Founder and Director of the Armonico Consort, Christopher Monks, spoke with WildKat PR about AC Academy in a short interview for our video blog series. Accompanied by video footage from ‘Around the World in 18 Tunes’ at the Royal Albert Hall, Christopher discusses the work of AC Academy alongside their relationship with the London concert venue.

Watch the video below to find out more about AC Academy and their work:

Keep up to date with news from AC Academy through their Facebook, Twitter and from regular posts on the WildKat PR blog.

(Written on May 22, 2013 )

Following a wonderful recital at London’s National Geographic store yesterday, Katherine Bryan is thrilled to announce to release of her second album today. The rising flautist performs concertos by American composer Christopher Rouse and French composer Jacques Ibert, demonstrating her versatility as a artist as well as her virtuosic and astounding technical style. The disc also features Debussy’s Syrinx and Frank Martin’s Ballade.

Katherine is Principal Flute and currently a musician in residence with Royal Scottish National Orchestra, under the baton of Jac van Steen, who she performs with on the CD.

Katherine Bryan plays Flute Concertos by Christopher Rouse and Jacques Ibert can be purchased from iTunes and Amazon.

Keep up to date with news from Katherine through her Facebook, Twitter and regular posts of the WildKat PR blog.

(Written on May 20, 2013 )

The WildKat PR team are delighted to announce the launch of our Open Sessions. The free, quick-fire consultancy scheme invites music industry individuals to come and chat to members of the team, where we will offer free advice in a broad range of areas, such as PR, social media, performances and events, sponsorship, budgets, branding, your image, websites, photography and videography, marketing and consultancy.

With over 25 years of experience in the music industry and an extensive range of consultancies to offer, the WildKat PR team are keen to help individuals in areas where they may not have much knowledge and experience, or are perhaps hesitant due to costs, as well as expanding and developing our relationships even further into the music industry. With the free Open Sessions, WildKat PR welcomes you to our offices in Central London through a quick and easy online booking, where you can choose your area of query and the best time for you.

Visit the website here to find out a little more, and to book your slot.

We look forward to meeting you, and helping you wherever we can!

(Written on May 17, 2013 )

In celebration of the re-release of their album ‘Two by Four’, Piano Interrupted performed at London’s National Geographic store last night. The 21st century digital vs. analogue trio performed music from the re-release, as well as the world premiere of the Piano Interrupted remix of Tom Hodge’s Capriccio for Carolina.

Capriccio for Carolina revolutionised the marriage between music and fashion and was premiered at New York Fashion Week in February 2013. Commissioned by Carolina Herrera, following her use of Hodge’s works as the soundtrack to her SS12 show at New York Fashion Week, Capriccio for Carolina was the pinnacle inspiration for Carolina’s designs for her AW13 collection; an innovative practice in the relationship between a fashion show and the catwalk music.

Keep up to date with news about Tom Hodge and Piano Interrupted through Facebook, Twitter and regular blogs from the WildKat PR website. Capriccio for Carolina can also be purchased from the iTunes store here.

With the launch of their Cultural Calendar, curated by WildKat PR, London’s National Geographic store will host a number of exciting events. Check out upcoming events here.

(Written on May 7, 2013 )

WildKat PR is pleased to welcome pianist Anika Vavic and flautist Katherine Bryan as new clients.

Pianist Anika Vavic made her performance debut at Vienna’s Konzerthaus in 2003, and as a result, was chosen for the 2003/04 season highly commended “Rising Stars” concert cycle, leading to further performances in some of the world’s most famous concert halls. Together with the Musikverein, the Österreichischer Rundfunk produced a CD of her recital program from the season; Anika’s first release. Her latest disc, featuring works by Beethoven, Schumann, Chopin and Prokofiev was released in 2010 to great acclaim.

Anika works regularly with orchestras such as the Mariinsky Orchestra, the Munich Philharmonic and the MDR Orchestra Leipzig, and performs at festivals such as the ”White Nights” festival in St. Petersburg, the Istanbul Music Festival and Valery Gergiev’s Mikkelli Festival in Finland.

Her upcoming engagements include concerts with the Mariinsky Orchestra in July 2013, her debut performances with the London Philharmonic Orchestra at the BBC Proms and at the Enescu Festival in August 2013 and her return to the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra in March 2014.

Flautist Katherine Bryan studied at Chetham’s School of Music in Manchester and won a full scholarship to study at The Juilliard School in New York. She has been a prize-winner at the Young Concert Artists International Competition in New York and was a finalist in the BBC Young Musician of the Year Competition for three consecutive years.

As a soloist she has performed with many of the world’s finest orchestras and is currently in residence with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. She has also performed as Guest Principal Flute with the Philharmonia, London Philharmonic, BBC Scottish, Scottish Chamber, Royal Philharmonic, Northern Sinfonia, Halle, London Symphony and Swedish Radio Symphony orchestras.

In addition to her performing, she is also a lecturer in flute at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.

Following on from the success of her debut solo disc in 2010, which was nominated for an International Classical Music Award, Katherine is set to release a new recording of works by Rouse, Ibert, Martin and Debussy on 20th May 2013, when she will also perform at National Geographic, London. Katherine hopes this release will highlight the excitement and engagement of the flute as a solo instrument, as well as the great array of new repertoire available for flute players.

WildKat PR will be working with Anika and Katherine on their projects and press in the UK and across Europe.

Anika Vavic

Katherine Bryan

(Written on April 19, 2013 )

For those of you who missed our tweets last week, we had a big London office move! Have a look at our video that captured some key moments of the move that occurred in between our busy working days! Just to let you all know, our new address is:

Second Floor,
7-15 Rosebery Avenue,
London,
EC1R 4SP

With thanks to Max Richter’s Recomposed: Vivaldi’s Four Seasons as the accompaniment to our video blog

(Written on April 15, 2013 )

Today is WildKat PR’s fifth birthday and we have been reflecting in the office on some of the many highlights – events and concerts we have attended, as well as musicians and organisations we have been privileged to work with.

An almost impossible task would be to narrow these past years down to just five highlights, as there have been so many, but we have done our best:

Kathleen: Blogging with Ivor Bolton

One of my earliest clients was the conductor Ivor Bolton. We were working with him over a particularly busy season at Salzburg Festival and encouraged him to keep a behind the scenes blog while he was there. At the time, no-one else was doing this, and Ivor  received so much interest and positive feedback for his writing – it opened him up to a much wider, international audience and led to press coverage across Europe.

Vesna: Working with AyseDeniz Gokcin

When we began working with AyseDeniz, she had very little press in the UK, but since working with her, her classical reworking of Pink Floyd pieces have gone viral online and helped draw a huge ‘non-classical’ audience to classical music, and she’s shown that projects can be unusual and innovative without being gimmick-y. AyseDeniz is an example of a brilliant classical artist who happens to love her instrument and other musical styles so much that she tried to extract all possible sounds from it.

Fleur: Visiting the IAMA Conference 

When I began working with WildKat PR as an intern I was fortunate to be able to attend some of the networking events at the IAMA Conference. I was able to meet leading members of the industry, and to talk about WildKat. It was nerve-wracking but enjoyable and opened up a whole new world to me, making me even more eager and inspired to pursue a career in the classical music industry.

Victoria: Attending a performance of Don Giovanni in Baden Baden

In 2011 I was lucky enough to attend one of the performances of Don Giovanni in Baden Baden which was recorded and later released on Deutsche Grammophon. There are so many reasons that this concert sticks out as one of the highlights of my WildKat career, firstly because of its incredible cast: Ildebrando D’Arcangelo, Luca Pisaroni, Rolando Villazon, Joyce DiDonato, Mojca Erdmann and Diana Damrau conducted by Yannick  Nézet-Séguin. This was also the first time I’d travelled outside of the UK for work, Don Giovanni is my favourite opera of all time, AND afterwards I met my idol, Joyce. It’s the first and only time I have been professionally speechless.

Harriet: Silent Opera

As far as transport to concerts go, being taken by boat from Festival Pier to deepest darkest East London was a lovely experience and a great way to have a collective buzz from the whole audience before the show had even begun. The views down the Thames were breath taking and a hassle free trip meant for huge excitement for all when we finally arrived at the mysterious venue.

(Written on April 5, 2013 )

WildKat PR recently interviewed composer Tom Hodge, to understand his compositional techniques and to investigate the different approaches he undertakes in music for television, film and advertisements as opposed to programme music. Tom also describes what stimulated his interest in composition and how it became his career.

To keep up to date with Tom’s upcoming engagements, including a full-length orchestral ballet commission for June 2014 as well as concert dates in Germany and festivals this Summer, visit his Facebook, Twitter, or visit the WildKat website for regular blog posts.

(Written on March 28, 2013 )

The Guardian

Tod Machover: how to crowdsource a symphony

Can music repair damaged tissue? Is it possible to hear it through another person’s ears? If anyone knows, it’s Tod Machover. As he prepares to create an innovative symphony for Edinburgh, Charlotte Higgins meets the music professor

The Guardian

Tine Thing Helseth, trumpet player interview: ‘I was a crazy Spice Girls fan

Norwegian trumpet virtuoso Tine Thing Helseth tells Adam Sweeting how she plays everything from Bach to the Beach Boys, and looks at the strange rituals of classical music with an inquiring eye.

The New York Times

A Challenge Grant From Weills to Spur Carnegie Hall Renovation

Carnegie Hall has received a $10 million challenge grant from its chairman, Sanford I. Weill, and his wife, Joan, and their Weill Family Foundation toward the completion of its $230 million renovation.

Classic FM

Mice play lullabies by Mozart, Brahms and Schubert

Lullabies by Mozart, Brahms and Schubert were performed by mice in a performance installation by the experimental musical duo Quiet Ensemble.

Music Week

IFPI slams EU piracy study as ‘flawed and misleading’

The IFPI has slammed the recent report from the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre which concluded that piracy has no effect on legal digital music purchases.

Classical Music Magazine

RSNO announces 2013/14 season

Britten’s War Requiem, Mahler’s Symphony No 8 and Messiaen’s Turangalîla-symphonie are among the musical monoliths that the Royal Scottish National Orchestra has announced for its ambitious 2013/14 season, its second with Peter Oundjian as music director.

Classical Music Magazine

(Written on March 21, 2013 )

WildKat PR is delighted to announce their newest artist, Russian pianist Rustem Hayroudinoff.

Described by Lazar Berman as “a serious artist and master, whose emergence in today’s atmosphere of pseudo-artistic and shallow music-making is especially valuable and welcome”, Rustem Hayroudinoff has performed to great critical acclaim in Japan, USA, Canada, his native Russia and Europe. More recently, he has made a recital debut in New York, performed Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto with the Czech Philharmonic under the baton of Marin Alsop, toured the UK with the Czech National Symphony Orchestra performing the Rachmaninoff 3rd Concerto and collaborated with the Soloists of the London Philharmonic Orchestra in a chamber music series in London and Munich.

Some of the orchestras he has performed with are the Osaka Century Orchestra, Tokyo Symphony, BBC Philharmonic, Bournemouth Symphony and London Philharmonic. His performances have been broadcast on most major classical radio stations around the world, and he has appeared in the documentary “The Unknown Shostakovich” alongside Vladimir Ashkenazy, Valery Gergiev and Maxim Shostakovich.

Hayroudinoff has recorded for NAMI Records (Japan), Decca and Chandos. His recordings of Shostakovich’s Theatre Music and the Dvorak Piano Concerto with the BBC Philharmonic were selected amongst the Best CDs of the Year by BBC Music and Gramophone magazines. His CD of the Rachmaninoff Complete Preludes was selected by Classic FM Magazine as part of the ‘four discs essential Rachmaninoff collection’, alongside the recordings of Arthur Rubinstein and Andre Previn. His recording of the Complete Études-Tableaux by Rachmaninoff became the Instrumental Choice of the Month with the BBC Music Magazine and was nominated for the Best Instrumental CD of the Year Award. It was also selected as the finest version of these pieces on BBC Radio 3’s Building a Library.
Rustem Hayroudinoff studied with Lev Naumov at the Moscow Conservatory and with Christopher Elton at the Royal Academy of Music, where he is now a Professor of piano. For more information, please visit www.hayroudinoff.com.

On Saturday 13th April, Rustem is performing at St Johns Smith Square, with a programme to include both CPE and JS Bach, Liszt and Rachmaninoff. For more information click here

(Written on March 15, 2013 )