison enters the court of Valery Gergiev, conductor of the world’s music in more than one way.

NY Times – ArtsBeat

Boston Symphony Announces New Season

The Boston Symphony Orchestra have disclosed plans next season to tour China and Japan.

Classic FM

Amy Dickson in Tim Lihoreau’s Wednesday Web Chat

(Written on April 24, 2013 )

The Guardian

One-to-one music tuition ‘may be abolished’

Abuse claims may force review of traditional teaching methods, claims new head of Royal Northern College of Music

Classic FM

Prince Charles launches new RWCMD scholarship 

HRH The Prince of Wales has visited the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama to launch a new scholarship appeal on St. David’s Day

Classic FM

Karl Jenkins reveals new Adiemus album 

The Welsh composer celebrated St David’s day by signing with record label Deutsche Grammophon this morning, announcing details of his new album, Adiemus Colores

Herald Scotland (via musicalchairs.info)

Scottish Opera’s orchestra has reincarnated as musical co-op McOpera 

It has been almost two years since Scottish Opera’s orchestra officially went part-time

SFGate (via musicalchairs.info)

Bennett, S.F. Symphony oboist, dies at 56 

William Bennett, the longtime San Francisco Symphony oboist who suffered a cerebral hemorrhage on Saturday night while performing Richard Strauss’ Oboe Concerto with the orchestra in Davies Symphony Hall, died Thursday morning in a San Francisco hospital

Beacon News (via musicalchairs.info)

Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra awards couple with Golden Baton Award

The Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra will be awarding Calgary couple John and Ethelene Gareau with the Golden Baton Award during it’s Scandinavian Masters: Sibelius & Grieg concert

The Telegraph

(Written on March 4, 2013 )

On Sunday 28 October, John Suchet broadcasts a special two hour show dedicated to one of the most recognisable and respected conductors in the world, Sir Simon Rattle.

Slipped Disc

Video just in: How John Williams composed the theme for ET

Ahead of the Blue-Ray release of Stephen Spielberg’s E. T., video has been unearthed of the director and composer working together on the key musical motif for the alien character.

Very good news: Amsterdam restores music lessons to first-year schoolrooms

After a depressing drift towards cultural derelicition, the city of Amsterdam is reversing policy and bringing back music lessons for children in their first year at school.

More opera costumes are coming up for sale… somewhere near you

Scottish Opera is having a clearout auction of old frocks and props.

Deceptive Cadence, NPR

‘Nixon In China’: An American Opera Inches Toward Classic At 25

Twenty-five years ago today, Houston Grand Opera mounted the world premiere of Nixon in China, the first opera by a young composer named John Adams.

Gramophone Blog

Star Tribune (found on Arts Journals)

Music in midst of contract dispute

Locked-out orchestra musicians took their appeal to a sold-out hall.

The Australian

Classical music’s cultural cringe

PIANIST Michael Kieran Harvey has fired a staccato attack on Australian music organisations, with symphony orchestras, opera companies, broadcasters, and competitions among those in his sights.

Limelight

Israeli & Palestinian say harmony = two pianos + two like minds

The young pianists in Duo Amal were brought together by music to spread a message of hope.

Classic FM

(Written on October 23, 2012 )

Gramophone

(Written on October 19, 2012 )

BBC Music Magazine

An off-peak return and a spot of JS Bach

Gramophone

Sally Beamish explores new musical terrain 

The British composer embraces film and dance in her new composition based on mystical Persian poetry

(Written on October 5, 2012 )

Classic FM 

Stolen $50k violin found 

The stolen antique violin is found to the great relief of a South Korean student

Lesley Garret returns to the stage 

Lesley Garret will perform in an intimate concert at Opera North’s Howard Assembly Rooms in Leeds on September 24^th 

Opera for toddlers at Tête à Tête

Scottish Opera are bringing classical music to toddlers up to the age of three.

Olympic National anthem controversy 

London Philharmonic Orchestra’s recordings have prompted more than a little outrage

Arts Journal- Slipped Disc 

An American orchestra pulls back from the brink 

Delaware Symphony may not be so poor after all….

Gramophone 

Obituary: Ruggiero Ricci, violinist 

An obituary for Ruggiero Ricci, violinist, teacher and last of a golden age of violinists.

Gramophone Blog 

Can we really write off ‘modern opera’? 

Andrew Mellor discusses Michael Attenborough’s statement about modern opera.

BBC News 

Mahani Teave, Easter Island’s only concert pianist 

Mahani Teave  learned to play classical music as a child growing up on windswept Easter Island – thousands of kilometres from mainland Chile.

(Written on August 9, 2012 )

The Telegraph

Hay Festival 2012: Sir Simon Rattle’s ‘ideal state’

Conductor Simon Rattle gives advise to amateurs and defines his “ideal state”.

Royal College of Music Chamber Choir: ‘Grit and determination kept us singing’

Sodden but unbowed, the Royal College of Music Chamber Choir encapsulated Sunday’s jubilant spirit.

Andrew Lloyd Webber and Gary Barlow: in perfect harmony for Queen and country

Andrew Lloyd Webber, doyen of musical theatre, reveals how he joined pop star Gary Barlow and TV choirmaster Gareth Malone to honour ‘an extraordinary monarch’.

LA Times

Valley and Soka performing arts centers set for second season

Valley Performing Arts Center at Cal State Northridge and Soka Performing Arts Center at Soka University in Aliso Viejo have ambitions for sophomore year.

Leif Ove Andsnes warms up for Ojai Music Festival

The pianist, music director for the 66th edition, will perform with Marc-Andre Hamelin.

Classical Music Magazine

Clandeboye’s former young musicians to return to celebrate tenth festival

Booking has opened for the tenth Clandeboye Festival, taking place 13 – 18 August at the Marchioness of Dufferin and Ava’s Clandeboye estate near Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland.

Camerate Ireland launches Derry-Londonderry as UK City of Culture 2013

Camerata Ireland and its artistic director Barry Douglas launched the musical programme for Derry-Londonderry’s year as the first UK City of Culture with a concert on 30 May in one of the city’s historic churches, Christ Church.

The Guardian

A guide to Oliver Knussen’s music

Oliver Knussen’s music packs as much incident and expression into mere minutes than some composers manage in a lifetime.

Mystery of the maestros: what are conductors for?

How do conductors such as Claudio Abbado, Simon Rattle and Valery Gregiev work?

Alfred Deller: a voice from the past

On the centenary of the great countertenor’s birth his grandson recalls how he came to know and love his music.

Tel Aviv Wagner concert cancelled after wave of protest

University cancels booking, saying performance of works by Hitler’s favourite composer would offend Holocaust survivors.

The Independent

Moved by the tragedy behind Berlioz’s Troy story

David McVicar talks about the huge challenge of staging Les Troyens.

Opening ceremony orchestra is silenced

Musicians in the London Symphony Orchestra will have to mime their performance in the opening ceremony of the London Olympics because a live performance is deemed too risky.

Gramophone

Linn Records teams with Universal Music to distribute Studio Master downloads

Back catalogue masterpieces and current titles made available in high-quality digital format.

Australian string quartet acquire rare set of Guadagnini instruments

Matching instruments worth millions on permanent loan to the ensemble.

Financial Times

Making a noise, in its quiet way

As Scottish Opera turns 50, what does the future hold for the company?

(Written on June 6, 2012 )

The Independent

Delius: How a great British musical myth was born

A BBC film will shed light on the enigma of Frederick Delius.

The Guardian

Beethoven’s 10th? Now there’s a thought…

The composer had plans to create ‘a new gravitional force’ in his 10th symphony. What wonders might he have written?

LA Times

The Met reverse policy, will allow Opera News to review productions

Reacting to a mini-firestorm that erupted today with the news that the Metropolitan Opera would no longer allow Opera News to review its performances, the company reversed its decision early this afternoon.

Video game Diabolo III features performances by Pacific Symphony

The Pacific Symphony performs music for an unlikely audience — gamers battling the hellish underworlds of Diablo III.

Financial Times

Passion for Bach and the Baroque 

Early music revolutionary Ton Koopman is sitll flying the flag for authenticity.

Gramophone

Double appointment at Royal Danish Opera

Michael Boder named principal conductor and Sven Müller named artistic director.

Verbier Festival launches summer music camp for young musicians

Annual three-week programme to led by Daniel Harding.

Arts Journal – Slipped Disc

Natalie Dessay – are we losing her?

She has cancelled next month’s Manon at La Scala for ‘health reasons’.

The Times

Curtain rises on a feast of opera

The Magic Flute will line up alongside some extraordinary new works in Scottish Opera’s confident 50th anniversary season.

(Written on May 23, 2012 )

New York Times

Eiko And Koma Talk About ‘Fragile’

A performance of relentless stillness, with live score.

Entartete Musik

Laurel Resting In Vienna.

Gavin Plumley on the Wiener Philharmoniker.

Classical Music Magazine

Edinburgh Festival Programme Announced.

Out of 185 performances in this year’s Edinburgh International Festival, 51 are concerts, almost 3,000 artists are involved and 47 nationalities will be represented on stage.

The Telegraph

New Face: Ross McInroy.

Ross McInroy is the Scottish Opera’s bass chosen for The Rake’s Progress and Tosca.

Another Bad Modern Opera At Covent Garden. Why Is The Royal Opera House Allowed To Throw Money Away?

You know how it is: you wait for one bad opera, then three come along at once, according to Igor Toronyi-Lalic.

Independent

Schubert: A Gloriously Unfinished Celebration.

BBC Radio 3 is devoting an entire week to Schubert. He’s just the composer for these tough times, says Jessica Duchen.

Women In Operas Can’t Resist A Rake.

Nice guys finish last in opera.

Opera Chic

American Ballet Theatre Goes Town And Country.

ABT discusses its sponsorship program in the April 2012 edition of Town & Country and profiles some deep-pocketed philanthropists who sponsor ABT dancers.

Arts Journal: Slipped Disc

Oldest English Song Is Subjected To Post-Punk Revival.

Word is out that the Futureheads, a post-punk band, have recorded a tribute version of the oldest known song in early English, Sumer Is Icumen In.

Guardian

Stephen Sondheim: Our Greatest Composer?

No one today has better mastered the art-form of marrying words and drama to music, and keeping that essentially operatic ideal alive in a broader public consciousness.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/tomserviceblog/2012/mar/16/sondheim-sweeney-todd-music-theatre

(Written on March 16, 2012 )

LA Times

Shostakovich’s ‘Orango’ found, finished and set for Disney Hall

Olga Digonskaya uncovered Shostakovich’s lost opera ‘Orango’, which Gerard McBurney has orchestrated. Peter Sellars directs, Esa-Pekka Salonen conducts at Walt Disney Concert Hall.

Slipped Disc: Norman Lebrecht

A Living Composer is This Week’s Number One Classical Bestseller

For the first time since 1991, when Gorecki topped the charts with his 3rd Symphony, a contemporary composer’s work has made number one on the classical music charts.

The Times 

Scottish Opera Takes On Composer In Residence

Scottish Opera has appointed Ulster-born Gareth Williams to be its first composer in residence.

The Guardian

Sena Jurinac Obituary

Great soprano Sena Jurinac has died, aged 90. See her perform ‘Porgi Amor’ here:

(Written on November 25, 2011 )